A lot of people say that age is just a number. That may be true, but I’ve met many people who feel older than their years.
You can measure a person’s age in several ways.
- Chronologically
- Biologically
- Functionally
Your chronological age is how long you’ve been alive. This will only increase until you expire. Muscle mass and strength are strong predictors of overall longevity. Be stronger, live longer.
Of course, we want to live healthy lives – not just long ones. That’s where biological and functional age measurements come into play.
Biological age is a reflection of how old your cells, tissues, and bodily systems behave. Building muscle can have a meaningful effect on your biological age. Some measures of biological aging include:
Mitochondrial function (cellular energy). Resistance training has been shown to increase mitochondrial density and efficiency, reduce oxidative stress, and improve cellular energy production. Healthier mitochondria leads to cells that behave younger.
Chronic inflammation. The term “inflammaging” was coined in 2000 to highlight the connection between chronic, low-level inflammation and increased biological aging. Building muscle reduces markers of inflammation, improves immune signalling, and creates an anti-inflammatory myokine response. Lowering inflammation is a way to slow your biological aging. It won’t reverse it, but it will help.
Metabolic (dys)function. Your body’s ability to properly handle glucose is a major indicator of health. Increasing the amount of muscle you have leads to better blood sugar control, lowers insulin resistance, and reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes. When you improve your body’s insulin sensitivity, you improve your overall metabolic function, helping to protect against the effects of aging.
Hormone signaling. The hormones your body produces are responsible for tissue repair. Resistance training supports growth hormone signaling, Insulin Growth Fator-1 balance, and sensitivity to testosterone and estrogen. Improving your body’s hormone signaling makes your tissues more resilient to the effects of aging.
Muscle building’s effects are most quickly noticeable when looking at your functional age markers. These are things like grip strength, sit-to-stand time, gait speed, and balance. These factors have been shown to correlate well with overall mortality risk, levels of cognitive decline, and ability to live independently. Muscle building has rapid effects on functional age markers, sometimes becoming noticeable within a few weeks of consistent training.
Resistance training builds muscle. KAATSU helps you build more muscle with less weight, in less time, with less joint stress. If you want to live a longer, healthier life, get started with (or continue with) resistance training. If you want to accelerate that process, consider using KAATSU.
KAATSU helps turn age-related muscle loss into muscle-related age loss 🙂
Disclaimer: KAATSU protocols have not been evaluated by Health Canada. KAATSU is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and its use should be evaluated by your own physician before use.