Is exercise the fountain of youth?
Research (and from my own experience ;) ) shows that exercise has powerful impact on our physical and cognitive health & can in fact slow down the aging process.
So, here’s how exercise makes you younger, one cell at a time.
Daily exercise (sure will) increase energy efficiency. Regular participation in highly aerobic activities and exercises (cardio in particular) have a lower metabolic cost of walking than sedentary adults. What does that mean really? As we age, if we are active, we maintain our ‘horsepower,’ or fuel economy. This suggests that those who exercise can maintain a better quality of life because of their ability to move around easily. Did I already convince you to start? No? Ok read further.
Daily exercise will make your skin younger - yes it will!
By increasing blood flow, sending more oxygen and eliminating waste, exercise keeps skin cells healthy and vital. So How, you are asking me again? By increasing blood flow, exercise helps nourish skin cells and keep them healthy and vital by sending more oxygen to them and carrying away waste. Additionally, when we sweat, our pores open and release the build up inside of them. Sweat purges the body of toxins that would otherwise clog up pores and cause blemishes.
Fantastic yes?
Daily exercise will improve flexibility. Although any type of exercise, including both aerobic and anaerobic exercise, can improve our flexibility, yoga and pilates in particular are highly effective at increasing flexibility as we age. Please do not be one of the many people who avoid yoga just because you think you are not flexible!! You should try it - your body will thank you for that! By increasing your flexibility, you can also reduce the risk of injuries – such as hip injuries – as you age, increasing your chances of living a longer, healthier life. Amazing right?
Daily exercises will improve posture.
Due to muscle loss and bone density changes as you age, your ability to keep a healthy posture will (sorry you have to hear this, but will) start to decline! By strength training either by using resistance bands, weights or aerobic exercise you can rebuild muscle and prevent bone loss. Taking care of your core and your spine has the added benefit of keeping your body and joints strong, and your taller posture will shave years off of your appearance.
Daily exercise will keep our metabolism high.
As we age, our metabolism naturally slows down. As the pounds climb up, we put our bodies at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease and other serious health issues. The more muscle mass we have, the quicker our bodies burn calories. So by exercising and keeping your body strong, we are better able to maintain a healthy weight and reduce our chances of sickness and disease.
Daily exerise will slow cell aging.
Exercise doesn’t just make you look younger. Exercise makes you younger. How right? By turning off the aging process in your chromosomes. In order to stay young, you have to keep your cells young. (Researchers have found that exercise can keep DNA healthy and young -yeeeeyyy ;) ).
Also, telomeres, the caps at the end of our chromosomes that are responsible for aging, get shorter as we get older. Plus recent studies have shown a link between regular exercise and lengthening of the telomeres, which suggests that exercise may literally be able to slow our clocks down and help us live longer.
Daily exercise will relieve stress.
If exercise is the fountain of youth, stress is its antidote. Do you agree on this one?
One key to living a long, happy, healthy life is the ability to reduce stress and anxiety and move forward after stressful life events. Chuck toxic people out of your life, yes you heard that right!!
Remember - high stress level can have an enormous impact on your longevity, shedding up to 33 years off of our lives. OMG no? Plus, daily exercise reduces stress, making it more likely that we will live longer – and happier. Finally :)
Daily exercise boost mental capacity.
Studies show that regular exercise boosts the size of our hippocampus, the area of the brain that’s responsible for learning and memory.
Numerous studies show that regular aerobic exercise boosts the size of the hippocampus, the area of the brain that’s responsible for memory and learning. So listen now,
'...those who exercise may literally have the brain of a younger person, making it easy for them to continue learning and maintain sharp mental health for years longer than those who are sedentary and do not get regular, aerobic movement on a daily basis.'
So what type of exercise should I choose from? I'd say all types of exercise promote & improve the health and survival of brain cells as well as the growth of new blood vessels in the brain. ;)
And last but not least...
Daily exercise will require a higher water intake from you & if you really wish to prevent aging - YOU HAVE TO DRINK WATER! (not wine ;) ). ...ok ok a little bit, will talk about it soon :)
So drinking more water can also make you feel and look younger? How? By nourishing and hydrating your skin from the inside out, drinking more water can reduce wrinkles and increase the function and vitality of all of your organs.
... now, if all this written above still did not convince you, then there's no hope for you no more, yikes!
Until next time, S.
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