Optimize Muscle Mass and Strength During Weight Loss

Hi, I’m Dr Lucas. I’m board certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine. In this video, I’ll review approaches to optimize muscle mass and strength, both generally and during weight loss. 

First, the rationale. Strength training is not just for athletes. It is essential to protect against reductions in muscle mass and strength that will occur with advancing age.

Think of muscle mass and strength as forming a type of bank account. With financial retirement, the best strategy is to save early and often. The same is true for health. Unexpected costs are likely to occur and will compromise quality of life. The stronger your bank account, the better prepared you’ll be to handle these costs.

Meaningful improvements in muscle mass and strength do not require fancy equipment or a gym membership. With 20 minutes and a $20 set of resistance bands, a reasonably thorough full-body workout is possible at home. For the best results, perform two full-body strength training sessions twice per week spaced out by 3-4 days. 

When studied, twice-a-week strength training sessions was four-fold better than once a week for promoting increases in lean body mass, which is a proxy for muscle mass. 

During these workouts, prioritize compound exercises such as chest presses, rows, and squats, as these target multiple muscle groups simultaneously, and these can all be performed with resistance bands.

For those just getting started, even 5 minutes of strength training twice per week will create momentum that you can build on over time. For the greatest benefit to muscle mass, attention to protein is also required.
 

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