Muscle = Strength = Better Life
I hope you’re enjoying the taste of summer in London. I’m sitting outside soaking it in as I’m typing this.
I was having a regular Wednesday 7.30am session with client Karl this week. He’s a professional in his 30’s with busy lifestyle and he always makes sure he does his 3 workouts a week. It’s become his routine that fits his lifestyle and helps him to be in good shape, health and also productive at work.
We were reflecting on our 3rd anniversary of working together. 3 years sounds like a lot, right? Well done to him for being consistent and never really missing more than few weeks at the time due to holidays, work travel, or sickness.
We were just resting 3 min between his heavy bench press sets and he goes: “Brani, this bench is heavier than my bodyweight when we started working together”.
No is that good or bad?
He was absolutely chuffed with himsleft that he can now lift 75kg for 5 reps. And guess what? He’s now 85kg and full of muscle. He’s not bulked like a bodybuilder, not at all. Just a good looking fit, healthy and strong young man.
His goal was always to gain muscle and strength but didn’t really want to be big.
Cool thing about this story is that the weight gain was a positive thing for him.
I worked with many different poeple. Some want to lose and some to gain weight.
1 thing that I preach and educate people on si that no matter what your goal is YOU WANT TO GAIN MORE MUSCLE.
Why more? Because from my experience general population I worked with has a very sedentary lifestyle and their muscle mass is slowly declining. This is a bad news and if not addressed can negatively affect life and health in long term.
Strength training is the secret pill.
As my client Harry said yesterday (who’s a doctor btw): “If you could put strength training in the pill. Big pharma industry would cease to exist”.
Strength training is the king and queen of building muscle. Muscle is an organ of youth. More muscle = more strength. More strength = more ability to have a better experience of life.
Here are 5 powerful reasons to make muscle mass a priority:
1. Protects Against Age-Related Muscle Loss (Sarcopenia)
After age 30, we naturally lose muscle each year. Strength training helps slow or even reverse this process—keeping you active and independent for longer.
2. Boosts Metabolism
Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat. So, more muscle = a faster metabolism = easier weight management, even when you’re not working out.
3. Improves Bone Density
Lifting weights doesn’t just strengthen muscles—it strengthens bones too. This reduces the risk of fractures and osteoporosis.
4. Supports Joint Health & Reduces Injury Risk
Strong muscles stabilize your joints, which helps prevent everyday aches, pains, and injuries—keeping you moving well.
5. Enhances Longevity & Quality of Life
People with more muscle mass tend to live longer, healthier lives. It’s not just about adding years to your life, but life to your years.
To get all those benefits you don’t even have to become a gym bunny. You can start with 1x a week. Make it a habit, find the way that you enjoy (or at least don’t hate). Then build up from there.
If you need help getting started or taking it to the next level. Reach out and let’s have a chat.
Workout of the day:
Full body strength training workout for the gym
Thia workout will target every single muscle in your body and help you improvd your strength when done regurarly. Make sure you do a dynamic warm-up first and then challenge yourself with a weights that you can perform the exercise with perfect form but at the same time push you outside of your comfort zone.
5 sets
12-10-8-6-AMRAP Leg press (increasing weight each set till you come to the heaviest weight you can lift for 6 reps and perform AMRAP - as many reps as possible)
- rest 90 sec to 2 min
4 sets
10 dumbbell bench press
10 single arm dumbbell row on each arm
- rest 2 min between sets
3 sets
10 single leg deadlift on each leg
20 deadbug with swiss ball
-rest 90 sec between sets
5 sets
20 sec hard 40 sec easy on rowing machine