“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people and more useful in general,” is a famous quote by strength coach and author Mark Rippetoe.
A recent study seems to corroborate that opinion. The American Journal Of Medicine published research that puts an interesting spin on predicting life expectancy. They found that older folks who are underweight have similar morbidity rates as those who are overweight.
According to the scientists, the most accurate determinant of lifespan is how much muscle you have as you get older. At first, researchers divided the participants into bodyweight categories, but they could find no link with mortality rates. When the subjects were grouped according to their amount of lean body mass, it became clear that those with plenty of muscle were 20 percent less likely to die. It could be because muscles better utilize glucose or the way they protect the elderly from falling, but Rippetoe summed it up best: Muscular people just don’t die as easily.
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