2) Metabolic Health
Metabolic health describes how effectively your body produces, stores, and uses energy. When it’s good, blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids stay within healthy ranges without medication. When it declines, several issues often appear together — a condition known as metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is diagnosed when a person has three or more of the following:
- Elevated blood glucose or insulin resistance
- High blood pressure
- High triglycerides
- Low HDL (“good”) cholesterol
- Excess abdominal fat
These factors reflect how well the body regulates and uses energy. When several are out of range, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease rises sharply. About one in three adults in the U.S. meets the criteria, and more than half of adults over 60 are affected (Moore et al., 2017, J Am Heart Assoc).
The unifying issue behind these risk factors is that the body becomes less efficient at handling and storing fuel. After you eat, carbohydrates are digested into glucose, which enters the bloodstream. This is a normal and necessary process — glucose is one of the body’s most important energy sources. Insulin then helps move that glucose into tissues where it can be used or stored.
Skeletal muscle is the main site for this process. Around 75–85% of post-meal glucose uptake happens in muscle tissue (DeFronzo & Tripathy, 2009, Diabetes Care). Inside muscle cells, glucose is stored as glycogen, where it becomes an available fuel for both daily activity and exercise.
When you have more muscle, you have a larger “sink” for glucose, a greater number of insulin-sensitive cells, and more mitochondria to convert that stored fuel into energy. This keeps blood glucose and insulin levels in a healthy range and supports steady, reliable energy throughout the day.
When muscle mass declines, this system becomes less effective. Glucose clearance slows, the body releases more insulin to manage it, and over time this leads to insulin resistance, the main driver of poor metabolic health.
Research consistently shows that people with higher muscle mass are far less likely to develop insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, or type 2 diabetes (Srikanthan & Karlamangla, 2011, J Clin Endocrinol Metab). Regular resistance training directly improves these markers, even in older adults, by increasing muscle size, strength, and glucose-handling capacity (Holten et al., 2004, Diabetes).
Muscle is not just important for strength or sport. It’s a metabolic organ that helps the body manage energy efficiently. Building or maintaining it through resistance training and proper nutrition improves how your body uses carbohydrates, keeps blood sugar stable, and protects long-term health.
This might not seem directly related to golf performance now, but if you plan on being healthy enough to enjoy golf for a long time, it is critical.