Get actionable encouragements to lose belly fat, build muscle: Longevity-focused weight loss and life-giving habits
5 reasons to build muscle before you think you need it Inbox - Featured guest Jackson Fyfe
Published 28 days ago • 4 min read
by Jihane Farrell
Hi Reader
Welcome back to 1UP, my weekly newsletter where I share all things health and mindsets to help you get stronger, feel younger and live longer.
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Hi Reader
Today I am sharing an issue of the "Weekly exerciser", a newsletter I love to read.
Jackson Fyfe shares the science of exercise in ways that are easy to understand. I love his graphs and illustrations. He makes it very practical.
A couple of weeks ago, he sent this one "5 reasons to build muscle before you think you need it" I am sharing with you today.
I don't know about you Reader, but when I'm working on building something in my life, creating a new habit or making a change, I LOVE to read, to listen to and to follow people, books, podcasts that tell me how good and important it is to do this thing, that is hard, but I am working on.
It gives me encouragements and motivation.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and that this issue of Jackson's newsletter does that for you. Encourage and motivate you. Don't forget to sign up for Jackson's newsletter. It's always a good read.
Take it away, Jackson:
Most people wait until their health slips to make a change.
And getting started with strength training is no different.
But by the time you need muscle, it’s often harder to build—and the cost of waiting is higher.
So today, I’ll show you 5 reasons why building muscle earlier is one of the smartest long-term health moves you can make.
Because once decline begins, you’re no longer building. You’re catching up.
Let's get started.
1. Muscle is your bank account for independence later in life.
Think of your muscle as a functional savings account.
You make regular deposits through strength training—and those deposits protect you from functional “bankruptcy” as you age.
When illness, injury, or ageing hits (and it will), the muscle you’ve built becomes your buffer.
The more you’ve got in reserve, the less likely you are to:
Suffer serious falls or fractures
Lose your ability to live independently
Be forced into rehab, care, or long-term medication use
If you wait until that decline begins, you’re no longer building muscle—you’re chasing losses.
2. Muscle loss starts earlier than most people realise.
You lose strength twice as fast as you lose muscle mass
You lose power (the ability to produce force quickly) up to eight times faster
And guess what?
Strength and power are what keeps you mobile and independent.
By building muscle, strength, and power earlier in life, you’re not just increasing your peak—you’re buying more time before decline becomes a problem.
That’s the power of a proactive approach to your health.
3. Muscle is a powerful predictor of long-term health.
Muscle isn’t just about movement or looks.
It’s about metabolism, immunity, and disease prevention.
Muscle acts like a metabolic sink:
It protects against obesity and metabolic syndrome
It helps regulate blood sugar (reducing diabetes risk)
It supports immune health and reduces inflammation
That’s why having low muscle mass makes you 39% more likely to have insulin resistance, and twice as likely to have any form of diabetes.
But the pitfalls of losing muscle don’t stop there.
Low muscle mass is associated with higher risks of:
Hospitalisation
Poor quality of life
All-cause mortality
Loss of independence
Surgical complications
Cardiovascular disease
Low bone mineral density
The list goes on…
Muscle isn’t just about strength or aesthetics. It’s about living better, for longer.
4. Muscle protects you from reactive healthcare traps.
Most health systems are reactive: they treat decline after it happens.
But by then, it’s harder to regain what’s been lost.
Rehabilitation often aims to get people back to their previous baseline—but that baseline is usually already too low.
And without ongoing training, many relapse.
Another illness or injury hits…and functional capacity drops even further.
Now the baseline is even lower. And recovery becomes slower, harder, and less complete.
So here’s the better approach:
Build above your baseline now—so when injury or illness hits, you bounce back quicker, and don't fall as far.
A proactive approach is protection against future dependence and decline.
5. It’s easier to build and maintain muscle early than it is to rebuild it later.
Here’s a harsh truth:
Sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) is far easier to prevent than it is to reverse.
Now don’t get me wrong. It’s never too late to benefit from exercise.
Older adults can regain muscle, but often it takes longer, requires higher effort, and may comes with more risks (injury, slower recovery).
By contrast, younger bodies can respond easier to training:
You build more with less risk
You get stronger with less stimulus
You recover faster between sessions
Starting earlier makes maintenance easy.
Starting later can make recovering from decline a struggle.
The good news?
You’ll never be younger—or more primed to build muscle—than you are today.
So, what should you do?
If you’re in your 30s, 40s, or 50s: now is the time to act.
But even if you’re older, it’s never too late to start reaping the benefits.
