Close-up of a woman's back while exercising
September 26, 2022

Beyond Fitness: Why Muscles are the Pinnacle of Health & Well-Being

Muscle Recovery

We are taught that building muscle strength is important for healthy bones, maintaining strength, muscle tone, and even burning calories. Weight training is about more than looking good in a swimsuit. Learn why building your skeletal muscle system matters for overall health, longevity, and disease prevention.

The Importance of Building Muscle

Introducing Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and Muscle-Centric Medicine®

In this video, you'll discover:

6:45      From obesity to muscle-focus: How Dr. Lyon saw the medical community’s mistake

8:45      2 simple steps to optimize skeletal muscle for health

15:40    The right mix of exercise

19:45    Nutrition and exercise combo for correcting metabolic diseases

20:15    Equation for how much protein to eat

23:35   Easy fundamentals to protect your muscle system

27:45   3 tips to make a change

28:55   Infrared sauna for muscle recovery

Why We Love Our Guest

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon’s sincere desire to educate people about the importance of building muscle beyond fitness stems from a life-long study and observation in her clinical research and practice. From an early personal passion for nutrition and fitness as a teen, to observation and experience with patients in her medical residency, she realized that the focus on obesity was failing to help people prevent or heal from metabolic diseases and live healthier. She observed the connection between muscle mass and the biochemical role muscle plays and created a muscle-centric medicine® practice. She’s gone on to create a community and resources that are helping many people live better by building muscle for weight loss, anti-aging, and overall health.

A beautiful person inside and out, we love that she practices what she preaches and has committed her life to helping people shift how they view the role of the muscle system in their health routines. We’re proud to partner with Dr. Lyon in her mission to empower people to make choices and changes that have a big impact on their bodies.

What to Expect 

This episode of Sunlighten Spotlight explores our body’s skeletal muscle system and how similar it is to the endocrine system and thyroid. More than helping physical strength, our muscle system produces important proteins and biochemicals that affect our entire body.

Watch, learn, and get inspired that you can make a few simple changes in your health routines that can have a big positive impact on how you age and feel.

Compelling Highlights

Current health trends steer us to a focus on nutrition, but Dr. Lyon elevates the importance of training your muscles as something that should be a priority, not optional. It’s that important. Dr. Lyon explains why in her conversation with Connie Zack, including these topics:

  • Muscle is the Organ of Longevity®
  • The skeletal muscle system is like the endocrine system or the thyroid: it releases proteins, interfaces with the immune system, the brain, and every tissue in the body
  • Our muscle system impacts glucose disposal, insulin resistance, fatty acid metabolism and more
  • The medical community is focused on obesity as the problem; the issue is skeletal muscle
  • Many metabolic diseases begin in skeletal muscle
  • Skeletal muscle affects the way we age
  • Skeletal muscle is the pinnacle of health and well-being, not peripheral
  • Train for hypertrophy (muscle growth), which is different than strength training
  • Weight training should translate to functional movement that is repeatable in life
  • The right mix of exercise includes HIIT, hypertrophy (appropriate resistance) and cardio
  • Cardio should not even be optional – it should be like brushing your teeth
  • We need to think of muscle as medicine
  • The RDA for protein hasn’t been updated in 30 years; Dr. Lyon recommends more
  • How you train is important; Dr. Lyon gives simple recommendations
Sauna for Muscle Recovery: Dr. Lyon’s Recommendations

Dr. Lyon recommends sauna for muscle recovery and to protect against muscle atrophy. It’s also shown in research to help reduce inflammation, increase flexibility and agility. Here is how Dr. Lyon uses the sauna herself and recommends it for her patients:

Evening Sauna – At the end of the day, anywhere from 1 to 3 times a week for 20-40 minutes a day is a great addition to a mix of muscle training, nutrition and sleep.

View all Sunlighten saunas here.

Recommended Resources

Check out more resources to support your muscle system and optimal health at DrGabrielleLyon.com, including her free guide, “The Lyon Protocol 2.0,” newsletter, and her new podcast, “The Dr. Lyon Show.”

Sauna Discount Code

Mention Dr. Gabrielle Lyon or muscle-centric medicine to get a discount.

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WRITTEN BY: Sunlighten

Shining light on infrared technology, Sunlighten® is the #1 choice for personalized infrared light treatments. Since 1999, we have been committed to innovating wellness products and services that empower our customers to improve their quality of life. Our patented SoloCarbon® technology rejuvenates the body by delivering the highest dose of infrared energy to the body - proven up to 99% effective. Our technological innovations are fueled by our passion to make a difference. And we are building a global community of businesses, consumers, and trusted experts to support each other along the way and make the world a healthier, happier place.

Sunlighten saunas are not a medical device as defined by Section 201(h) of the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act. Sunlighten provides general information relating to various medical conditions for informational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for advice provided by a doctor or other qualified health care professional. Please consult with your physician regarding diagnosis or treatment.