According to a recently completed 10-year observational study of over 2,000 adults 45 years old and older in Barcelona, Spain, the more muscle mass your body has the lower your chances of having a heart attack or stroke. How much less likely?
"Men and women with the highest muscle volume were 81% less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke compared with those who have the lowest," said study author Stefanos Tyrovolas.
Muscle mass helps the body regulate and maintain normal inflammatory, endocrine and metabolic functions. Any or all of these could be responsible for the reduced risk.
Our muscles normally grow year to year from the time we are born until we reach about age 30. After that, we begin to gradually lose muscle. Those of us leading sedentary lives with little or no weight bearing exercise will begin to lose 3% - 5% of their muscle mass each decade after 30. The rate of loss begins to increase between 65 and 70 years old.
The primary treatment for this muscle loss, called sarcopenia, is exercise, specifically resistance training or strength training. These activities increase muscle strength and endurance using weights or resistance bands.
Now that we know that countering your body's natural tendency to lose muscle mass with age can significantly lower your risk for heart attack and stroke, you have one more reason to include resistance training in your exercise routine. (You do have an exercise routine, right?)
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