Why Supporting Skeletal Muscle Is Key to Graceful Aging: With Expert Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

Grounded Wellness Podcast: Episode 4

On this episode of our Grounded Wellness podcast, we sat down with the incredible Dr. Gabrielle Lyon to talk about the impact of muscle health on full-body health. She helped us understand the importance of building and maintaining muscle to age well. We’ve adapted the conversation to written format, but if you want to dive even deeper, check out the full episode here. It was filmed on our regenerative farm plot under the shade of a cottonwood tree.

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Growing older doesn’t have to be miserable and full of symptoms of declining health. 

In fact, you can start building resiliency in your body right now with one simple concept: supporting skeletal muscle. If you want to feel amazing and look even better as you age, our latest conversation with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon is going to be right up your alley. 

So, if you’re currently: 

→ Struggling to find the motivation to make exercise part of your routine

→ Stuck on yo-yo dieting patterns and tired of the rollercoaster of emotions

→ Highly active, but curious about how to be more effective with your time exercising

Then join this conversation on the importance of developing + maintaining skeletal muscle, aka your body’s largest organ.

As a board-certified family physician and a pioneer in muscle-based wellness, this episode of Grounded Wellness with Dr. Lyon helped us understand why building muscle is key for longevity. 

She helped simplify the things we all want to know, like how to:

• Burn fat more easily
• Feel energized throughout the day
• Look even better than you feel
• Reduce your risk of chronic diseases

In other words, she teaches us how to age well. 

Dr. Lyon is the person you need in your corner. With dual experience in geriatrics and nutrition, she brings a unique + impactful insight into the body’s aging processes.

She takes a new approach to medicine you probably haven’t heard of before. Her muscle-centric medicine model is based on the concept that the health of your skeletal muscle directly affects your overall health – for better or worse. 

Let’s dig in.

Meet Our Guest: Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, Founder of Muscle-Centric Medicine 

Our founder, Bethany, sat down to talk with Dr. Lyon about the importance of skeletal muscle. She was grateful to have a captivated audience because, in her opinion, skeletal muscle and muscle health are everything.

Dr. Lyon pointed out that skeletal muscle is one of the most underappreciated conversations in health and wellness.

While studying nutritional sciences as an undergrad, she noticed something starkly different about her professor, Dr. Donald Layman. She realized he was teaching not only from a book but also from experience. 

He was truly thinking through things. 

She realized she was learning from one of the best in the world. (And she was right! Today, he’s known as one of the leading experts in protein, protein metabolism, and muscle.) His impact inspired her to dedicate her life to nutrition and muscle.

After undergrad, she admits she reluctantly went to medical school, knowing it was her ticket to do more than just nutrition. She became a specialist in geriatrics. Fast forward to a graduate project on body composition and brain function, and we land on the moment that changed everything. 

One of the study participants had always struggled with yo-yo dieting and doing what she was “supposed to” – but never saw results. Dr. Lyon found something astonishing in her brain scan. The participant’s brain looked like the beginning of an Alzheimer's brain.

As she describes it, this flash of insight changed the trajectory of her career aspirations.

The Basics of Muscle Health for Longevity

We love the way Dr. Lyon talks about muscle health and how it relates to longevity and aging. Most of us probably don’t think of muscle as an organ or muscle health as a biomarker of wellness. But the reality is that skeletal muscle comprises about 40% of most people’s body weight. 

It’s a huge component of bodily health.

So, if your skeletal muscle is unhealthy, you’re walking around with low levels of chronic inflammation. This is why Dr. Lyon believes healthy skeletal muscle is key. 

Muscle Health + Overall Wellness

Muscle health isn’t just about looking ripped. As muscle-centric medicine shows us, the state of your skeletal muscle is directly related to your overall sense of wellness. 

Sedentary muscle is not healthy muscle. Over time, inactivity can cause fat to infiltrate muscle tissues, creating fibrosis and displacing mitochondria. 

This changes the ability of your skeletal muscles to produce strength or energy. And on a foundational level, it affects the health of the mitochondria in your cells. Mitochondria are the parts within your cells that generate energy. 

But here’s the good news: Just by doing any activity, your skeletal muscle benefits immediately. Here’s what she said about the impact exercise has on something like inflammation:

Want to be exceptionally healthy while aging gracefully? 

Dr. Lyon suggests putting on as much muscle as you can as early as possible. As you grow older, your ability to build muscle becomes more challenging. So if you want to age well, you want to ensure you’re proactively supporting skeletal muscle. 

She reminded us that we all have voluntary control over our skeletal muscles – amazing news! It means we can help protect and prevent diseases by simply strengthening + building muscle. 

Beyond preventing disease, skeletal muscle also helps with glucose regulation.

Skeletal Muscle + Glucose Regulation

Skeletal muscle is essential for glucose regulation. Dr. Lyon refers to the skeletal muscle as our “metabolic sink,” which is where our body disposes of glucose. All the carbohydrates we eat and the nutrients we ingest have to go somewhere. 

Too much glucose circulating in our bloodstream causes inflammation. But our muscles can utilize glucose and remove it from circulation. In other words, your body uses its own mechanisms to get under metabolic control.

Glucose regulation is often overlooked when it comes to muscle health – and the benefits of building more muscle. 

This brings us to why protein is integral to healthy muscle.  

Why a Protein-Heavy Diet Is Pivotal for Muscle Health and Aging

We know building muscle is powerful health support. But it’s important to note that simply hitting the gym on a regular basis will not significantly improve your skeletal muscle. 

Diet also plays a crucial role in supplying the right building blocks for your body to create muscle. If there’s one thing we can tell you about Dr. Lyon’s nutrition advice, it’s this: Eat more protein.

Plus, a protein-heavy diet comes with a myriad of health benefits like:

• Balanced blood sugar
• Increased energy
• Improved mental clarity
• Better sleep
• Decreased inflammation
• Improved body composition
• Reduced cravings

Naturally, we also discussed the impact of protein on skin health in our conversation with Dr. Lyon. Exercise and muscle building create more circulation in your body. 

With this in mind, Dr. Lyon agreed that building muscle could positively affect skin health. She even mentioned one study on resistance training that found those who regularly exercised seemed to have tighter, more youthful skin.¹ 

A few things she personally prioritizes for healthy skin: 

• High protein foods
• A nutrient-dense, whole-food diet
• Collagen (*not as a protein source as it isn’t a complete protein)
• Polyphenols 
• Hyaluronic acid (both topical and internal)

Knowing there’s an inherent link between skeletal muscle health and aging poses an interesting question. What about muscle loss as you age? Can you prevent or reverse this process by boosting muscle health?

Muscle Loss + Aging

As we age, our bodies naturally become less sensitive to the protein we consume in our diet. This reduced sensitivity to protein is known as anabolic resistance. It can lead to muscle loss and a domino effect of health issues. 

It’s a common concern as people age. But thankfully, there’s an easy way to combat this. Any guesses how? ;) 

Eating more protein and prioritizing exercise that continues to build + maintain muscle. 

And just because you’re young doesn’t mean muscle isn’t important. Dr. Lyon went as far as to suggest that sedentary muscle (even in a youthful person) can begin to respond like an aging muscle. 

Exercise makes your muscles more sensitive to nutrients and allows them to “respond” like younger muscles. As Dr. Lyon explained, aging muscles are not the same as young ones, but they can still respond like young ones. 

With this in mind, let’s discuss how protein and exercise heavily depend on each other to truly show progress throughout the body. 

Protein + Training = The Best Duo for Healthy Skeletal Muscle

So which is more important – protein or training? We asked Dr. Lyon, and her response was somewhat of a catch-22.

“You can’t build muscle without protein. But you also can’t just eat protein and build muscle. You're not going to build muscle through protein (at least not in a meaningful way) without the stimulus of strength training.”

But together, these can be a powerhouse for skeletal muscle and overall health. 

Dr. Lyon worked on some of the early studies of postmenopausal women and found this to be true. With five days of walking, two days a week of resistance training, and protein-rich diets, the women maintained – and even put on muscle! 

This study is a powerful reminder that exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous to make an impact. Even this approachable + simple routine boosted skeletal muscle for women who’d otherwise lose muscle mass.

Throughout the conversation, Dr. Lyon reminded us that our muscle’s ability to maintain itself reduces as we age. And there are literally only two ways to overcome this: strength training and a protein-rich diet. 

Practical Advice for Building Skeletal Muscle

So, how can you apply all of this to build + maintain your skeletal muscle? We’re going to break it down. Let’s start with training.

Here are the top takeaways from our conversation on strength training: 

• Doing something is better than nothing. Still, try to have a structured plan in mind to effectively build muscle.

• Aim for two days of full-body strength training minimum, per Dr. Lyon’s recommendation.

• You can start with body weight (and then bands) if you need to gradually work up to weights. 

• Vary your workout routines. Ideally, dedicate 3-4 days (2 at a minimum) to resistance training, then include one day of HIIT. This is Dr. Lyon’s ideal routine. 

• You don’t have to use heavy weights to build muscle in strength training. To create a stimulus, you just have to go close to failure. (In other words, you want to push yourself right to the edge of what you’re capable of.)

• Find ways to increase non-exercise activities that support skeletal muscle health. Here are some examples:
• Dr. Lyon often wears this weighted vest throughout the day.
• Bethany loves wearing these weighted ankle bands on walks.

Making time for exercise can feel overwhelming, but this quote sums up her no-nonsense (and motivating!) approach to exercise and fitness:

“If we can make iPads, phones, and computers part of our daily life, how can you tell me we can’t make physical fitness part of our life? You go brush your teeth, and then you do some pushups. People say, ‘Oh, gosh, that seems so extreme,’ but is it really? I'm priming my children to be strong and capable.” 

It’s all about prioritizing what’s most important. With that in mind, let’s discuss how you can prioritize a protein-rich diet. There are three main things to consider. 

• Daily Protein Intake – Dr. Lyon recommends between 0.7 to 1g of protein daily per pound of ideal body weight.

• Quality of Your Protein Sources – always choose animal protein over plant protein. As Dr. Lyon puts it, you should use plants to get fiber, minerals, and vitamins – but not protein. She eats quality protein through lots of lean red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, and whey protein. 

• How You Distribute Protein – to maintain muscle mass, it’s important to eat 30-50g of your daily protein at breakfast and dinner specifically. This may sound challenging, but 4oz of chicken or steak contains roughly 28g! (Check out Dr. Lyon’s free protein conversion chart for more ideas.)

Other tips and tricks for a protein-rich diet: 

• Meal prep at the beginning of the week to make it seamless
• Sign up for Dr. Lyon’s weekly newsletter with high-protein recipes
• Fill up on proteins first before moving on to carbs and sides
• If you’re plant-based, a fermented plant protein shake might be a better option

Dr. Lyon’s tips make this feel less complicated and easier to take action. We’re incredibly thankful she broke down this information into an easy-to-digest format. 

Support Skeletal Muscle for Longevity 

Our conversation with Dr. Lyon made it clear how optimizing your muscle health through a protein-rich diet and structured training can change your life for the better. 

Healthy skeletal muscle can protect you from some of the most widespread chronic diseases + illnesses that don’t deserve a place in your story. Now, you have tangible action points to prioritize your health, immediately. 

The future is yours, 

XO

*If you enjoyed this post, check out the full episode of Grounded Wellness to hear Dr. Lyon and Bethany cover other topics like:

→ Personal and work-life balance + how she integrates her kids into her life

→ Bethany’s personal struggles with losing weight postpartum and how Dr. Lyon’s advice changed everything for her

→ How Dr. Lyon feels about cycle syncing and the notion that women shouldn’t engage in aggressive training (and why this concept “further complicates things”)

→ Dr. Lyon’s favorite quick + easy on-the-go snacks as a mom and business owner

→ Dr. Lyon’s view on carbs – and why she doesn’t recommend a carb-free diet 

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Sources: 

1. National Library of Medicine | Resistance Training Rejuvenates Aging Skin by Reducing Circulating Inflammatory Factors and Enhancing Dermal Extracellular Matrices

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