Summer strength: Why muscle matters

Why dieting isn’t the answer to getting “in shape” for summer - and what works instead, according to Alexandra Beck.

Photograph: Pexels: Andrea Musto

Text: Alexandra Beck

Something shifts in Denmark when summer approaches. The light stretches, the cafés fill up, and almost overnight, people start thinking about getting “in shape.” For many, that still means eating less, being stricter, and trying to undo the winter months as quickly as possible.

It’s understandable. It’s also where things tend to backfire.

Because if the goal is to feel better in your body this summer - not just temporarily lighter - then muscle matters far more than dieting ever will.

Dieting, at its core, is about creating a calorie deficit. That can lead to weight loss, but the body doesn’t just lose fat. Without strength training, a significant portion of that loss can come from muscle. And muscle is not just there for aesthetics. It plays a central role in how your body functions day to day.

Muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning it supports how much energy you burn even at rest. It contributes to joint stability, helps reduce injury risk, and plays an important role in blood sugar regulation. Lose muscle, and you don’t just become lighter - you often become less resilient, less energetic, and, frustratingly for many, less “toned” in the way they were aiming for.

This is one of the reasons people can diet successfully on paper, see the scale drop, and still feel disappointed with the result. They’re smaller, but not necessarily stronger or more defined. And when normal eating patterns return, the body - now with less muscle - is more likely to regain weight.

Why muscle changes the outcome

Strength training changes that equation entirely. Instead of asking, “How little can I eat?” the focus shifts to, “What does my body need to perform and recover well?” That shift alone tends to improve consistency.

From a physiological perspective, resistance training sends a clear signal to preserve and build muscle. When paired with adequate protein and a moderate calorie deficit, this leads to fat loss while maintaining lean tissue. The result is not just weight loss, but a meaningful change in body composition.

In practical terms, that means you don’t just look different - you feel different. Stronger, more capable, and far less at the mercy of short-term fluctuations in routine.

There’s also a lifestyle element that matters, particularly in a Danish summer. Life becomes more social, more spontaneous, and often more enjoyable - long evenings, outdoor meals, bakery stops that weren’t planned but felt necessary at the time. Trying to approach this season with a rigid dieting mindset usually creates friction. Either you restrict and miss out, or you don’t and feel like you’ve failed.

A body with more muscle handles that reality better. It is more metabolically flexible, more resilient to variation, and better equipped to return to routine without dramatic swings.

A more useful goal than “Summer Ready”

Research consistently supports resistance training as a key factor in improving long-term body composition, metabolic health, and weight maintenance. It also becomes increasingly important with age, as natural muscle loss begins earlier than many expect.

So the goal doesn’t need to be “summer ready.” It can be something far more useful: building a body that is prepared for life as it is actually lived.

In practice, that usually means two to three strength sessions per week, sufficient protein intake, and a level of consistency that allows for real life rather than fighting against it.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel confident when summer arrives. But confidence tends to come less from shrinking yourself and more from feeling capable in your body.

Dieting might change your weight for a while. Strength training changes what that weight is made of. And that’s the difference people are often looking for, even if they don’t realise it yet.