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No Appointment Necessary

Why Strength Training Is Essential As You Age

01 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: Is it ever too late to start strength training?

0.031 - 2.114 Unknown

Is it ever too late to start?

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2.314 - 11.327 Dr Amir Khan

Start. 85, start it. Strength training is becoming one of those things that we should have known for longer, but we've just started to realise.

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11.928 - 12.97 Cherry Healey

Muscle is magic.

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13.15 - 30.915 Dr Amir Khan

It is constantly building and repairing itself, and that takes calories. So even while you're sitting down, you are because that muscle is working for you, babes. Actually having more muscle improves your blood sugar control. It helps with cholesterol, it helps with falls, And it doesn't stop there.

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Chapter 2: What are the benefits of having more muscle as you age?

30.936 - 38.949 Dr Amir Khan

I love that there's another one. Keeps going. There's the fitness, there's the strength training, there's the balance. And keep that holy trinity, as we say, keep those three things going.

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39.329 - 47.162 Unknown

Choose your hard. It's going to be hard now or it's going to be hard later, but it's going to be hard. And that's my favourite exercise place is when it's a habit.

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47.222 - 56.397 Dr Amir Khan

Some people never enjoy exercise and that's okay as well. People will say, oh, but you enjoy it once you're out there, right? But more often than not, I hate every minute of it.

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Chapter 3: How can you build muscle without going to the gym?

58.739 - 62.125 Dr Amir Khan

This episode is brought to you by The Independent Pharmacy.

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62.526 - 73.845 Unknown

Now, we've all been there. You've got something on your mind, something a bit personal, and the last thing you want is a three-week wait just to talk to someone about it. That's exactly where The Independent Pharmacy comes in.

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73.927 - 94.956 Dr Amir Khan

Now, look, as a doctor, trust matters to me. And the independent pharmacy is a fully registered pharmacy run by qualified health care professionals. Their online pharmacy covers over 90 conditions and 1,200 treatments, including hair loss, weight loss, erectile dysfunction, menopause support and skin conditions.

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94.936 - 107.427 Dr Amir Khan

You complete a quick online consultation, a qualified clinician reviews it and your treatment lands on your doorstep with next day delivery. No waiting rooms and no awkward conversations.

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107.575 - 112.421 Unknown

As listeners of No Appointment Necessary, you can get 15% off your first order.

Chapter 4: What role does protein play in muscle building?

112.642 - 139.857 Unknown

Head to theindependentpharmacy.co.uk. That's theindependentpharmacy.co.uk. And you can use the code NAN15, that's N-A-N-15, at the checkout. Minimum spend applies. There's a link in the show notes. For this episode, we've partnered with Randox Health and their Every Man and Every Woman Check. Dr Mir, over to you.

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140.118 - 166.583 Dr Amir Khan

Yes. So the Randox Health Every Man and Every Woman Check measures up to 150 biomarkers, giving you a really comprehensive picture of how your body is actually doing. It's regular blood testing, one of the best ways to spot potential risks early, and it spots imbalances in the body with personalised insights that help you make smarter choices to support your longevity.

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Chapter 5: How does menopause affect body composition and weight?

167.104 - 181.744 Dr Amir Khan

Now, these tests are quick to do, you don't need a GP referral, and you'll get a follow-up test six months later, so you can track your progress and see the difference your lifestyle changes are making. Plus, you can get your results in just two hours after they hit the lab.

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181.724 - 192.509 Unknown

It's health data that puts you in control. And Randox Health is offering you 15% off all in-clinic health checks. All you need to do is use code NAN15. That's N-A-N-15.

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192.55 - 196.138 Dr Amir Khan

To find out more, go to randoxhealth.com.

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201.569 - 215.123 Unknown

Today's check-in is all about strength training and fitness, especially as we get older. So why we do it, what to do, why it matters, how it affects your energy levels, metabolism and heart health. Okay.

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Chapter 6: What types of exercises should everyone be doing?

216.825 - 224.193 Unknown

When it comes to fitness and strength training, is it ever too late to start? If you're like 85 and you think, I want to get fitter.

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224.553 - 251.033 Dr Amir Khan

Girl, start. Start. 85, start it. So strength training is becoming one of those things that we should have known for longer, but we've just started to realise how beneficial it is. So strength training is essentially exercise against resistance. And it's all about making your muscles stronger. And that has huge, huge, huge benefits, no matter what age you start it at.

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251.013 - 253.658 Dr Amir Khan

Now, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to go to the gym and lift heavy weights.

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Chapter 7: How does metabolism connect with strength training?

254.019 - 266.321 Dr Amir Khan

There are body weight exercises that you can do. There are free tutorials on YouTube you can watch, which can show you how to do it. You can get a couple of can of beans out of the cupboard and do bicep curls with them and triceps and all of that. It's against resistance.

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266.521 - 268.966 Unknown

And of course, you've got a can of beans in the cupboard.

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268.986 - 270.268 Dr Amir Khan

I love a can of beans.

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270.529 - 272.312 Unknown

Why is it beneficial to have muscle?

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272.292 - 292.123 Dr Amir Khan

So the key benefits to having more lean muscle mass is firstly, it supports your bones and joints and that reduces your risks of falls as you get older. And that means you can live more independently as time goes on because the more you fall over, the more damage you can do to your bones.

292.103 - 305.08 Dr Amir Khan

When you are working against resistance and building up those muscles, you are stimulating your bones to become stronger because that resistance training stimulates certain cells within your bones to produce more bone cells.

Chapter 8: What advice can help someone who doesn't see immediate results from exercise?

305.42 - 327.71 Dr Amir Khan

So your bones become stronger, thicker, less risk of osteoporosis. Right. Yeah, great. But actually, that isn't even the half of it. The thing that people don't understand about muscles is that... They are actually really active tissues. They're doing things for your health all the time, even when you're not doing anything. And one of the biggest things they do is store sugar.

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328.331 - 342.85 Dr Amir Khan

So when you've got sugar in your blood, insulin will come and take that sugar from your blood. It'll put some of it in your liver as storage. But one of the other places it stores it is your muscles. And the more muscle you have, the more storage space you have for that sugar.

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343.015 - 357.097 Dr Amir Khan

Now, if you have less muscle or if your muscle mass starts to decrease, there's less places for insulin to put that sugar, that sugar stays in your blood for longer. That produces more insulin because insulin thinks, right, I need to get this sugar out of the blood, but it's got nowhere to put it.

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357.438 - 383.965 Dr Amir Khan

And that high level of sugar and insulin over time makes you resistant to insulin and increases your risk of type 2 diabetes. So actually having more muscle improves your blood sugar control. The other magic thing muscle does is it sends signals to your liver and it tells your liver to take some of that unhealthy bad fat LDLs out of your blood through the liver, process it and excrete it as well.

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384.166 - 392.645 Dr Amir Khan

So it improves your overall lipid or fat profiles in your blood. And it doesn't stop there.

392.665 - 393.306 Cherry Healey

I love that there's another one.

393.326 - 410.905 Dr Amir Khan

Keeps going. Muscle is metabolically active. It is constantly building and repairing itself. And that takes calories. So even while you're sitting down, you are burning calories because that muscle is working for you, babes. So it is good to maintain a healthy weight as well. So it has so many functions. Muscle is magic.

410.966 - 419.395 Unknown

Yeah, it is. It is magic. What if you don't really want to join the gym? It's not for you. How can you build muscle whilst not going to gym?

419.375 - 441.999 Dr Amir Khan

So building muscle through exercise is about doing some resistance training, but your body carries weight and that you can do resistance training against your own body. You are your own weight. You are pretty much. Yes. So you can do press ups on the floor that will help with your chest and tricep muscles. You can do that. If you can't do them on the floor, you can do them against a wall as well.

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