Why Are Muscles Important for Your Health?

By Roel van den Bogaard, personal trainer and founder of Aurora Personal Training in Eindhoven.

Muscles make movement possible, produce force and help your body process and store energy. Sufficient muscle strength supports everyday tasks such as getting up, climbing stairs and carrying shopping. Muscle mass and function therefore deserve attention at every age, even if you do not want to look more muscular.

We often judge our health mainly by body weight or cardiovascular fitness. These provide useful information, but they do not tell you how strong you are or how easily you perform everyday movements.

This article explains what muscles do, why muscle mass differs from strength and how to work on maintaining both.

This article mainly concerns skeletal muscles: the muscles involved in activities such as walking, lifting and changing your posture. Heart muscle and the smooth muscle in organs such as your intestines are different types of muscle tissue.

Muscles work alongside your nervous system, bones, tendons, heart and lungs. Your physical abilities are therefore not determined by muscle mass alone.

Muscle mass describes the amount of muscle tissue. Muscle strength describes how much force you can produce during a particular task.

They are related, but they are not interchangeable.

You can become stronger by learning an exercise without immediately developing visibly larger muscles. Equally, muscle size does not tell you exactly how someone will perform in every movement.

This is why we monitor weights, repetitions and exercise technique alongside body measurements.

Getting out of a low chair requires strength. Carrying a heavy bag does too. How demanding a task feels depends partly on the strength you have available.

As you become stronger, carrying the same bag may require a smaller proportion of your maximum capacity. That is a practical benefit even when sporting performance is not your goal.

Examples include:

• lifting a suitcase into a car;
• carrying shopping upstairs;
• getting up from the floor;
• carrying a child;
• continuing to participate in sports or hobbies.

This does not mean muscles explain all fatigue. Cardiovascular fitness, sleep, health and the duration of an activity also matter.

Muscles use energy during movement and at rest. They also use glucose and store carbohydrate as glycogen.

They are therefore more than tissue used to move weights.

Does more muscle mean much more fat burning?

Additional muscle tissue can contribute to higher resting energy expenditure. However, a modest increase does not create a dramatic rise in your daily calorie use.

More muscle does not guarantee weight loss. Your overall nutrition and activity remain important.

Cardio is valuable too. Walking, cycling and other aerobic exercise offer benefits that complement strength training.

Read more about cardio or strength training for weight loss.

Skeletal muscles play an important role in taking up and using glucose. The amount of muscle you have is only part of the picture: physical activity and how your body responds to insulin matter too.

The American Heart Association describes favourable effects of resistance training on blood sugar regulation and blood pressure, among other outcomes. [1]

A muscular appearance does not prove metabolic health. Strength training also does not independently guarantee the prevention or treatment of diabetes.

If you have diabetes and take medication, coordinate changes in exercise with your treatment advice.

Spieren leveren via pezen kracht op botten en maken zo beweging mogelijk. Kracht en bewegingscontrole kunnen helpen om taken met een passende belasting uit te voeren.

Daarbij zijn meer spiermassa, meer mobiliteit en minder pijn niet automatisch hetzelfde.

Een krachtprogramma kun je combineren met oefeningen voor de bewegingsuitslagen die je nodig hebt. Welke oefeningen passen, hangt af van je doelen en mogelijkheden.

Muscles transmit force to bones through tendons, making movement possible. Strength and movement control can help you perform tasks with suitable demands.

However, more muscle mass, greater mobility and less pain are not automatically the same thing.

A strength programme can include exercises that develop the ranges of movement you need. Suitable exercise choices depend on your goals and abilities.

Do strong muscles prevent every injury?

No. Injuries have multiple possible causes. Training progression, previous injuries, fatigue and exercise demands all contribute.

Becoming stronger can increase your physical capabilities, but it does not guarantee that you will never get injured.

Will stronger core muscles eliminate back pain?

Not automatically. Core muscles contribute to movement and control, but back pain is not simply the result of a weak core.

An appropriate exercise programme may form part of an approach. Persistent or worsening symptoms require assessment of your circumstances.

Muscle mass, strength and movement speed can decline with age. The rate varies between people and is influenced by factors including activity, illness and nutrition.

There is no fixed clock under which everyone begins losing the same amount of muscle on their thirtieth birthday.

You can also develop strength and muscle function later in life. Your training programme should match your starting point.

What is sarcopenia?

Sarcopenia is a muscle disease in which low muscle strength is an important feature. Under the European consensus, the diagnosis is confirmed when low muscle quantity or quality is also identified. Poor physical performance indicates more severe sarcopenia. [2]

It therefore means more than losing a little muscle as you get older. It cannot be diagnosed from age, appearance or a single reading on a bathroom scale.

If you notice unexplained strength loss or everyday tasks become noticeably harder, discuss this with your GP.

Train regularly against resistance

Strength training provides a targeted challenge for your muscles. You can use weights, machines, resistance bands or your body weight.

The 2026 ACSM recommendations emphasise regularly training the major muscle groups with an approach suited to your goals and abilities. Different types of equipment can work. [3]

Two weekly workouts are a practical starting point for many people. One manageable session can also be a valuable beginning.

Read how often you should strength train.

Increase the challenge gradually

Look beyond the number of workouts you complete. Consider what you do during them.

Progress might mean:

• performing more repetitions with the same weight;
• lifting a heavier weight with comparable technique;
• controlling a movement more effectively.

Read our guide to progressive overload for practical examples.

Pay attention to nutrition and recovery

A training stimulus does not operate independently of what you eat and how you recover.

Consider your overall diet, including protein and energy intake, in relation to your goals. Eating more protein alone does not replace training. Continually training harder does not replace sufficient recovery.

Learn more about nutrition and muscle growth.

Stay active outside your workouts

Walking, cycling and other everyday activities remain valuable. Strength training does not make daily movement unnecessary.

Choose a combination that fits your week and that you can repeat consistently.

Consider several indicators together.

Body-composition measurements are estimates. Fat-free mass is not the same as muscle mass: it also includes water, bones, organs and other tissues.

A small rise in estimated fat-free mass therefore does not prove that you have gained exactly that amount of muscle.

Are muscles important if you do not want to look muscular?

Yes. Muscles have functions beyond appearance. You can train for strength, everyday function and muscle maintenance without aiming for maximum muscle growth.

Can you get stronger without building much muscle?

Yes. Technique and changes in movement coordination can improve strength. Changes in muscle mass also depend on your programme and nutrition.

Is walking enough to maintain your muscles?

Walking is valuable, but it does not automatically replace targeted resistance exercise for all major muscle groups. The activities complement each other.

Do you always lose muscle after turning 30?

There is no fixed pattern that applies to everyone. Age, activity, nutrition and health influence how muscle develops over time.

Can you still get stronger after 60?

Yes. Strength can improve later in life too. Choose exercises and training demands that match your abilities.

Does more muscle automatically mean better health?

No. Muscle mass is one factor. Muscle function, cardiovascular fitness, nutrition, sleep and other health factors remain important.

Which matters more: muscle mass or strength?

That depends on your goal. For everyday tasks, what you can physically do matters. Muscle function therefore deserves attention alongside the amount of muscle tissue.

At Aurora Personal Training in Eindhoven, we start with what you want to be able to do and what fits your schedule.

You train one-to-one or as a duo in a quiet private studio. We select suitable exercises, monitor your performance and adjust the training demands when appropriate.

Book a free intake at Aurora Personal Training to discuss your goals, experience and options.

1. American Heart Association: resistance training and cardiovascular health.
2. Cruz-Jentoft et al. (2019): European consensus on sarcopenia.
3. ACSM (2026): resistance training recommendations.