If you find yourself with your couch, remote in one hand, and a bowl of snacks in the other, it may be time for an interlude from this particular routine. The deal is this: that sedentary lifestyle could speed up the aging process.
You may be wondering how that would happen. Well, inactivity plays this dual role in the unfortunate scenario of weakening our muscle strength and packing on extra pounds, both conspiring to age us quicker than we’d like.
Muscle Decay: The Harsh Reality
As we go along in life, our muscles just wither away. Every decade of life, we lose a small portion of our muscle fibers, about two to four pounds every ten years. And in that slow decline, our muscles lose not just strength but also flexibility, stealing from us the range of motion that we have always taken for granted.
And the culprit of such muscle destruction? You guessed it-lack of exercise. New research shows even just a little time without exercise can cause significant muscle breakdown. Your muscles can considerably be compromised after simply one week of not being active. And if you extend that to one month-you’re talking almost a 50 percent loss in muscle strength. Often all that atrophied muscle is masked by additional layers of fat, another not-so-nice traveling partner of a sedentary lifestyle.
Weighty Consequence
It works like this: the more sedentary you are, the heavier you are. But of course, it’s much deeper than that: how does extra weight speed up aging?
Now, researchers have discovered a startling fact: as people become heavier, they tend to develop insulin resistance. This metabolic shift speeds up the shortening of telomeres. But what exactly are telomeres? Well, telomeres are something like protective caps on the end of your chromosomes that cover your DNA. And as they shorten-often because of excess weight and insulin resistance-it’s a dead ringer telling you it’s full-steam ahead with aging.
The weight-related stress and the associated insulin resistance can foster an inflammatory response and free radicals, all agents of cellular destruction. In other words, the extra weight doesn’t just weigh you down; it erodes your very DNA, hastening the aging process.
The Sunny Side
But let’s not despair! There is a ray of hope. The good news, therefore, is that you can regain what you lost and lose what you gained. And wide research shows us that a zestful life packed full of exercise can indeed restore your DNA to its young, healthy state and delay the cruel rustiness of time.
Studies have continually indicated that regular exercise is indeed protective against a wide array of health concerns: diabetes, atrophy of muscles, certain types of cancer, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease. It lowers blood pressure, decreases body fat, raises HDL or the good cholesterol, decreases LDL or the bad cholesterol, improves blood flow, aids digestion, and controls hormones.
Okay, so what does an anti-aging workout consist of? Think of a tasty formula for life that brings cardio, yoga, and weight training all into one.
Ways to Get Moving
Again, activities such as jogging, cycling, walking, or swimming can be done for 30 minutes daily, five days a week. If you can ramp up the intensity, even better! This not only floods your brain with increased blood flow and oxygen but is also a haven for your heart, reducing blood pressure and giving way to elastic arteries.
Of course, then there is the magic of weight training. Weight training for just 20 minutes per day, twice a week strengthens your bones and muscles, including that large muscle in your chest. If you are a beginner, then 3-5 pound dumbbells will get you on your merry way to strength and resiliency.
Yoga is the undisputed champion of stress management, as it includes an age-old practice soothing the body and mind, thus regulating levels of stress and eliminating free radicals that reduce skin elasticity.
More Than Just Youth
Let’s look at some of the facets of exercise. Other than the anti-aging part, exercising will help you sleep better and improve your mood, along with maintaining a leaner body, and amazingly keeping that spark going in your sex life!
Power up those sneakers, roll out that yoga mat, and reach for those weights-your joyous living has begun. In opposing those forces of aging at each turn, you say yes to a life teeming with boundless energy, health, and youthful vibrancy. The power of youthfulness is in your hands-so why not take control?