Replacing testosterone builds muscle mass, but for optimal results the human body requires resistance exercise and a diet with enough protein to build muscle tissue.
The primary service provided at BioBalance Health is individual health assessment and administration of bio-identical hormone pellets for those who have lost their natural hormones from aging, hysterectomies or head injuries. In addition to determining and replacing lost hormones of youth, we are concerned about your overall health and the quality of your life as you age. We want you to be healthy and independent, able to move and walk and stand and strong enough to enjoy life, no matter what age you are.
In order to support your muscle mass and strength as well as bone mass we at BioBalance Health are advocates for adopting an appropriate exercise program in conjunction with hormone replacement and a healthy diet. Most patients know that replacing testosterone builds muscle mass, but for optimal results the human body requires resistance exercise as well as a diet with enough protein to build muscle tissue. Today’s healthcast is based on BioBalance Health treatment programs as well as information from the Health and Fitness Journal. We could have titled this program, “Testosterone Is Not Enough To Build Optimal Muscle After Age 40”.
“Age related muscle loss is associated with bone loss, reduction in metabolic rate, fat gain, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and other physical ailments associated with physical degeneration/dysfunction.” There are many problems that go along with aging if you do not replace testosterone and work out 2 or more times a week. Aerobic exercise is simply not enough to keep your healthy, you must work out with weights to grow muscle.
If you think about what makes you look at a person and judge them as “old” before you even speak to them, every one of these attributes is secondary to loss of muscle.
First you see how they stand. If a man or woman is looking at the floor and has a convex back, that is due to osteoporosis and loss of muscle mass. If their belly is bulging and their limbs have skin hanging off of them, that is due to lack of muscle.
Then watch them walk. An old person limps or looks unstable, leaning forward and has a slow and hesitant pace. This is all due to lack of muscle mass. The first step in insuring that you will not age like this, you first must replace testosterone and then begin more than two hours a week of weight exercise.
Now look at what muscles do for us, other than giving us balance, and supporting us so that we can walk upright. Muscles also provide the furnace for your body. Muscles provide heat, and are the big calorie burners for weight management. Without adequate muscle mass we use our unburned calories to make fat. Muscles are where combustion occurs, where energy is released,where power is produced, and where movement originates.
Strength training ( also called resistance training) has much greater application than just improved sports performance or even enhanced physical fitness. We are designed to be physically active throughout our lives, and so much of how we age is based on how much muscle mass we have.
In contrast, without testosterone replacement and strength training, we undergo a loss of muscle loss which begins a cascade of physiologic problems: bone loss, metabolic- rate reduction, fat gain, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, high lipids and high blood pressure, as well as increase in mortality from all causes.
Adults who do not perform resistance exercise more than 2 hours a week lose almost 5 lbs of muscle between age 40- 50, which increases up to 10 lbs of muscle loss every decade after 50. Women who do not engage in resistance exercise, and do not take testosterone are expected to experience 1 to 3% per year reduction in bone mineral density (BMD). In contrast women who exercise with weights more than 2 hours a week gain 1% per year. In women who do both, resistance training and testosterone pellet therapy improve their bone mineral density so they can improve from Osteopenia to normal bones in two years, and osteoporosis to normal in 4 years.
When I began testosterone pellet when I was 47 I had osteopenia already, and I began resistance training at the same time I started receiving estrogen and testosterone pellets. In just two years I had thicker than normal bones! In addition after two years of working out with weights plus T pellets, my body scan said that I had very little fat and my muscle mass was 10 lbs higher than what they considered optimal!
Weight gain is also a problem with aging, partially because of loss of testosterone causes belly fat to accumulate but also because we become more inactive and lose muscle which is our primary calorie burner. At rest every pound of untrained muscle uses between 5 and 6 calories per day for protein breakdown and muscle synthesis. However, every pound of resistance -trained muscle uses approximately 9 calories per day per pound, so if you have more muscle, and you use weights you burn a lot more calories than someone who doesn’t. Do the math and you will see that almost doubles your current calorie consumption!
But that’s not the end of the benefits greater muscle mass provides for us. Studies show that during exercise as well as for 72 hours after weight training you increase your resting metabolic rate (RMR=equivalent to the calories you use just sitting still) by 7% . If you do the math a you will see that If my RMR is 1700 calories per day then I will burn 118 calories more each day for the 3 days after I work out!
The methodology is above but the outcomes of strength training show a significant increase in lean weight while also seeing a concurrent decreases in fat weight.
Muscle loss and fat gain increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, a disease that is predicted to affect one of three adults by the middle of this century. With resistance training, when you gain 1.5 lbs of muscle you lose 1 lb of fat, so you may not see a great change in the scale initially, but your waistline and other measurements should decrease visibly.
If you are someone who has diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure or elevated lipids, then weight training offers a significant improvement in insulin sensitivity and glycemic control, as well as decreasing cholesterol and triglycerides.
In summary, we want to emphasize the 5 Reasons aging people should lift weights, as well as replace testosterone with pellets.
- help you burn more fat, and lose weight
- keep your curves and develop a youthful shape again
- feel energized, and warmer
- feel happier
- better heart health
We are committed to generating workable plans for your continued health and independence as you age. More is required of you than just replacing your hormones, so plan a trip to the gym to learn how to safely use weights to achieve a youthful body again.
This Health cast was written and presented by Dr. Kathy Maupin, M.D., Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Expert and Author, with Brett Newcomb, MA., LPC.,Family Counselor, Presenter and Author. www.BioBalanceHealth.com.
