Meathead, gym rat, muscle-bound. Just a few of the many names I have been called over the years. Not bragging, just stating — until recently, nobody would listen to me, the gym rat, about the importance of muscle. And now there are internet “influencers” galore claiming this new information. In the last year, many doctors have written books about it.

I wrote a body composition guide and promoted it with skin fold calipers in the late 1990s as a way to measure and track your muscle mass, knowing it is the key to health and longevity. No matter what my point is, you need to build muscle to have a good and long quality of life. Period.

Your muscles are the key to everything health-wise. Skeletal muscle is the single largest site in your body for storing and consuming sugar. Muscles regulate insulin sensitivity. This keeps your blood sugar management system operating appropriately. It manages inflammation. Using your muscles stabilizes your joints. The difference between ambulating or not, and how well and comfortably you do it. Increasing your muscle mass, or at least maintaining it, at any age comes down to the following. You have to load your muscles, fight gravity, lift weights — whatever.

Muscles have to be forced to work. You need adequate protein intake. Not so much as you start to hate food, just adequate, at every meal. You need to recover from your daily life. Sleep well, de-stress, have good relationships. You need an experienced doctor to look at your hormones. They are key in the maintenance and building of muscle. Therefore, in summary, you need to become a meathead and do your very best to become muscle-bound.