The hidden threat to your retirement account

Hey there my friend!

I know that sometimes we forget why we need to train certain ways and think that skipping “just one workout” is no big deal. I get it. But it IS a big deal and I’m going to lay out for you exactly why.

Losing muscle over time is called Sarcopenia. You see in people with Anorexia, long-time marathon runners and the elderly. Our bodies are always breaking down muscle and bone, unless we stimulate growth for both of them. We stimulate growth in muscle and bone by lifting weights heavy enough to break down the muscle fibers. That’s a major qualifier, that it must be heavy enough to stimulate breakdown so the body can repair it.

Around the age of 60 this tear down accelerates. Partly due to lack of testosterone, and definitely due to lack of purposeful training to build muscle. If you can stimulate muscle building at the same of muscle wasting, you will be in homeostasis.

Why is it that important, Alli? I’m glad you asked. The vast majority of your mitochondria reside in your muscle cells. Mitochondria convert carbs and fats into energy. The more mitochondria you have, the better your metabolism will run. As your metabolism slows with time, so will your energy levels and your ability to get off the floor without help.

So in order to live a long and happy life full of joy and fun, you need to protect your muscle by training and keeping testosterone high enough to accomplish that single task. Next, you need to eat enough protein to support repair of that muscle tissue. Think of it as your retirement fund…you want as much as possible before you retire because making more at that point in life is harder than doing it NOW. Today.

Just like your 401(k) takes time to compound, so does your muscle and mitochondria. And just like with your money we are fighting against inflation and taxes, your muscle is fighting against dysfunctional mitochondria and the slow erosion of those critical organelles. And if you want to keep more of your hard-earned money in retirement, you MUST be metabolically healthy to avoid the common money sucks of old-age, like dementia, and hip replacements.

So you need to have the same sense of urgency in building muscle that you do in saving for retirement. We are swimming upstream the whole way and that requires daily effort to make progress. We are either making progress or it’s being eroded away, there’s no in between.

Reply to this email with questions or comments and I’ll answer them.

In great health,

Alli :)