Skeletal Muscle: The Over-looked Missing Link in Longevity

For twenty four years, in my 20’s, I was a vegetarian. I exercised every day. I did cardio, lifted weights, ate what I believed was a balanced diet and considered myself disciplined and healthy but I never quite felt strong. I was lean, flexible and felt committed, but what I did not feel was powerful. I did not feel dense in my bones or resilient in my tissues.

It was not until I began intentionally increasing my protein intake, including high quality animal protein, that my body responded in a completely different way. My muscles finally grew, my strength improved and my recovery accelerated. My metabolism felt steadier and I realized that I had been asking my body to build tissue without supplying enough raw material to do so. That eye-opening realization changed everything.

Skeletal muscle is not about vanity nor about looking toned in a sleeveless dress. Muscle is metabolically active tissue that regulates blood sugar, improves insulin sensitivity, improves metabolism, supports bone density, protects joints, and influences how well we age.

When muscle contracts, it releases signaling molecules that communicate with the brain, liver, immune system, and fat tissue. It acts like an endocrine organ. It is the largest site for glucose disposal in the body. The more muscle you have, the better your metabolic flexibility.

Physicians and researchers like Gabrielle Lyon and Donald Layman have helped bring this conversation into the mainstream. In Forever Strong, Dr Lyon describes skeletal muscle as the organ of longevity. Layman’s work on protein metabolism shows clearly that we require adequate high quality protein to stimulate muscle protein synthesis, especially as we age.

Two people can weigh the same and have radically different health outcomes depending on how much muscle they carry. Muscle correlates with lower risk of metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease, frailty, and even mortality. I appears that we have been measuring the wrong thing, obsessed with weight and not body composition. In our clinical studies on Aeropilates 3 times a week we saw an 11% change for the better in body composition: reduction is fat and increase in muscle mass.

For the past fifty years, public health messaging has emphasized low fat diets. Protein quietly shrank while refined carbohydrates increased. The misleading food industry flooded shelves with low fat, high sugar products marketed as heart healthy. Historical investigations later revealed that sugar industry funding influenced early nutrition narratives, shifting the blame for heart disease toward fat while minimizing the role of sugar and meanwhile obesity soared. Today more than seventy five percent of American adults are overweight or obese so what ever we have been doing over the last 50 years has not worked.

In the process, protein became the collateral damage!

There was also the persistent myth that meat is inherently toxic or impossible to digest. Biologically, that claim does not hold. Humans produce stomach acid and enzymes specifically designed to break down protein. Ethical and environmental discussions are important, but from a physiological standpoint, properly sourced protein is not poison and if anything, many women have been chronically under eating protein for decades.

A strong starting point for active adults is roughly 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight per day. For a 140 pound woman, that might mean 100 to 140 grams daily, divided across three or four meals. Thirty to forty grams per meal helps stimulate muscle protein synthesis more effectively than a protein light breakfast and a heavy dinner. This became tricky when one intermittently fasts and eats less meals so what many people do is to supplest with a reliable Protein powder shake like the non sweetend Orgain brand Personally I drink gut friendly, organic Bone Broth daily which I find to be delicious, nutritious and satisfying and I take an amino acid supplement.

Consider your Protein intake first. Once protein targets are met, carbohydrates and healthy fats can be adjusted based on activity level, personal preference and metabolic health.

GLP 1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy are helping many people lose weight, but rapid weight loss without strength training often leads to significant loss of lean muscle mass. If you lose twenty pounds but a large portion is muscle, you may look smaller whilst becoming dangerously metabolically weaker. Loss of muscle lowers resting metabolic rate and increases the risk of sarcopenia, the age related decline in muscle mass and strength that we are seeing across the board. Weight loss without strength training can quietly accelerate frailty. The goal is not simply to weigh less but to be stronger.

I believe that resistance training is non negotiable, it is your responsability. For women between thirty five and seventy five, three focused strength sessions per week can change the trajectory of aging and this is where I am deeply passionate. Reformer Pilates performed three times per week with progressive resistance is an extraordinary method for building both small stabilizing muscles and larger prime movers. Changing the resistance regularly challenges different muscle fibers. Heavier loads stimulate larger motor units and build strength in the hips, legs, back, and chest and lighter resistance increases time under tension and trains deep stabilizers. Research on AeroPilates training shows improvements in strength, balance, posture, core activation, and functional capacity in midlife and older women and supports longevity. As Joseph Pilates said, “Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.” Strength was always at the center of his philosophy.

If you are short on time, consider microdosing strength training. This is the benefit of having your own reformer. 10-15 minutes of focused resistance work most days can stimulate muscle and preserve lean muscle mass. If you consistently spread your protein intake evenly through the day and your training stimulus throughout the week you will live lighter and longer1

Instead of asking how much you weigh, start asking how much muscle you carry. Personally I monitor my body composition on a smart scale. I use one by Aboleaf but there are many on the market: such as the Withings Body Comp or the InBody Dial. They fairly accurately measure muscle mass and body fat percentage. While not perfect, they help shift your focus from weight alone to composition trends over time helping you to monitor your progress.

I spent decades moving faithfully but under fueling my body for strength. Once I aligned protein intake with intelligent resistance training, everything changed. The future of women’s health is not about shrinking, it is about strengthening! Feed your muscle, build it consistently, challenge it and track it.

Your longevity depends on it.

written by Marjolein Brugman

Marjolein Brugman is the founder of lighterliving and Aeropilates. “lighterliving is a movement and lifestyle choice we can all make. Let’s make it simple – make one decision a day to be better and watch the small steps lead to big changes. Eat smart, stay active, and you’ll live to feel a lighter life."