Building muscle has many health benefits

Muscle mass typically accounts for around a third of total body weight and a quarter of your body’s metabolic activity. In contrast, body fat usually accounts for at least 20 per cent of your body weight (and more for many people these days) but only 5 per cent of metabolic activity!

Your ratio of muscle to fat mass therefore greatly impacts your metabolic rate. Which means that if you have a higher proportion of muscle mass, your body uses more energy (calories) simply to sustain these muscles – and this can ultimately lead to less body fat being stored.

Meeting muscles’ energy needs

Crash dieting and prolonged stress can actually lead to reduced muscle mass, as your body can convert the protein from your muscles into glucose to meet its energy needs.

After dieting, most people go on to regain the weight they lost (for myriad reasons) plus interest – a reduction in metabolically active muscle tissue may explain why it can become much easier to gain additional weight.

So embrace some kind of resistance training. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go to the gym. Pilates is a great form of resistance training and yoga uses your own body weight as resistance. Gardening, walking, carrying groceries or children, climbing stairs and farm work all contribute to muscle building. Don’t avoid movement – look for more opportunities to move throughout your day.

And don’t forget to stretch. Fascia is the specialised connective tissue layer surrounding muscles, bones and joints, giving structure to the body. It aids muscle movement, but also provides a passageway for nerves and blood vessels, and hence the exchange of nutrients, waste and energy.

Therefore, flexibility is a conduit to good energy, hormonal function and detoxification. If the cells aren’t receiving the nutrients they need, or aren’t able to mobilise waste away from themselves efficiently, this too can cause stress and inflammation within the body.

Dr Libby is a nutritional biochemist, best-selling author and speaker. The advice contained in this column is not intended to be a substitute for direct, personalised advice from a health professional. See drlibby.com