Stay Strong All Winter Long

I was just reading my nutrition journal and I found something just by lucky accident that is very important this time of year.
In a new study just published this past Friday in The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, they took men with low vitamin D and gave them a daily supplement. Only 1,000 IU a day was enough extra vitamin D for the men to have consistent, significant improvements in muscle strength.
Vitamin D benefits your muscles because it regulates muscle calcium, muscle cell growth, and muscle fiber size. It also prevents degeneration and protects against insulin resistance so you can have more energy in your muscles.
The reason I say it’s important this time of year is because we just pushed the clock back an hour and that has a drawback. Less time to get enough vitamin D – the “sunshine vitamin.”

Legs That Go Forever

I’ve written to you many times about how endurance running is bad for your heart and lungs.
Today I want to tell you about how it affects your muscles.
Skeletal muscles are the ones you can see, and the ones you exercise when you move. They attach to your bones via tendons and power up your whole body.
Strong skeletal muscles fill you with strength and potential. They give you the feeling of confidence and they ensure you stay mobile and independent.
And the strength of your leg muscles plays a lead role in how long you’ll live.
A study from the University of Pittsburgh followed nearly 2,300 people for five years. It found that low muscle strength in your quadriceps made you 51 percent more likely to die.1

How Young Are Your Muscles?

How would you feel if three pounds of your muscle disappeared every decade?
Yet, if you’re not getting enough of the right type of exercise, your muscles shrink as you age.
If this happens long enough, you wind up with a medical condition called sarcopenia. Sarcopenia simply means a deficiency of muscle. This occurs gradually. In fact, you may not even notice it, because your weight may not change as fat is replacing your muscle.
However, by the time you reach your 40s or 50s, it starts catching up with you. You may notice some excess belly fat. Perhaps your thighs or rear end seem to start growing larger. And somewhere along the way, you might realize it’s not so easy to heft those heavy objects any more.

Are Your Muscles Shrinking?

You don’t set out to become frail and weak in your old age. But a study I’m looking at right now suggests that’s exactly what will happen to you.
This study shows that oxidative stress is causing your muscles to waste away.1
Oxidative stress is when you have too many damaged molecules, called “free radicals,” in your body. They attack your healthy cells…