Maximize The Anti-Aging Benefits of Exercise
Exercise, when done consistently and mindfully, will increase the resilience and longevity of your body-- thus prolonging your body’s fun + functional capacity!
We celebrate aging!
Aging is a wonderful thing-- I would not trade my younger body for my older mind! Would you?!
Learning how to physically age well by exercising smart will allow us to keep playing tennis, pickleball, waterskiing, and doing cartwheels when we’re 85!
To keep your body in it’s optimal state for your whole life make sure you have both cardio and resistance training to your weekly routine.
Here are 5 tips you can focus on to maximize the anti-aging benefits of exercise!
1. Focus on gaining muscle while preserving your joints.
More muscle increases your resting metabolism, tendon strength, and bone density.
As we age, sarcopenia occurs-- which means we naturally lose muscle mass... This is why we sometimes see weight gain with age.
Less muscle leads to a slower metabolism, among other things.
Which means it is so important to strength train both as a young adult and an older adult!
2. Work each muscle group in your body.
Avoid overworking one muscle group in consecutive days.
This can lead to inflammation in your body, and it can actually inhibit strength improvements.
This excessive wear-and-tear accelerates the “aging” of your joints.
A good practice to avoid this overload is by alternating between strength training and moderate-intensity cardio training every other day!
3. Make sure you have a mix of cardio/ hiit in your week.
Exercises that get your heart rate up actually keep your cells younger longer
Check out our blog post on "Creative Ways to Get Your Heart Rate Up"
4. Live a balanced lifestyle
There is so much more to health than just exercise.
Food is key. Food is medicine.
Sleep is so important. Good sleep has it's own anti-aging health benefits.
Remember: recovery is PRODUCTIVE! It leads to a stronger body with less pain and inflammation.
5. Set goals
Exercising 5 times per week, for at least 30 minutes daily is recommended for optimal benefits.
Avoid being tunnel-vision focused on the short term effects of exercise, and focus on the bigger picture.
We only have one body to live in for all of our days!
Let’s learn to optimize our exercise so we can be fun and functional in our later stages of life.
And always... let’s be incredibly grateful for what our bodies are able to do! Celebrate your God given body and ability to move. It truly is a gift!
