The body is a well-oiled machine, with thousands of separate parts working together to keep you alive and healthy. Over 600 of those parts are muscles that make up nearly 40 percent of your body weight. Without muscles, your body would be an unruly skeleton covered in skin, flopping around life, unable to perform even the most basic functions. Your heart would not beat, your eyes would not move, and your legs would be totally useless. But which muscles are actually the strongest, and how can you look after them to make sure that you are performing your best? Read on to find out.
Strongest muscles and how to take care of them
Trying to determine which muscles in the body are the strongest can be incredibly challenging since there are several factors at play, and each person is entirely different. However, there are a few star muscles that stick out for their sheer power and stamina.
Gluteus Maximus
Yes, your rear end is the largest and one of the most critical muscles in your body. It works tirelessly to propel you forward, keep you in an upright position, and even allow you to walk up stairs.
How to look after it:
Squats, lunges, jogging, walking, dancing. Anything that pushes your legs and the lower part of your body will also work your butt muscle and give you a toned, well-rounded bum that is even more equipped to support you in your daily activities.
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ made up of a particular type of muscle tissue known as cardiac muscle and is the hardest working muscle in the human body. It never rests and is continually contracting to pump blood to the rest of your body. In fact, the heart pumps around 2,500 gallons of blood throughout your body in a single day. Now that’s impressive.
How to look after it:
Living a healthy lifestyle, prioritizing a clean diet, and engaging in regular, cardiovascular exercises are great ways to support your heart and help keep it running smoothly. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, costing nearly $1 billion per day. Even worse, it is largely preventable. Manage your weight, control your portions, get active for at least 30 minutes each day, and cut out sugary processed foods from your diet to boost heart health and dramatically reduce your risk of developing heart disease.
External Muscles of the Eye
Though they are small, they are mighty. The muscles around your eyes are always moving with your head to adjust the position of your eye and allow you to see whatever you are looking at. They hold the eye in place and let the it focus on a fixed point. To put into more concrete terms just how critical these muscles are, in just a single hour of reading, they will make around 10,000 coordinated movements.
How to look after it:
These extraocular muscles are often overworked and under-rested. Especially when you spend a lot of time looking at your phone or a computer screen. The more small, rapid movements they have to make, the quicker they will become fatigued. Follow the 20-20-20 rule and take a break from staring at your screen every 20 minutes to look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This will give your eyes a short break and help you refocus while preventing eye strain. Blink often to remoisten your eyes, be sure your glasses or contacts prescription is up to date, and minimize glare on your screen by adjusting the lighting.
Other tips for keeping your muscles healthy
Warm-up and cool down
Before any high-intensity workout, be sure to warm up with a brisk walk, jog, or other activity to loosen your muscles. At the end of your warmup, stretch for at least 5 minutes (holding each stretch for 20 seconds) to warm up your muscles. Start slow and then gradually increase the pace of your movement to begin elevating your heart rate and preparing your body for the exercise ahead. Follow your workout with more gentle stretching to avoid injury from overstrained muscles.
Hydrate
Drink at least eight 8oz. Glasses of water every day to support healthy muscles, keep them limber, and provide electrolytes to prevent tears. If you are working out and sweating, you will need to increase your water intake to make up for lost hydration.
-The Alternative Daily