Tag: lean muscle mass

Muscle mass, what exactly is it?  There are three different types of muscles in the human body: Cardiac muscles, smooth muscles and skeletal muscles.  Cardiac muscles are found only in the heart where they line the walls and work to pump blood throughout our bodies.  They are completely involuntary in that we do not consciously control how and when they move. Next we have smooth muscles, also involuntary, that line some of our most vital organs including the stomach, oesophagus and the bronchi of the lungs – as well as the walls of blood vessels.  Their primary purpose is to rhythmically contract in order to control organ function such as moving food through the oesophagus or expanding the lungs when breathing. Finally, we have skeletal muscles.  This is what we are talking about when we refer to muscle mass.  These attach directly to our skeletons and contract to facilitate movement.  Sometimes known as voluntary muscles, we have direct control over them and they shape and grow as we develop muscle mass and tone. Before we get into the top twenty-five ways you can build muscle mass, we feel that it’s equally as important to explain the benefits of adding muscle to your body as well.   Weight Management:  Bigger muscles require more energy and in turn burn more calories. Muscles are essentially the engine room of the fat and calorie burning machine so the bigger and stronger they are, the more efficiently can they do their job.  The harder you work your muscles, the more energy they need to recover and the more calories that are burned. Longer Life: We mean just that.  The more muscle a body has, the longer the life. Decreased Injury Risk:  The larger the muscles around our joints and bones, the less likely we are to injure them. This layer not only protects against breaks and dislocations but as our tendons and cartilage grow stronger with our muscles, we also become less susceptible to sprains and tears. Improved Mood:  Muscle mass is good for an individual’s mental health.  Exercises cause changes in skeletal muscle and in turn that muscle removes from the blood a substance that accumulates during stress.   Gaining muscle mass doesn’t mean you must become a bodybuilder, but by simply being more conscious of your diet and making sure you exercise, you are opening up not just great physical benefits and protections,…