When we think about building muscle, we might picture someone lifting heavy weights in a gym or trying to achieve a certain physique; but muscle is about much more than appearance. As we mention in our article ‘Strength As We Age’ in our Weights2Go Community.
Our muscles help us to move, maintain our balance, perform everyday activities, and, stay physically independent. Our muscles also play an important role in how our bodies use energy and regulate blood sugar. Possibly, more importantly, maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important as we get older.
What is muscle mass?
Muscle mass refers to the amount of muscle tissue in your body. Skeletal muscle is the muscle we can consciously control. These muscles allow us to walk, climb stairs, lift, carry, push and pull.
Muscle naturally changes as we age. We can gradually lose muscle mass and strength, a process known as sarcopenia. However, ageing does not mean that losing strength and muscle is inevitable, or, that there isn’t anything that can be done about it.
Research consistently shows that resistance exercise can help maintain and improve muscular strength, including in older adults. PubMed (This is a database, provided by U.S. National Library of Medicine).
1. Muscle Helps us to stay Strong and Functional
One of the greatest benefits of having healthy, strong muscles is surprisingly simple, they help us to do everyday things.
Getting out of a chair, carrying shopping bags, climbing stairs, lifting objects, getting up from the floor and walking, all require muscular strength.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 21 studies involving 1,610 adults aged 60 and over found that resistance training significantly improved physical functioning and muscle strength. (PubMed)
Another systematic review of 25 studies involving more than 2,200 adults aged 65 and over found that resistance training improved measures including lower-body strength, gait speed, functional performance and muscle mass. (PubMed)
This is one reason strength isn’t just about lifting heavier weights; it’s about making everyday movement easier.
2. Strong Muscles can help to Support our Mobility as we Age
Being able to move around confidently is an important part of maintaining independence.
Research into older adults with sarcopenia has found associations between low muscle strength and poor physical performance. Conversely, resistance exercise can improve measures such as walking speed, chair-stand performance and mobility. (PubMed)
Interestingly, research also reminds us that muscle size and muscle strength aren’t exactly the same thing.
You can become stronger without dramatically increasing the size of your muscles. This means that resistance exercise can still be valuable even if you’re not trying to build large muscles.
In fact, for everyday life, functional strength may be more important than muscle size alone.
3. Maintaining Muscle becomes particularly Important as we get Older
Muscle loss can become more noticeable with advancing age.
We can gradually lose muscle mass and strength as we age, as previously mentioned. If this age-related decline becomes clinically significant, it may be associated with a condition known as sarcopenia; which has been linked with poor physical function, and, an increased risk of falls and fractures. A large systematic review and meta-analysis involving more than 45,000 older adults, found that people with sarcopenia had a significantly higher risk of falls and fractures than those without sarcopenia. (PubMed)
The encouraging part is that our muscles remain responsive to exercise, even at an advanced age.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 22 randomized controlled trials found that very elderly adults, including people aged 80 and over, could increase muscle strength through resistance training. The research also found an improvement in whole-muscle size among very elderly participants. (PubMed)
So, it’s never simply a case of “I’m too old to build strength.”
4. Resistance Exercise can also Benefit our Bones
Our muscles and bones work together every time we move. Resistance exercise places a mechanical stimulus on the body, and research suggests that progressive resistance training can improve both muscle strength, and, certain measures of bone mineral density in older adults.
One systematic review and meta-analysis found that progressive resistance training increased lower-body muscle strength and improved femur/hip bone mineral density in older adults. (PubMed)
This doesn’t mean that resistance exercise can prevent every bone-related condition, but maintaining strong muscles and supporting healthy bones are important parts of staying physically capable as we age.
5. Muscle plays an Important Role in Blood Sugar Regulation
Here is a benefit of muscle, that isn’t always talked about. Skeletal muscle is a major site for glucose disposal in the body. In other words, our muscles play an important role in helping our bodies to handle glucose from the bloodstream.
Research published in Cell Metabolism describes skeletal muscle as the principal tissue responsible for insulin-stimulated glucose disposal, and, it explains how muscle contraction and exercise, can increase insulin sensitivity. (PubMed)
This is one reason why regular physical activity, including resistance exercise, is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.
However, it’s important to remember, that having more muscle doesn’t automatically mean someone will have normal blood sugar levels. Nutrition, physical activity, genetics, body composition, and many other factors, all play a role.
6. Muscle is Metabolically Active
Muscle tissue requires energy to maintain itself, and to perform its many functions.
This is one reason why maintaining muscle can be useful when we’re thinking about body composition and healthy ageing.
However, it’s worth avoiding some of the exaggerated claims we sometimes see online about muscle ‘burning huge amounts of calories.’ Building muscle can contribute to energy expenditure, but increasing muscle mass alone isn’t a magic solution for weight loss.
A healthy approach combines regular movement, resistance exercise, appropriate nutrition, adequate sleep and other healthy lifestyle habits.
7. How Do We Maintain or Build Muscle?
One of the most effective ways is through resistance exercise.
This doesn’t necessarily mean going to a gym and lifting very heavy weights.
Resistance can come from:
- Body-weight exercises
- Dumbbells
- Weights2Go Bottles
- Resistance bands
- Weight machines
- Kettlebells
- Exercises using everyday objects
- Other forms of external resistance
The important principle is that the muscles are challenged against resistance. Research has demonstrated that resistance training can improve strength and physical function, even among older adults, and studies show that people in their 70s, 80s and beyond, can still respond to resistance exercise. (PubMed)
This is the important message; you don’t have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from building muscle. The goal can simply be, to become stronger, more capable, and better able, to enjoy everyday life, especially so as we age.
8. What about Combining Resistance Exercise with Walking?
Walking is an excellent form of physical activity and offers many health benefits. Walking and resistance exercise, challenge the body in different ways.
Walking primarily provides aerobic and weight-bearing activity, albeit low impact, while resistance exercise specifically challenges muscles to produce force against resistance.
Combining different types of exercise can therefore provide a more rounded approach to fitness.
This is where the idea behind Weights2Go Weighted Sports Bottles first came from; it was during a hike in the Spanish Mountains.
Weights2Go Weighted Sports Bottles are designed to combine hydration with resistance exercise together, allowing the bottles to be used as weighted exercise tools, while also serving their purpose as sports drinking bottles.
However, we cannot claim that Weights2Go bottles in themselves, have proven medical or health benefits, because the product has not yet been clinically tested in a Science Lab.
What we can say is that the principle of resistance exercise is well supported by scientific research, including research showing improvements in muscle strength and physical function. (PubMed)
Muscle isn’t just about looking strong
Perhaps the biggest misconception about muscle is that it’s primarily about appearance.
Yes, developing muscle can change the way our bodies look, but its importance goes much further.
Muscle helps us to move.
Muscle helps us to lift items and carry them.
Muscle helps us to maintain physical function.
Muscle contributes to our glucose regulation.
Muscle works together with our bones and joints.
Maintaining strength can help us to remain physically capable, especially so, as we grow older.
So perhaps instead of asking, “How much muscle do I have?” we should possibly ask,
“What can my muscles help me do?”
Being strong isn’t simply about lifting weights.
Being strong is about having the strength to live your life. 💪❤️
Research & Further Reading:
The information above is based primarily on systematic reviews and meta-analyses indexed in PubMed, the database provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. adults diagnosed with sarcopenia (2025).
1. Resistance training and quality of life, strength and physical function
Kashi et al. (2023)
21 studies, 1,610 adults aged 60+.
PubMed – Resistance Training, Quality of Life, Muscle Strength and Functional Capacity
2. Resistance training in frailty and sarcopenia
Talar et al. (2021)
25 studies, 2,267 adults aged 65+.
PubMed – Benefits of Resistance Training in Frailty and Sarcopenia
3. Resistance training in the very elderly
Grgic et al. (2020)
22 studies examining people aged 75+, including people aged 80+.
PubMed – Resistance Training on Muscle Size and Strength in Very Elderly Adults
4. Sarcopenia, falls and fractures
Yeung et al. (2019)
33 studies and 45,926 participants in the meta-analysis.
This supports the relationship between sarcopenia, falls and fractures.
PubMed – Sarcopenia, Falls and Fractures
5. Resistance training, muscle strength and bone density
O’Bryan et al. (2022)
14 studies examining adults aged 65+.
PubMed – Resistance Training, Muscle Strength and Bone Mineral Density
6. Skeletal muscle and blood glucose
Sylow et al. (2021)
This study explains the important role skeletal muscle plays in insulin-stimulated glucose disposal and how exercise affects insulin sensitivity.
PubMed – The Many Actions of Insulin in Skeletal Muscle
7.Yan et al. (2025) — Optimal resistance training prescriptions to improve muscle strength, physical function, and muscle mass in older adults diagnosed with sarcopenia.
This included 24 randomized controlled trials and 951 participants. Interestingly, it found improvements in strength and physical-function measures, but not significant improvements in appendicular muscle mass in the overall analysis.
Disclaimer: The information provided is for general educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical or healthcare advice. Before making changes to your diet, exercise or fitness routine, please consult a qualified healthcare professional to ensure they are appropriate for you.