Women's Health March 20, 2026 0 Comments

Unlock the Surprising Secret to Living Longer: Why Building Muscle Might Be Your Ultimate Longevity Hack According to Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

Ever caught yourself scrolling endlessly through social media, only to be slapped with yet another miracle cure promising eternal youth? Yep, me too — it’s like the internet hasn’t run out of potions, powders, or pills that claim to fix aging overnight. But let’s cut through the noise: living longer and feeling stronger isn’t about chasing magic—it’s about understanding the real deal behind longevity. Here’s a hint—the secret weapon isn’t a mysterious elixir, but muscle. Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, a respected voice in the health world and author of The Forever Strong Playbook, pulls back the curtain on why muscle is the true cornerstone of a vibrant, long life. She’s flipping the script on aging, showing us why lifting isn’t just for Instagram lifters and why it’s definitely not too late to start building your “musclespan.” Curious to know if those wobbly vibration plates are worth your sweat equity? Hang tight—Dr. Lyon breaks it all down. Ready to rethink what keeps us ticking well past the finish line? LEARN MORE

3 min read

If your social media feed looks anything like mine, you’re likely bombarded on the daily by posts touting the latest magic pill, powder, or potion that will keep you young forever. (We can all dream, right!?!) But longevity needn’t be some woo-woo aspiration achievable only with the help of internet witches. There are real science-backed strategies for living healthier longer, and Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, Women’s Health advisory board member and author of The Forever Strong Playbook, has plenty to say on the topic.

On the latest episode of The Huddle, the Women’s Health podcast where we talk sports, sweat, and everything in between, Dr. Lyon reveals why muscle is the true key to longevity, why it’s never too late to start lifting, and whether those viral vibration plates actually do anything.

Muscles matter

Clinically trained in geriatrics, Dr. Lyon spent much of her early career seeing elderly patients, who were suffering from chronic illnesses, loss of cognitive function (like in dementia), and frailty. After treating so many older folks who were aging poorly, Dr. Lyon says she had an epiphany. While many in the medical community focused their preventative efforts on weight loss and obesity, Dr. Lyon surmised the real focus should, instead, be on building muscle.

“It wasn’t about body fat,” she says of those ailing patients. “It was really a muscle problem that I was looking at.”

Dr. Lyon recalls one specific patient in her 50s whose brain looked much older on scans, after years of weight-loss interventions.

“She was under-muscled,” she says. “And every iteration of weight loss and regain—instead of making her stronger—it weakened her. It weakened her body, weakened her brain, weakened her morale… I was like, ‘This is all about muscle.'”

As she dove deeper into the research, she realized just how important muscle is for longevity. “Skeletal muscle is the organ of longevity,” she says. “It’s an organ system, just like the cardiovascular system, but we never talk about it like that, because it’s all about being jacked and tan.”

Now, much of Dr. Lyon’s focus—including her new book—is on the concept of “musclespan.” “Musclespan is the length of time you live with healthy skeletal muscle,” she explains. That musclespan can dictate everything from your sex life to whether you can get up off the ground after falling.

The earlier the better

Now 29% Off

When it comes to the concept of musclespan, there’s no better example, says Dr. Lyon, than multi-year Olympic athletes, like hockey player Hilary Knight, who begin their training early in life and have maintained their strength and stamina over the course of decades in their respective sports.

“These individuals have been training their whole life,” she says. “They’ve always chosen the hard path… And I guarantee even the women that are showing up later in life to go into the Olympics, they already have that under their belt.”

If you didn’t get a head start on lifting, it’s never too late to get into the habit, says Dr. Lyon. “It’s a very plastic tissue,” she says of muscle. “It’s too late if you never start.” She adds that her new book is a great resource for getting intentional about training. “The Playbook is a tactical field manual to how to build and maintain the health of tissue, and you can start at any time.”

Can vibration make you jacked?

The short answer, Dr. Lyon says, is no. But that doesn’t mean you should toss your trendy vibration plate in the trash. There are uses for the tool—you just need to understand what they can and can’t do.

“I think there’s some good evidence for vibration,” she says of potential benefits to muscle and bone. “Try it and see if your bone density gets better, but there is no replacement for hard work.”

You heard the doctor’s orders: Give a vibration plate a try, if you like, but don’t cancel that gym membership anytime soon!

To hear more from Dr. Lyon on the muscle-longevity connection, click play on the latest episode of The Huddle above!

The Huddle by Women’s Health
Hosted by: Abigail Cuffey @alcuffey, Amanda Lucci @alucci, Jacqueline Andriakos @jandriakos
Director / Executive Producer: Dorenna Newton @dorennanew
Director of Photography: Derrick St Pierre @toasttolife
Director of Photography: Romy Kirchauer @romy_rainer
Sound Engineer: Walter Garay @walterandres
Associate Producer: Janie Booth

On-set chairs provided by AllModern
On-set lights from Harlowe @harlowecreators

Amy Wilkinson is a contributing entertainment editor at Women’s Health, where she edits the magazine’s celebrity cover stories and writes health features. She has previously held editor titles at Entertainment Weekly and MTV News. In 2021, Amy completed her 600-hour teacher-training at Core Pilates NYC to become a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor.