Exercise is an important part of our life from the time we are born. In the beginning, we learn all about stretching and movement. Then comes walking, running, climbing and all the other types of movements we can experiment with and hopefully not get injured. As children, we continue to exercise throughout our school years, or at least, children should. When we reach adulthood, we have probably experimented with every type of exercise that one can think of and have developed our routine. Now that we have begun to age, though, those exercises that we have grown to love cause more pain instead of making us feel better. So comes the question of ‘what exercises can be safely performed to keep us functional in our aging years’? Let’s take a look at 7 specific forms of exercise that will help us age gracefully, yet still moving freely once those signs of aging creep up.
1. Train your genes – When you look in the mirror, do you see your body or that of your parents? Well, you can’t change those genes that made you that way, but you can train the genes to express themselves in a more acceptable manner. Resistance and/or strength training reverse the aging process on that genetic level. You should see a big difference in 26 weeks as your body begins to behave in a better manner as it did when you were younger.
2. Cardio workouts – For optimal heart health, you should strive for 150-240 minutes of cardio workout per week. Aerobic activity is perfect for cardio. This type of exercise will help improve the mitochondrial function of the heart which normally decreases as we age. Walking, light jogging, elliptical and other types of exercise to increase your heart rate will provide you the best cardio workout. Stary light and work it up to harder and longer trends.
3. High/low-impact exercises – No, don’t go for pole vaulting your way through adulthood…not this type of high-impact. As people age, the become more concerned about the pain that might occur in the hip and knees with ‘jumping’ or intensity walking with a forceful step. Though, impact exercise can help to build bone density, another issue that must be considered as we age. High-impact would be like running or jogging, whereas low-impact could be a walk around the mall.
4. Brain exercise – Engaging your brain means a brain engaged. Reaction training, such as tennis, racquetball, dance class and others make your brain work with your body to make an active decision and movement accordingly.
5. Squats – As we age, our knees usually try to dictate to us whether or not to squat. But, the reality is that we all have to at some point in time, so learning to do it properly makes the functionality real. The approach is different for men and women. Women – with toes turned slightly outward and moved your feet apart so that they are slightly wider than your hips. Men – keep the toes forward and you need no other adjustment to squat safely. If you follow this suggestion, you will find that you femur will line up with your hip joint better giving you a stronger knee joint with less chance of any pain
6. Stop the brain delays – When the connection of your right and left hemispheres of the brain has trouble communicating (as if often does with aging) it cause a brain delay. One easy fix for this is to include exercise moves there you cross your arms and/or legs past the midline of your body. This strengthens the connections and improves the delay.
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7. Do more – So once you have begun your regimen to increase and maintain your functionality, do more to keep your lifestyle fitness in check. As with the cardio, if 150 is good, go for 240. Start slowly then add to it until your tolerance has improved.
Exercising is not just for the physical aspect, but the emotional aspect as well. Anti-aging techniques include maintaining not only the functionality of the body but the brain as well. Therefore, exercising both is of the utmost importance as we age and maintain a balance between the two. Just as we developed exercise into our lifestyle in our earlier years, aging makes it just as important in our aging years.
Learning how to exercise smart and safe will keep our bodies healthy and happy. So live long, prosper and enjoy supporting those anti-aging techniques that will protect you.
References:
1.https://www.fitnessbacker.com/blogs/7-exercises-that-will-keep-you-fit-and-energized-all-day
2.https://www.glozine.com/lifestyle/health/fitness-secrets-you-probably-didnt-know-about.html