When a Koko FitClub franchisee in California shared these compelling photographs on facebook last week, (thanks Aman,) I knew I had to blog about body weight this week .
We have all weighed ourselves. Some of us make it more of a habit that others and multi-billion dollar companies have built successful business models on having members weigh themselves each week. But body weight and your scale alone cannot tell the whole story about your health and fitness.
For all of the people over the years who have told me they don’t need to exercise because they “weigh the same as they did in college,” a picture is worth a thousand words. And this one speaks volumes. Five women, all with different body mass indexes, different percent body fat levels, different dress sizes (UK size) and even different amounts of muscle, but all with one thing in common…anyone? They all weight the same! They all weight 150 pounds. 150 pounds can mean something completely different for every body…even your own after a couple of decades.
In this photo, for a few of the taller women, that body weight suits them well, while for others – it is too much weight. But stepping on that scale tells you none of the particulars. It tells you nothing more than the fact that you weight 150 lbs.
At Koko FitClub we take a different approach. We don’t want you to focus on “losing weight” as your primary goal. We want to encourage you to focus on getting fit and healthy from the inside out. To focus on building and preserving muscle first.
Why? Because you start to lose it after about age 35. (To the tune of 8-10 pounds a decade!) If you weight he same as you did in college and you aren’t working to maintain your lean muscle, your percent body fat has increased. Your body is not the same.
Building and preserving muscle has huge benefits:
- Research has demonstrated that for every three pounds of muscle I can add, I rev up my metabolism by 7%.
- Muscle tissue burns three times more calories (pound for pound) than fat tissue.
- More muscle changes the way you look – as you can see with our group of women – not to mention the way you feel!
- More muscle means more independence as you age into your golden years.
The work I’m putting in at Koko now – in my 50’s – is already paying big dividends. And, I’m counting on it to continue into my 60′s, 70’s, 80’s and maybe even beyond.
All it takes for you to reap the same benefits is a little Koko Smartraining – 3 strength and 3 to 4 cardio sessions a week. Are you in?
Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub