Make Muscle Your Resolution for 2025
Getting fit is a common New Years’ resolution, whether you want to lose weight, build muscle, or improve your cardio performance. If your goal is option 2, then here is more motivation to stick to your plans. Maintaining a healthy muscle mass may not only improve your fitness and musculoskeletal health, but could also protect your brain in the future.
Muscle and Dementia Prevention
A new study found that age-related muscle loss is linked to the development of dementia, as less muscle mass is associated with a higher risk. Here, a total of 621 people who didn’t have dementia in the beginning, and had an average age of 77 years, were followed for around six years. By the end of the study period, those with less muscle had a 60% higher risk of dementia.
But how was the study controlled? Researchers used the temporalis muscle - a thin sheet-like muscle that extends from above your ear to above your eye - as a model for average muscle mass. It doesn’t sound too relevant, but people with a smaller temporalis generally have less muscle overall. They also controlled for education, brain size, and presence of the harmful APOE-E4 gene.
Muscle mass does more than look great and provide you with physical strength and abilities. It produces hormones known as myokines, which support healthy blood sugar control, tame inflammation, and support nerve cell function. One myokine is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which helps new brain cells grow and existing cells to function and produce new connections when needed.
How Can I Stay Strong This Year?
Without intervention, people over 50 lose around 1-2% of their muscle each year. This can start even younger as a result of early biological aging and inactivity. We are not helpless, however, as there are low-cost ways you can improve your lean mass.
Regular exercise is the most important intervention. Whether this means picking up a team or outdoor sport, a gym membership, or gentle physical activity, anything and everything counts. Some people need and benefit from chair exercises or support from an exercise physiologist. Mini exercise bikes you can use on a chair or light dumbbells, which can start from one kilogram, are great options for people who need to start gently.
Eating enough protein is also essential. Well-cooked beans and legumes can help if you want plant-based options, and ensure that your protein sources are overall anti-inflammatory. This means fish, especially oily fish, and nuts are helpful additions. If digestion is difficult, a protein smoothie or adding pulverised nuts and seeds into meals can be useful. With a naturopathy degree, I am able to recommend supplements in a separate consultation, too. Creatine appears to be the best for muscle growth, and may speed up recovery, improve energy, and support endurance.
Can Massage Help?
Massage therapy can be useful in relieving pain and tension from physical activity. This makes sticking to your new habits much easier, but that’s not all. Lab research demonstrates that massage may promote faster regrowth of muscle tissue after it has been lost to inactivity. One reason for this may be an increase in satellite cells, which are the only means by which you can grow new muscle cells, as mature ones do not divide. It may reduce inflammation and increase protein production by stimulating, but not damaging, mechanical stress. Interestingly, the benefits of massage for muscle restoration may even cross over to the opposite limb, which is an important effect if your injured side cannot safely receive treatment.
Sports massage for recovery purposes isn’t reserved for professional athletes. I can come right to your gym or other training area, or your favourite place to meet up after outdoor sports as long as it’s secure and private.