Hello Reader,
Your Muscle Is More Than Just Muscle
Dear Commander,
I’ll admit something: For years, I thought muscle was just about looking toned and being able to carry heavy grocery bags without help.
I was wrong. Really wrong.
Because it turns out that your skeletal muscle is actually one of the most metabolically active organs in your entire body—quietly orchestrating everything from your blood sugar levels to your immune function to how well you recover from illness.
Dr. Vonda Wright, the renowned orthopedic surgeon whose new book Unbreakable just became a New York Times bestseller, puts it this way: Strong skeletal muscle drives healthy longevity. Not just strength. Not just independence. Your actual longevity.
Let me show you why this matters so much, especially for women navigating perimenopause and beyond…
Wait, Muscle Is an Organ?
Yes! And not just any organ—it’s what scientists call an “endocrine organ,” meaning it actively communicates with every other system in your body.
Think of your muscles as a sophisticated command center, constantly sending chemical messages throughout your body that influence:
Your blood sugar control: Muscle is the primary site where your body stores glucose and responds to insulin. When you lose muscle mass, your ability to regulate blood sugar diminishes.
Your energy availability: Muscle serves as a reservoir of amino acids and protein that your body can draw from when needed. When muscle declines, protein and energy availability drops throughout your entire body.
Your recovery and healing: Muscle loss is directly linked to delayed recovery from illness, slower wound healing, and reduced resting metabolic rate.
Your inflammation levels: Muscle releases proteins called myokines during contraction that help reduce chronic inflammation and protect against diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative conditions.
In other words, your muscle is literally talking to your liver, your pancreas, your fat cells, your brain, and your cardiovascular system—all day, every day.
The Menopause Connection: Why This Hits Women Harder
Here’s where it gets personal for those of us in midlife.
Dr. Wright has identified what she calls the “musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause”—a condition where more than 70% of women experience joint pain, muscle loss, and reduced bone density as they enter perimenopause and menopause.
Why? Because estrogen receptors exist everywhere in your body—from your brain to your muscles to your bones. When estrogen drops during menopause, nearly every organ system is affected, and the rate of aging accelerates.
Without intentional intervention, women can lose 15% to 20% of bone density during the perimenopause period alone. And muscle mass? That’s declining too, taking your metabolic health down with it.
But here’s the empowering part: You’re not powerless here.
Your Muscle Is Your Metabolic Insurance Policy
When you maintain and build muscle mass, you’re doing far more than getting stronger. You’re actively improving your body’s insulin sensitivity, glucose control, and ability to manage inflammation.
You’re creating what amounts to a metabolic buffer—a protective shield that helps your body handle the hormonal shifts of menopause without spiraling into metabolic disease.
Think about it this way: Every time you do a strength training session, you’re not just building muscle fibers. You’re triggering the release of beneficial myokines that communicate with other organs to improve metabolic function throughout your entire system.
Your muscles become your body’s pharmacy, dispensing exactly what you need to stay metabolically healthy.
What This Means for You Today
Research shows that strengthening skeletal muscle positively impacts both cardiovascular and metabolic health, with resistance training proven to improve cardiometabolic health while building muscle.
The prescription isn’t complicated:
Lift heavy things. The weight you're lifting needs to be appropriate for your level of conditioning, but it also needs to challenge you.
Be consistent. Regular physical activity and exercise promote increased skeletal muscle mass and beneficial myokine release. At my fitness studio in Nyack, NY I don't take drop-ins. I require people to join a month at a time and I price it to make them want to get in three workouts a week. I won't do it any other way because if you are working out less or inconsistently, you are just spinning your wheels. You will never make real improvement.
Think long-term. Age-related muscle loss is a continuous process, with some research suggesting lean muscle reduction can start as early as age 30. The best time to start building your metabolic insurance policy was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.
Fuel appropriately. Studies show that adequate dietary protein can help maintain and rebuild muscle mass and strength, directly improving metabolic function.
The Bottom Line
Your muscle isn’t just about being strong—though that matters tremendously for independence and quality of life.
Your muscle is actively regulating your metabolism, controlling your blood sugar, managing inflammation, communicating with your brain, supporting your immune system, and determining how well you’ll recover from illness or injury.
Building and maintaining muscle isn’t vanity. It’s longevity medicine.
It’s your body’s way of staying metabolically resilient through menopause and beyond.
And it’s completely within your control.
Thinking about your muscle health differently now? Hit reply and let me know—I love hearing from you.
Stay Fierce,
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