Every Time You Move, Your Muscles Send Signals Your Whole Body Can Hear

By Daniel Soule, Owner and Clinic Director, HormoneSynergy®

Most of us were taught to think of muscle as the machinery that moves the body. It helps us lift, walk, climb stairs, maintain balance, and get up from a chair. All of that is true, but muscle is also involved in a quieter form of communication that reaches well beyond strength and movement.

When skeletal muscle contracts, it releases signaling molecules known as myokines. These molecules can act locally within muscle or travel through the bloodstream, where they help coordinate responses in other tissues and organs. Researchers have identified communication between active muscle and the liver, fat tissue, blood vessels, immune system, bone, and brain.

This does not mean that myokines explain every benefit of exercise. Exercise changes blood flow, energy use, mitochondrial function, nervous-system activity, glucose handling, and many other aspects of physiology at the same time. Myokines are one important part of that larger response.

Muscle Is Part of the Endocrine Conversation

The endocrine system is usually described in terms of glands such as the thyroid, pancreas, adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes. These organs produce hormones that circulate through the body and influence distant tissues.

Skeletal muscle can behave in a similar way. During contraction, it produces and releases biologically active proteins and peptides. The term myokine developed as researchers began recognizing muscle as a secretory organ rather than only a site of movement and energy storage.

Some myokines appear to influence glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity. Others participate in the remodeling of muscle, blood vessels, bone, or fat tissue. Several are being studied for possible roles in immune regulation and communication with the brain.

Much of this field remains unsettled. Some findings come from cell studies or animal models and have not yet translated clearly into clinical care. Even in human research, it can be difficult to separate the effect of one myokine from the many other changes taking place during exercise.

The broader conclusion is more secure: active muscle communicates differently from inactive muscle, and regular movement creates biological effects that extend throughout the body.

IL-6 Shows Why Context Matters

Interleukin-6, or IL-6, is one of the most studied examples. Many people know IL-6 as an inflammatory cytokine because chronically elevated levels can accompany infection, obesity, autoimmune activity, and other inflammatory conditions.

Contracting muscle also releases IL-6, but the pattern is different. Exercise produces a temporary rise that occurs in relation to muscular work, energy demand, duration, and intensity. This short-lived response participates in fuel mobilization and is followed by changes in other inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals.

It would be too simple to describe IL-6 as either beneficial or harmful. Its effect depends on where it comes from, why it was released, how long it remains elevated, and what other signals are present at the same time.

This is a useful correction to the way health information is often presented online. A molecule associated with disease in one setting may serve a normal adaptive purpose in another. Biology does not organize itself around lists of universally “good” and “bad” chemicals.

Walking Counts, but Muscles Also Need a Reason to Adapt

Walking is valuable. It supports circulation, glucose regulation, cardiovascular fitness, mobility, and the ability to remain active without excessive fatigue. A walk after a meal can be especially useful for reducing prolonged sitting and increasing muscular glucose uptake.

Resistance training adds a different kind of stimulus. Muscle adapts when it is asked to produce enough force that the work becomes challenging. That can come from weights, resistance bands, machines, body-weight exercises, hills, carrying groceries, or repeatedly standing from a chair.

The exercise does not need to leave you sore. Soreness is not a reliable measure of a useful workout, and severe soreness can interfere with consistency. The muscle needs progressive demand, adequate recovery, and enough nutrition to adapt.

A practical week may include regular walking, two or more resistance-training sessions, some balance work, and brief periods of greater cardiovascular effort when medically appropriate. The exact plan depends on current fitness, joint health, cardiovascular risk, medications, previous injuries, and other individual factors.

The First Improvement Is Often Moving From None to Some

Exercise advice can become so elaborate that people postpone starting until they have the right program, equipment, schedule, or wearable device. For a sedentary person, the most useful change may be much simpler.

Large observational studies have found meaningful associations between relatively small amounts of vigorous everyday movement and lower mortality risk. These studies do not prove that a few minutes of activity will produce the same result in every person, and they should not be used to minimize established exercise recommendations. They do reinforce an important clinical point: small amounts of movement are not meaningless.

A brisk climb up the stairs, carrying something heavy, walking quickly up a hill, or doing several controlled chair squats may be a reasonable beginning. Someone with chest discomfort, unexplained shortness of breath, fainting, significant cardiovascular disease, or a long period of inactivity may need medical evaluation before adding vigorous exercise.

Older Muscle Still Responds

Age changes muscle. We tend to lose muscle mass, strength, power, and recovery capacity over time, particularly when illness or inactivity is added to the process. Hormonal changes, inadequate protein, poor sleep, certain medications, chronic inflammation, and neurological or orthopedic problems may contribute.

None of this makes older muscle unresponsive.

Studies of adults in advanced age, including frail nursing-home residents, have shown that progressive resistance training can produce substantial gains in strength and physical function. These programs were supervised and carefully advanced. They were not built around punishing workouts or trying to train a 90-year-old like a 30-year-old athlete.

For an older adult, stronger legs may mean being able to rise from the toilet without assistance, recover balance before a fall, carry groceries, travel, garden, or continue living independently. Those gains are more clinically meaningful than a photograph of larger muscles.

Muscle Health Is Not Just a Gym Issue

Muscle cannot adapt well without adequate building materials and recovery. Protein intake becomes especially important with age because older adults may have a less robust muscle-protein response to a meal. Total intake, protein quality, distribution across the day, appetite, kidney function, and the presence of illness all deserve consideration.

Sleep also affects recovery. So do calorie intake, hydration, vitamin and mineral status, medication effects, pain, and the ability to train consistently. Testosterone, estrogen, thyroid function, insulin resistance, and other hormonal or metabolic factors may influence muscle health, but symptoms and body-composition changes should be evaluated rather than attributed to hormones automatically.

Body weight alone does not tell us whether someone is preserving muscle. A person can lose pounds while also losing lean tissue, particularly during aggressive calorie restriction, illness, or poorly supervised weight-loss treatment. This is one reason we use objective body-composition tools such as DEXA and SECA analysis when clinically appropriate.

Supplements Can Support the Work, but They Cannot Do It

No supplement can reproduce the combined effects of muscular contraction, increased blood flow, mechanical loading, nervous-system recruitment, energy demand, and exercise-induced signaling.

Creatine monohydrate is one of the better-studied options for supporting muscular energy, strength, and training performance. Its value is most apparent when it is paired with resistance exercise rather than treated as a substitute for it. RetzlerRx® Creatine Monohydrate Powder provides a simple micronized creatine formula for people using it as part of an appropriate strength and nutrition plan.

Magnesium participates in normal muscle contraction and relaxation, nerve signaling, and cellular energy production. Supplementation may be useful when intake is inadequate or individual needs warrant it, although taking more magnesium does not automatically improve exercise performance. RetzlerRx® UltraMag uses a chelated magnesium lysinate glycinate form selected for absorption and digestive tolerance.

Coenzyme Q10 contributes to mitochondrial energy production. It may be considered in selected situations, including some patients taking statin medication, but it should not be presented as an exercise replacement or a universal solution for fatigue. RetzlerRx® CoQ10 200 mg is available when that dose is appropriate for an individual's plan.

Kidney disease, pregnancy, medication use, surgery, and other health considerations may affect supplement selection. Individualized medical guidance is appropriate when there is uncertainty.

The HormoneSynergy® Perspective

The language of turning muscle into a “pharmacy” is memorable, but it can make a complex area of physiology sound more settled than it is. Muscles do release powerful signaling molecules. Researchers are still determining which signals are most important, how they interact, and how much of the research will become clinically actionable.

We do not need to exaggerate the science to make the case for movement.

Regular exercise supports insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular function, bone strength, balance, physical independence, mood, and cognitive health. Active muscle is part of that protection. Preserving it requires repeated use, enough resistance to stimulate adaptation, adequate nutrition, and a plan that can be sustained.

There is no pill that recreates all of this. The body still expects us to move.

Related HormoneSynergy® Resources

• Longevity Medicine Resource Library
• DEXA Bone Density, Visceral Fat and Body Composition Testing
• CNS Vital Signs Neurocognitive Testing
• Preventive Cardiology and Silent Heart Disease Detection

References

1. Pedersen BK, Febbraio MA. Muscles, exercise and obesity: skeletal muscle as a secretory organ. Nature Reviews Endocrinology. 2012.
2. Severinsen MCK, Pedersen BK. Muscle-organ crosstalk: the emerging roles of myokines. Endocrine Reviews. 2020.
3. Zunner BEM, Wachsmuth NB, Eckstein ML, et al. Myokines and resistance training: a narrative review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022.
4. Pedersen BK, Febbraio MA. Muscle as an endocrine organ: focus on muscle-derived interleukin-6. Physiological Reviews. 2008.
5. Stamatakis E, Ahmadi MN, Gill JMR, et al. Association of wearable device-measured vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity with mortality. Nature Medicine. 2022.
6. Fiatarone MA, Marks EC, Ryan ND, Meredith CN, Lipsitz LA, Evans WJ. High-intensity strength training in nonagenarians: effects on skeletal muscle. The New England Journal of Medicine. 1990.
7. Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 2017.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are myokines?

Myokines are signaling molecules produced and released by skeletal muscle, particularly in response to contraction. They may act within muscle or communicate with tissues such as the liver, fat, blood vessels, bone, immune system, and brain.

Does walking release myokines?

Walking involves repeated muscle contraction and contributes to exercise-related signaling. The response varies with the amount of muscle used and the duration and intensity of activity. Brisk walking and walking uphill generally create a greater metabolic demand than slow, easy walking.

Do I need to feel sore for exercise to work?

No. Muscle soreness is not required for improvements in strength, metabolic health, or fitness. Progressive exercise that can be repeated consistently is usually more useful than creating severe soreness.

Can older adults still build strength?

Yes. Older adults, including people in advanced age, can improve strength and physical function through appropriately designed progressive resistance training. Medical conditions, balance, joint health, and previous activity level should guide the starting point.

Can creatine replace resistance training?

No. Creatine may support muscular energy and training performance, but it does not reproduce the mechanical and biological effects of resistance exercise. It is best considered as support for an appropriate exercise and nutrition plan.