EVERY WEIGHT YOU LIFT IS LIFTING SOMETHING ELSE

If you've spent any time on social media lately, you've probably noticed something. Women all around the world are lifting weights. Not because they're trying to look like bodybuilders. But because the science keeps pointing in the same direction. Strength training helps preserve muscle as we age. It supports bone density. It also improves insulin sensitivity, metabolic health, balance, mobility and independence. Study after study suggests it's one of the most powerful things women can do to support healthy ageing and longevity.

By now, most of us have heard that weight training goes hand in hand with longevity. But there's also another chapter that's only just beginning to emerge. Every weight you lift isn't just training your muscles. It's helping your skin.

For years, we thought muscles had one job. Move the body. Help us walk, lift, run and climb stairs. It turns out they have another job entirely. They communicate. Every time your muscles contract, they release tiny signalling molecules called myokines into your bloodstream. Think of them as biological messages. These messages don't stay inside your muscles. They travel throughout your body, influencing other organs and tissues. Including your skin. That means every strength session you do in the gym or at home, isn't simply making your muscles stronger. It's changing the biological environment your skin lives in.

For a long time, healthier-looking skin after exercise was explained by one thing 'better circulation' when more blood reaches the skin and bringing oxygen and nutrients with it. That's true. But researchers now believe that's only part of the story. The really exciting discovery is that your skin isn't just receiving more blood. It's receiving more information. When you train your muscles, they release tiny messenger molecules called myokines. These myokines travel through your bloodstream like little biological notes, telling different parts of your body what to do. Some help calm inflammation, while others create a healthier biological environment for the collagen-rich framework that gives your skin its strength and structure. In other words: your skin is also listening to your muscles.

In 2023, researchers published one of the strongest human studies looking at strength training and skin health. Fifty-six sedentary middle-aged women completed a supervised exercise program twice a week for sixteen weeks. Some performed aerobic exercise. Others completed resistance training. Both groups experienced improvements in skin elasticity. But the resistance training group showed something unique. Their dermis became thicker. That's important because the dermis is where most of your collagen, elastin and extracellular matrix live. It's the layer that gives skin much of its strength, resilience and firmness.

The researchers didn't stop there. They collected blood from the women after the training programme and exposed human skin cells to that blood in the laboratory. Those skin cells changed their behaviour. They increased the activity of genes involved in building the extracellular matrix, including biglycan, a protein that helps organise collagen fibres. Think about that for a moment. The researchers didn't treat the skin. They trained the muscles. The muscles changed what was circulating through the bloodstream and those circulating signals then changed how skin cells behaved. That's an entirely different way of thinking about skin health.

This doesn't mean building bigger muscles automatically makes your skin look younger. That's a common misunderstanding. If muscles become larger, skin may simply appear tighter because of the shape underneath. That's mechanical. The more interesting effect is biological. Strength training changes the molecular conversations happening throughout your body. It influences inflammation. It supports tissue repair. It also encourages the skin to keep rebuilding the framework that supports healthy, resilient skin. The most remarkable part isn't bigger muscles. It's that healthier muscles create healthier conversations throughout the body - and your skin is part of that conversation.

So where does skincare fit? At Molécules de Fonction, we've always believed skin doesn't function in isolation. Your skin responds to hormones, sleep, nutrition, stress. Your immune system. And now we know it also responds to your muscles. That doesn't mean strength training replaces skincare. Nor does skincare replace strength training. They both support different parts of the same biological system with one working from the outside and the other changing the molecular environment from within. Together, they help your skin function at its best.

So the next time you pick up a dumbbell, remember... You're not just lifting a weight. You're lifting the biological environment your skin depends on.

The molecular evidence:

Booth, F. W., Roberts, C. K., & Laye, M. J. (2012). Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Comprehensive Physiology, 2(2), 1143-1211. https://doi.org/10.1002/cphy.c110025

Fragala, M. S., Cadore, E. L., Dorgo, S., Izquierdo, M., Kraemer, W. J., Peterson, M. D., Ryan, E. D., & American College of Sports Medicine. (2019). Resistance training for older adults: Position statement from the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 33(8), 2019-2052. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000003230

Franceschi, C., Garagnani, P., Parini, P., Giuliani, C., & Santoro, A. (2018). Inflammaging: A new immune-metabolic viewpoint for age-related diseases. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 14, 576-590. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-018-0059-4

Hoffmann, C., & Weigert, C. (2017). Skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ: The role of myokines in exercise adaptations. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 7(11), a029793. https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a029793

Momma, H., Kawakami, R., Honda, T., Sawada, S. S., et al. (2022). Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 56, 755-763. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-105061

Nishikori, S., Yasuda, J., Murata, K., Kaneko, Y., Fujita, S., Yamaguchi, M., et al. (2023). Resistance training rejuvenates aging skin by reducing circulating inflammatory factors and enhancing dermal extracellular matrices. Scientific Reports, 13, 10214. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37207-9

Pedersen, B. K., & Febbraio, M. A. (2012). Muscles, exercise and obesity: Skeletal muscle as a secretory organ. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 8(8), 457-465. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.49

Severinsen, M. C. K., & Pedersen, B. K. (2020). Muscle-organ crosstalk: The emerging roles of myokines. Endocrine Reviews, 41(4), 594-609. https://doi.org/10.1210/endrev/bnaa016

Warburton, D. E. R., & Bredin, S. S. D. (2017). Health benefits of physical activity: A systematic review of current systematic reviews. Current Opinion in Cardiology, 32(5), 541-556. https://doi.org/10.1097/HCO.0000000000000437

Whitham, M., & Febbraio, M. A. (2016). The ever-expanding myokinome: Discovery challenges and therapeutic implications. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 15(10), 719-729. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd.2016.153