Most athletes and parents think performance and health come down to just working harder.

They double sessions.
They clean up diets.
They grind through more reps.

But nothing moves the needle.

Here’s why:
It’s not about doing more — it’s about fixing the one thing that controls everything else: muscle.

Without enough quality muscle, your body becomes weaker, slower, and sicker — no matter how much you “train harder.”

With it? Strength, energy, recovery, and longevity all compound.

Today’s newsletter is longer than usual — because I missed the last two weeks and I owe you something with real depth. (Consider it a mini playbook.)

⚡ Pro Tip for Optimal Learning:
Don't try to digest every section at once.
Pick one or two topics that hit you hardest.
Apply those first — stack wins.

In the next few newsletters, I’ll break down each sub-point into shorter, tactical deep dives you can implement even faster.

Let’s get to it.

Here’s what you’re about to get:

• Why Muscle = Longevity: Why building muscle is the cheat code for health, performance, and aging well

• The New Paradigm: Why being “under-muscled” — not overweight — is the real root cause of most modern health problems (and what to do about it)

• Nutrition That Actually Works: Exactly how much protein you need, when to eat it, and why "clean eating" isn’t enough if you're not hitting this target.

• Supplements That Move the Needle: The few (and only) supplements worth considering — and common meds that secretly sabotage your progress.

• Brain Candy: One quick tactical move you can use today to upgrade your training and recovery.

• Real talk: our honest take on how to actually apply this (without overcomplicating your life).

• Link Dump: Full resources if you want to dive deeper and stack even more wins.

Why Muscle = Longevity

Muscle is a biological necessity.
Dr. Gabrielle Lyon calls skeletal muscle the "organ of longevity" because it controls critical aspects of health that go far beyond movement.

✅ Metabolic Health: Muscle tissue acts as the primary site for glucose disposal. It regulates blood sugar and insulin sensitivity. The more healthy muscle you have, the better your body processes carbohydrates

✅ Anti-Inflammation: Contracting muscle releases "myokines" — powerful molecules that reduce systemic inflammation, support immune function, and even protect against cancer and Alzheimer's.

✅ Energy Reservoir: Muscle mass acts as an energy buffer. In times of illness or injury, it literally feeds the immune system.

✅ Aging Defense: As we age, muscle naturally degrades (sarcopenia). Without proactive resistance training and protein intake, strength, mobility, and metabolic health all tank.

The New Paradigm

For decades, medicine treated obesity like a simple fat accumulation problem.
But Dr. Lyon’s model flips this:

Primary problem = lack of sufficient, functional muscle.
Secondary symptom = fat accumulation.

Why?

Because low skeletal muscle mass leads to:

• Poor glucose handling → constant elevated insulin → fat storage mode turned "on" 24/7.

• Decreased resting metabolic rate → you burn fewer calories even at rest.

• Reduced mitochondrial function → less energy production and slower metabolism.

Under-muscled people are metabolically sick long before they are visually overweight.

By the time fat gain shows up? It’s already late-stage muscle deterioration.

✅ The fix isn’t endless cardio.
✅ The fix isn’t calorie restriction.
✅ The fix is: build strong, quality muscle through resistance training and sufficient protein intake.

Nutrition That Actually Works

Protein is not another macronutrient.
It is the primary stimulus for muscle tissue preservation and growth.

Dr. Lyon recommends a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of IDEAL body weight per day — not current body weight.
(Example: If your goal is 150 pounds of lean, athletic mass, you eat 150g of protein per day.)

Critical points:

✅ Meal Distribution Matters:
Aim for 30–50g of protein in both the first and last meal of the day. These two meals set the "anabolic tone" for the body over the next 24 hours.

✅ Leucine Threshold:
Every feeding needs to trigger mTOR (muscle protein synthesis).
This requires about 2.5g of leucine per meal, which typically comes from high-quality protein sources like beef, chicken, whey protein, or eggs.

✅ Clean Eating ≠ High-Protein:
"Healthy eating" — salads, fruits, grains — sounds good but often lacks sufficient amino acids to maintain muscle tissue. Without hitting protein thresholds, you're fueling survival, not optimization.

✅ Best Sources:

• Animal proteins: Beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs — complete amino acid profiles.

• Plant proteins (with strategy): Need to combine sources (e.g., rice + beans) and often supplement with leucine to match animal-based quality.

Missing these protein numbers = missing the entire muscle-centric model.

Training Protocols That Build Winners

Muscle doesn’t build itself — even if you eat perfectly.

Resistance training is the activator.
And the type of training matters.

✅ High-Ground Movements First:
Compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, push-ups, lunges — exercises that recruit multiple muscle groups at once.

✅ Frequency:
Dr. Lyon suggests a minimum of 3 resistance training sessions per week, ideally working towards 4–5x weekly if recovery allows.

✅ Volume and Load:
Prioritize progressive overload — steadily increasing weight, reps, or sets over time. The body only adapts to stress that challenges it beyond baseline.

✅ HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training):
Short bursts of high effort (e.g., 30 seconds sprint, 90 seconds walk) — for improved cardiovascular conditioning and mitochondrial health.

✅ Focus on Strength and Speed:
Train with an emphasis on both slow, controlled strength AND explosive power to maximize muscle fiber recruitment.

Muscle is expensive for the body to maintain.
You must regularly signal to your system that it’s worth keeping.

Supplements That Move the Needle

Not everything you hear about supplements is real.
But a few are worth it, according to Lyon’s clinical experience:

✅ Creatine Monohydrate (5g/day):
Supports muscle energy (ATP), improves strength, cognitive performance, and helps with recovery. One of the most studied supplements on the planet.

✅ Urolithin A:
Boosts mitochondrial health — helps clean out damaged mitochondria (think of it like cellular spring cleaning). This becomes crucial as you age because mitochondrial dysfunction accelerates aging.

✅ Essential Amino Acids (EAAs):
Especially useful if you’re struggling to hit protein targets via food alone.

⚠️ Supplements to watch out for:

• Metformin and some statins have unintended muscle-depleting side effects if not managed carefully.

• Over-relying on fiber-heavy meals without enough protein can subtly starve muscles over months/years.

Supplements don't replace real food or real training — they just close gaps.

Brain Candy: One Tactical Upgrade

Change your first meal → change your entire day's metabolism.

Within 30 minutes of waking up:
✅ 30–50g high-quality protein (e.g., 5 eggs + ½ cup cottage cheese + a whey shake).

This spikes muscle protein synthesis, stabilizes blood sugar, prevents mid-morning crashes, and sets an anabolic tone for the next 6–8 hours.

Miss this window = start your day already behind.

Small move. Huge long-term payoff.

How to Actually Apply This

Stop chasing hacks.
Stop trying to "optimize" before you even have the basics locked in.

If you do these 5 things consistently, you will dominate:

1. Hit your protein target every single day.

2. (Resistance train 3+ days a week minimum.)

3. Prioritize your first and last meals for protein density.

4. Take creatine daily (no need to "cycle").

5. Set STANDARDS, not goals — do it even when you’re tired, bored, or busy.

This is what separates people who age powerfully from those who decay by 40.

Standards build legacies.
Goals build excuses.

Link Dump: Full Resources to Stack More Wins

• Full YouTube Video: How to Exercise & Eat for Optimal Health & Longevity — Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

• Dr. Lyon’s Book: "Forever Strong"

•  Clinical Research: The Role of Skeletal Muscle in Metabolic Health (PubMed)

• Creatine Monohydrate Clinical Studies (ISSN Position Stand)

Most people stay stuck because they’re focused on the wrong things.

They chase hacks. They skip fundamentals. They confuse movement with progress.

You’re smarter than that — you're building real strength that lasts.

If you got value from this, odds are someone you know is still spinning their wheels.
Send this to one teammate, training partner, or parent who needs to see it.

Not for me. For them.
Strong people build strong communities.
Weak people let each other stay weak.

Choose which one you're creating. 🔥

Cheers,

Jonas