Living in LA, I've noticed that many people are serious about managing their health.

In the morning, I see people in their 50s and 60s running, and at the Silver Lake gym, older individuals work out harder than I do.

At first, I thought it was just a cultural obsession with appearances unique to LA. But those people are exercising to survive.

Once you hit your 50s, places that never hurt before start to ache, climbing a few flights of stairs leaves you breathless, and getting up from a seated position becomes slightly challenging.

You can't just accept this as aging. It's a warning that your muscle mass is decreasing.

If you ignore this warning, the next 10 or 20 years will look very different.

Medically, muscle mass begins to decline in your mid-30s, decreasing by about 1% each year.

It may not seem like much, but after 10 years, that's a 10% loss, and after 20 years, a 20% loss. This is known as sarcopenia, and it's not just a matter of losing strength. When muscle decreases, your basal metabolic rate drops, blood sugar control worsens, bones weaken, and the risk of falls increases.

Do you know how many people in their 70s suffer a fall that completely disrupts their quality of life due to hip issues? It all starts with not building muscle in your 40s.

What's even scarier is that as muscle decreases, inflammation levels rise. Research is accumulating that links cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even dementia to inflammation, which comes along with sarcopenia. Muscle acts not just as a force-generating tissue but also functions like an endocrine organ.

When muscles contract, they secrete a substance called myokines, which have anti-inflammatory effects and protect brain health. The feeling of happiness after exercising isn't just in your head.

Blood pressure medications, blood sugar medications, cholesterol medications. Many people in their mid-40s start taking one or two of these medications.

Medication isn't bad. If needed, you should take it. But medication manages numbers rather than fixing the root cause. Taking blood pressure medication doesn't make your blood vessels younger. Taking blood sugar medication doesn't resolve insulin resistance.

On the other hand, muscle exercise addresses the root cause. It's been known for decades that strength training increases insulin sensitivity. There is also data showing that regular resistance training can lower systolic blood pressure by an average of 5-7 mmHg. While this number may seem small, it translates to a significant reduction in cardiovascular risk. Strength training has also been proven to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol.

Medications need to be taken daily, require management of side effects, and are hard to stop for life. Muscle, once built, is an asset. If managed, it can be maintained and can even lead to a reduction in other medications. I know someone who started exercising and had their blood pressure medication dosage reduced. Their doctor suggested it.

When should you start? — The answer is now.

The ideal starting age is in your 20s. This is when muscle is built most effectively, and the muscle mass developed during this time becomes the baseline for old age. Muscle is like a savings account; the more you accumulate when you're young, the more you have to fall back on later.

But what if you're 40 now? Isn't it too late? Absolutely not.

Research shows that even in your 60s and 70s, starting strength training can significantly increase muscle mass and strength.

Our bodies respond to stimuli regardless of age. However, from your 40s onward, recovery time increases, and the risk of injury rises, so the approach needs to change. It shouldn't just be about lifting heavy weights or doing a lot; it should focus on form and progressive overload.

A friend of mine who works as a personal trainer in an LA gym says this.

The first thing he tells his clients in their 40s is, "Starting now is five times better than starting five years from now."

Don't wait for the perfect time. Muscle is insurance you build when you're young and a treatment you create when you're older.

It's free of side effects compared to any medication sold at a pharmacy and more effective than any health supplement.

It only costs about the price of a gym membership. At this level of cost-effectiveness, I see no reason not to do it.