Podcast Summary: “Your Butt is a Longevity Organ (Here’s how to train it!)”

The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey – Episode 1405 featuring Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
Date: January 27, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dave Asprey sits down with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, a physician and founder of “muscle-centric medicine,” to discuss why skeletal muscle—especially the glutes (aka your butt)—is arguably the most important organ for longevity, resilience, metabolism, and even brain health. Together, they dissect common misconceptions about strength training, body composition, and nutrition (with a focus on protein), addressing both the physical and mental factors required to forge a longer, stronger, and more resilient life—especially for women. The conversation weaves through scientific insights, personal anecdotes, protocol-based biohacks, and actionable takeaways, all delivered with humor and a no-nonsense approach.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Muscle (and Your Butt) Is a Longevity Organ

• Muscle as Foundational to Health: Dr. Lyon asserts that muscle is more than just strength or appearance; healthy muscle tissue drives metabolism, aids brain function, and buffers against age-related decline.
  • “The stronger you are, the better your metabolism, the better your brain function is going to be.” – Dr. Lyon (00:38:45, 46:23)
• Glutes & Brain Health:
  • Asprey jokes, “Bigger booty, bigger brain,” citing studies linking leg muscle mass and power with slower brain aging. (00:48:05)

2. Rethinking Body Fat and Metabolic Health

• Beyond Body Fat Percentage:
  • Dr. Lyon argues that intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) (fat within muscle) is more linked to metabolic disease and aging than overall body fat percent.
    • “Body fat percentage is going to be much less important, and it’s going to be all about intermuscular adipose tissue.” – Dr. Lyon (00:48:17)
  • Standard measurements like DEXA aren’t perfect; MRIs and advanced imaging will be the future. (00:49:59–00:53:17)
• Exercise trumps percent body fat: Physical activity reduces IMAT and supports metabolic health even if body weight or percentage fat doesn’t change.
  • “The simple act of exercising, the simple act of emptying the tank, improves IMAT.” – Dr. Lyon (00:51:00)

3. Why Strength, Not Just Size, Matters—Especially for Women

• Dispelling Bulking Myths: It’s nearly impossible for women to “get bulky” from strength training—a persistent and limiting myth. (00:13:35)
• Stronger Women, Stronger Lives: Lyon explains that strength is a necessity, not a luxury, positioning her “playbook” for female empowerment and agency.
  • “Being strong is not a luxury. It’s an absolute necessity and a responsibility.” – Dr. Lyon (00:13:02)
• Foundations for Kids: Early training (with proper supervision) lays down tendon strength and healthy metabolism for life. (00:23:44–00:25:08)

4. Muscle & Metabolism: Nutrition, Protein, and the Protein Myths

• Protein Intake Realities:
  • It is possible, and beneficial, to eat more than the oft-cited 30 grams of protein per meal—skeletal muscle likely maxes effect around 50g, but the body uses protein for much more.
    • “There’s no upper limit... you can have 100 grams of protein. There’s no anabolic threshold. But that makes no sense because if that was the case, then we would be laying down tissue... we cannot do that.” – Dr. Lyon (00:59:41)
  • Asprey’s N=1: Eating 100g protein per meal, 2 meals a day, maintains lean mass without digestive distress. (01:00:31–01:01:43)
• Quality Over Quantity: Emphasizing animal-derived, bioavailable protein over plant alternatives for maximal effect.
• MTOR Concerns Overstated:
  • Fears that protein stimulates "aging" pathways (MTOR) are overblown and mostly misunderstood in popular media; other factors, like insulin and total energy excess, play bigger roles.
    • “If you believe stimulating MTOR is bad through amino acids in muscle, then you’d also believe that exercise is bad, because that stimulates MTOR.” – Dr. Lyon (01:63:02)

5. The Mind-Muscle Link: Mindset as a Longevity Tool

• Mindset Before Protocols: Dr. Lyon’s #1 advice is to “get your mind right.” Commitment to strength requires seeing it as a responsibility and developing a resilient mental framework. (00:13:02, 00:31:59)
• Friction and Mental Toughness:
  • She proposes using small, voluntary discomforts (like denying yourself coffee based on a coin flip) to build the “friction muscle,” accepting and practicing self-regulation and neutrality.
    • “You begin to build up this annoyance muscle, this friction muscle, and that’s just a little thing… Being able to maintain your emotions… is really important.” – Dr. Lyon (00:36:13–00:37:49)
• Leverage Muscle to Drive Mind:
  • Lyon counters the conventional idea that mindset precedes action: “I think you leverage muscle to drive the mind… If you are pushing your body hard enough, even for 20 to 30 seconds, it is impossible… to think of anything else.” (01:41:18)
• Resilience Yields Discernment: A foundation of strength cultivates greater emotional stability and discernment—in relationships, work, and daily challenges. (01:33:12–01:35:08)

6. Special Topics: Hormones, Histamine, and GLP-1s

• Histamine, Mast Cells & Women’s Health:
  • Lyon and Asprey discuss how hormonal shifts and connective tissue disorders (like Ehlers Danlos) can ramp up histamine sensitivity and inflammatory symptoms in women, especially around perimenopause. (00:14:39)
  • Managing protein intake and resolving metabolic dysfunction is key to improving resilience to these sensitivities.
• GLP-1 Agonists (weight-loss drugs):
  • These drugs can induce rapid muscle loss unless accompanied by high protein intake and resistance training.
    • “You lose more muscle during that [GLP-1-induced weight loss] time than you would in a decade of life… That’s 30 years of muscle aging.” – Dr. Lyon & Asprey (00:56:49)
  • Concern: Trading obesity for “sarcopenic obesity” (fat with muscle loss) could worsen future frailty and health outcomes. (01:58:11)

7. Injury, Recovery, and the “Muscle Span” Concept

• Importance of Injury Prevention:
  • Muscle “span”—years lived with healthy muscle—directly determines quality and length of life. Major injuries can cause irreversible step-downs in health trajectory (“catabolic crises”). (00:19:42)
• Safe Training for Special Populations:
  • Those with connective tissue disorders must progress more slowly; blood flow restriction (BFR) training can help maintain muscle safely. (00:16:00)
• No Such Thing as Too Old: There’s no upper (or lower) age for resistance training; lifelong movement, customized to the individual, is essential. (00:23:06)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the importance of training even with body fat:
  “Whether your body fat percentage changes or not, the stronger you are, the better your metabolism, the better your brain function is going to be.” – Dr. Lyon (00:00:38)
• On glutes and cognition:
  “Bigger booty, bigger brain.” – Dave Asprey (00:48:05)
• On the unlikely road to bulking as a woman:
  “Both Dave and I have been trying to look bulky for the last 30 years. It’s not going to happen.” – Dr. Lyon (00:13:35)
• On mindset and lifelong resilience:
  “A good doctor recognizes patterns of disease. An effective doctor recognizes patterns of people.” – Dr. Lyon (00:31:59)
• On mitochondrial health and energy:
  “Your lens on the world either is at full power or it’s not at full power.” – Dave Asprey (00:45:37)
• On protein thresholds: “You’re not waiting for motivation anymore. You set a standard, it’s not a goal.” – Dr. Lyon (00:39:23)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Muscle vs. Fat as Longevity Determinants: 00:00–00:48, 00:51:00
• The New “Playbook” and the Mindset Shift: 00:03:31; 00:31:59
• Protein, Metabolism, and Common Myths: 00:05:49; 00:59:41–01:01:43
• GLP-1s and Sarcopenic Risk: 00:55:37–00:58:11
• Histamine, Hormone Imbalances & Women’s Health: 00:09:33–00:15:17
• Training Young, Training Old: 00:23:08–00:25:08
• Mental “Friction” and Resilience Training: 00:26:55–00:37:49
• Measurement/Tech for IMAT and Fat: 00:49:59–00:55:14
• Closing Thoughts on Energy, Imperfection, and Resilience: 00:43:56–00:65:35

Conclusion

Dr. Lyon and Dave Asprey make a compelling case for muscle—especially your glutes—as the anchor of longevity and a keystone for metabolic, cognitive, and emotional resilience. Their message: building and maintaining muscle is not optional, especially as we age, but accessible to everyone—women, men, the young, and the old. Pairing pragmatic nutrition (emphasizing sufficient high-quality protein), regular and safe resistance training, and deliberate mindset “upgrades” is the foundation of the “Human Upgrade.” And, yes, a bigger butt really can mean a bigger brain.

Explore more at: daveasprey.com | drgabriellelyon.com