The Muscle Deficit Crisis in Women Over 40

00:00Stop asking, how do I weigh less? How do I lose weight? Start asking, how can I become stronger? Because the women who age the best are the women who lift weights. They're the women who prioritize protein. They're the women that fuel their bodies. They're women that build muscle over time. Because this isn't a six-week thing. This isn't like I joke around about popping your body into a microwave and now it comes to ToneBody. This is a lifelong investment. I have seen countless numbers of women. We have coached over 20,000 women at a WarBabe and our demographic of women is 45 to 70 years old. I have seen so many women in their 40s, in their 50s, in their 60s, even in their 70s, completely transform their bodies by doing this one thing, which is building muscle.

00:41What's going on, everybody? Hey, you guys. Welcome back to another episode of The WarriorBabe Show with your host, Nikki Stott. And on these episodes, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. Guys, today is episode number 337. And today I want to talk about, I've talked about this topic many, many, many, many, many, many times.

01:12But I want to dive in just a little bit deeper with you guys. Because I had a community call yesterday with our bigger ecosystem of Warrior Babes. And there was a point of the conversation that I, when I was talking to them, that I just like, I landed on it. And I was like, this is actually really important for women to start to think this way in terms of their body and their longevity. So I was talking about the importance of protein. I'm not going to talk about that today.

01:45But I was talking about how important it is for us as women, as we get older, to feel our bodies like our life depends on it. And then it got me into talking to them about muscle. Okay, so you guys know I've talked about muscle multiple times on this episode. But I want to talk about how there is a muscle deficit crisis in women over 40. You know, even women that are 35 and older, and women that are past their 50s and 60s.

02:16One, I've seen this because I worked in the emergency room for four years. And I would constantly see multiple falls per week coming from women, breaking their hips, breaking an arm, breaking a leg, breaking a rib, mainly hips and ribs. And you could just look at the individual and you could just be like, yeah, I mean, it doesn't look like that person has a lot of muscle to their body. Sure, maybe they've worked out in their life. But they didn't do workouts that strengthen the body by developing more muscle.

02:48And after the age of 30, our muscle mass decreases every decade by 3 to 8%. If you don't incorporate strength training or fueling your body appropriately. And that's the hard part that people have is the nutrition aspect. And I understand it. I don't really see a problem with the workouts. Most people will go do workouts of any which kind. Okay, everyone's always in the gym. But it's when people leave the gym that things unwind or unfold in the wrong way for their nutrition to support the workout that they just did and to support their overall body.

03:26Aspects that's going to help them to have energy and to recover. Anyway, sidetrack on that. But today, on the muscle crisis aspect. And I use the word crisis because what I see in our industry, it's a massive population of women who are eating less, who are doing more cardio, who are trying to weigh less. While like unknowingly losing the very thing that protects their metabolism, that protects their hormones, that protects their bones, that protects their confidence, that protects their longevity.

03:57And that's muscle. So I want to dive into you guys a little bit on like an education realm today, just to open your minds. I feel like when you guys know an education behind something, it's more easily for you to apply the importance of what I'm asking you to apply in a practical way. So we're going to talk about sarcopenia. We're going to talk about why most women are under muscled right now. Why muscle is one of the most important organs in your body. I want you guys to think of it like that. Just like your heart. Just like your lungs.

04:28Muscle is the organ of longevity. And why, in my opinion, strength training is no longer optional after you reach a certain age. Okay? So I want this to wake you up. But I also want this to empower you in so many ways. Because the moment you guys understand this, like I said, you'll understand it, you'll embrace the why and everything about how you approach your body starts to change moving forward. Okay? So let's dive into it. Let's talk about the science first. The term sarcopenia, right? That's like a health science term. Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass.

05:03And it starts way earlier than most women think it starts. Like it doesn't start in your 60s. It doesn't start in your 70s. It doesn't start in your 40s. As I was saying, it starts in your 30s. And it accelerates in your 40s. And it accelerates even more in your 50s and beyond. As I mentioned, if nothing is done to stop it, then you will lose 3-8% of muscle per decade starting at the age of 30. And even faster after 40. I want you to pause and just think about that for a second.

05:34Because most women are not actively trying to build muscle. What most women are doing are dieting, are restricting, are doing cardio, and are trying to weigh less. So what's actually happening then? There, when they're focusing on that. They're not just losing fat. They're losing muscle too. You guys have heard me talk about this in a previous episode, the difference between weight loss and fat loss. You can focus on all the things that I just said. Dieting, restricting, doing tons of cardio, and trying to see a number on the scale drop dramatically.

06:09That is weight loss. You can dive into any diet that is out there that tells you to eat three bland meals a day and you are going to lose weight if you follow consistently. It's hard to do it because it's restrictive. And you're thinking about all the other foods that you basically are telling yourself you can't have. Fat loss is where you are fueling your body properly, aka giving your body enough protein. It's one of the most important macronutrients in my opinion. And then while you're decreasing body fat, you're preserving the lean muscle that you have to your body. So the protein is helping you and the strength training and hydration and everything else, good sleep.

06:44But like let me just focus on the nutrition aspect. The protein is going to help to not allow your body to tap into your muscle for energy while you are focusing on the other side of losing weight. Because when you're losing weight, your body is trying to find energy because you're not giving it enough. So it's going to find energy in that muscle store. So when you're focusing on fat loss, you're eating enough protein with this. And the protein is holding on to the muscle.

07:15It's keeping it safe. Think of it like that. And then it's shedding and getting rid of the body fat that is around your muscle. Everyone should be focusing on fat loss. Because over time, if you're losing muscle too and just focusing on being smaller, I've mentioned this many times. Your strength not only drops, your metabolism slows. Your energy drops. Your irritability rises. Your mood is questionable day to day. Your body composition shifts. Like you're going to look, sure you're going to lose weight, but you're going to look like a smaller, fatter version of yourself.

07:48You're going to look like that skinny fat. All right. So think of it like that. Like that's what sarcopenia is. And then why no one talks about it on the aspect of women are not actively building that muscle. Like majority of women are doing things, like I said, that are the counter opposite of how you build muscle to build a strong body. Counterproductive. Quick pause, because in my opinion, February always feels like the month to show a little extra love, whether that's for someone else or for yourself.

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09:30That makes the little moments count, guys. Go check it out and get these items. All right, back to the show. Let's talk about why most women are under muscled. And this part really blows people's minds when I talk about this because most women are not overweight. They're under muscled. Meaning, what do I mean by that? So there's two different things here. Two very different things. You can be 120 pounds, 130 pounds, 140 pounds. And you can still be under muscled. You can look average on the outside, but you can have low muscle density. You can have low metabolic strength.

10:01You could have poor body composition. That's what we call skinny fat. And I say that with love because, first of all, I was that. That was me 10 years ago. When I first started my fitness journey, I weighed 140 pounds. And at the same time, I thought, wow, I'm good. I'm small. I'm lean. I'm good. But I wasn't strong. I didn't have any muscle. My metabolism wasn't powerful. I was just smaller. Now, fast forward to now, as I shared with you guys, I weigh 145 pounds or 150 pounds, but I look completely different. Completely different. I have abs year round.

10:33I have more muscle, more shape, more strength, more density to my body. And that blows women's minds. So when I think about people being not slash like what I said, not overweight, it's like underneath of that fat on a body, there's muscle there, but there's not a lot of it because they're not focusing on building it. And that's what women have been taught their entire life. Less weight, better body. That's not true. Having more muscle equals having a way better, stronger body, better hormones, better metabolism,

11:04better mood, better sleep, better strength, better longevity. And this is where the entire, I feel like the entire fitness industry has it completely backwards. So you've heard me say this before that, and I've heard this from Dr. Gabriel Lyons, that muscle is the organ of longevity. This is where I just want to dive a little bit deeper in the science with you guys, because muscle isn't just for like show. It's not just for like aesthetics. It's not just for those women that you see that are up on stage because they're bodybuilding or doing bikini shows. Muscle is not just for looking fit and looking toned and being defined.

11:35Think of it on such a deeper level with me for a second. Muscle is metabolically active tissue. It is one of the most protective systems in your body. Muscle impacts blood sugar regulation. It impacts insulin sensitivity. It impacts your metabolic rate. It impacts your hormone balance, your hunger cues. It impacts your bone density. Another thing with sarcopenia is also later in life, women have osteoporosis, which is they

12:06lose their bone density. So think about those two combined and why when I was working in the emergency room, I saw women falling and fracturing their hips or hurt breaking a rib. Bone density is down. Muscle mass is down. Muscle also impacts your mobility. It impacts your stability. It impacts your balance. It impacts your ability to be preventative of injuries. And then like there's something most women don't think about this way is muscle is one of the strongest predictors of longevity.

12:37Maybe you guys have heard it, but Dr. Gabriel Lyon says basically like it being the organ of longevity, the more muscle they have, the more years you're adding to your life. It's not how thin you are, how small you are, but how strong you are. More than the more muscle have a lower risk of chronic disease. They maintain independence way longer. When I was in working in the long term nursing care unit, I worked in skilled care with dementia patients. They always said that women outlived the men.

13:07That's very true. Women live longer than the men. So wouldn't you want to think if you don't have your husband, think about like this, like, okay, you live longer than your husband. Don't you want to be able to maintain independence in a better way, in a longer way, a healthier way? If you're not going to have him around, you're going to be able to then be still with your family and doing things with them and keeping up with them, keeping up with grandkids. Because like, this is why I say like muscle isn't just a look. It is literally your body's protection. I know when I talk about lifting, for a lot of you guys still, this myth still is out there

13:44in terms of like, well, if I lift weights, I'm going to get bulky. It's shifting. I know a lot of you guys are listening to this now and be like, yeah, I don't really believe in that anymore. But there's still some of you guys that are listening and that are like, yeah, I feel like if I lift weights, I'm just going to get big. That's not going to happen. And I want you to rewrite the narrative of you thinking that's going to happen to it's not going to happen. And I want you to look at lifting as a non-negotiable after you turn 40 years old. Because this is again, where that shift starts to happen. After 40, the game changes.

14:16Hormone shift, recovery changes, metabolism becomes more sensitive. I even argue. You guys know I shared it on a podcast last year. Man, I woke up 35 years old. And all of a sudden, it was like, bam, things were different. And like, I'm really like, I'm grateful for the fact that I have such an I'm in very intuitive with my body. Like if something is off or something isn't right, I know there's something wrong or something is changing. So as soon as I woke up one morning, and for like, three weeks, four weeks straight,

14:50not feeling normal. Like it's a real thing. And I know you guys are like shaking your head like, yeah, like even talking to when I do Pilates, I was talking to one of the girls in the class this morning. She's like, 45 hit man, everything changed. So we all experience it differently. But does it man the game changes when we get older. And if muscle isn't being actively built and or protected, the body will slowly lose it. Pilates is great. I do it. Walking is great. Yoga is great. But they are not enough to prevent muscle loss.

15:24Strength training is the ultimate stimulus that the body needs to build muscle to maintain muscle to protect muscle. Without that type of stimulus, like where you are picking up dumbbells and barbells. Dumbbells and barbells. And you are creating a meta the metabolic stress on your muscle. Unless you are doing that, you're not building muscle, you're not maintaining muscle, you're not protecting without that type of stimulus. And the body is going to adapt downward, it's going to lose muscle, it's going to lower your metabolism, and it's going to store more fat.

15:54And women think, okay, now as I'm getting older, I just need to eat less, I need to eat less. How much more less could you eat? Guys, you can't live off of just one meal or snacking throughout the day or eating these small yogurt and fruit and salads with chicken. You can't live off of that. You don't need to eat less. What you need to do is you need to build more muscle. So like the real mental reframe that I want you guys to have is like, stop asking, how do I weigh less? How do I lose weight? Start asking, how can I become stronger? Because the women who age the best are the women who lift weights.

16:28They're the women who prioritize protein. They're the women that fuel their bodies. They're women that build muscle over time. Because this isn't a six-week thing. This isn't like I joke around about popping your body into a microwave and now it comes to a toned body. This is a lifelong investment. I personally am so grateful that I started this journey 10 years ago in the middle of my 20s and understand the importance of this because this is a lifelong investment for me. If you're 50, 55, 60, 65, it is never too late.

16:59I have seen countless numbers of women. We have coached over 20,000 women at a wardrobe and our demographic of women is 45 to 70 years old. I have seen so many women in their 40s, in their 50s, in their 60s, even in their 70s, completely transform their bodies by doing this one thing, which is building muscle. And once they do, once they incorporate and understand this importance and they're fueling their body, they're not eating these 1,200 calorie restrictive diets or they're, you

17:32know, maybe they're not dieting, but they're just trying to eat less. They're not doing this. They're bringing awareness to how much they're eating. And then they start incorporating the strength training. Even it's not like you need to be repping out one max reps, guys. Don't think of it like that either. You need to get in the gym. You just need to get some dumbbells in your hand. You need to get a barbell in your hand. And you need to do some repetitions of like eight to 15 repetitions and challenge yourself with the last three reps of an exercise of your set should be challenging.

18:04Not one where you're going to hurt yourself or you're throwing weight around. Proper form is so important. But the more that you, the more that you create that stimulus, everything is, and you build the muscle, everything is going to get easier. You're going to have fat loss easier. You're going to have more energy. You're going to have more confidence. You're going to have more better mobility. Everything. If you're not into strength training, you don't need to go full bore on week one. Just get into the gym two times. Buy some dumbbells of Amazon and put them in your garage or in your living room.

18:36And get up three times a week and do some dumbbell movements. Dumbbell exercises. Join Warrior Bape. Have a coach do a programming for you. All right? If this episode hit home for you guys, I want you to sit with this as I log off. You don't need to be smaller. You don't need to lose weight. You need to get stronger. Because when you do, strength is going to change everything for you. And the earlier that you start protecting your muscle, the more powerful your future is going

19:08to become. I'll leave you on that note, guys. I love you very much. And I'll see you in the next episode. Peace out. Real quick. If this episode resonated with you or gave you the push that you needed, I'd love for you to pay it forward. Drop a quick rating and review. Share the podcast with someone who might need it. And help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps to show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so, so much for your support.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.