Assessing the three Components of Anti-Aging Exercises
bookmark this at :: del.icio.us
:: Digg it
|
|
May 30, 2007 |
Flexibility Training Program
Flexibility training is the foundation of any anti-aging exercise program because it increases blood flow to the muscle. It also warms up the main muscles of our body and allows our body to be more pliable and less prone to injury as a result of exercise or the daily demands that we may put on our bodies.
As a result of misinformation, most people go straight into an anti-aging exercise program without warming-up the body and stretching the muscles. Proper Stretching should only take 5-10 minutes a day. Considering the short length of time needed, it will be safe to say one should not (and need not) embark on any aerobic program or weight-training program without first doing stretching exercises for your key muscle groups.
Cardiovascular Training Program:
Cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise is an important part of the anti-aging exercise program. It is one of the greatest anti-aging bullets available. The list of benefits from aerobic exercise includes a gain of muscle mass and strength, loss of fat, increased energy, increased sense of well being and a decrease in anxiety and depression.
In addition, aerobic exercise also increases the level of HDL-cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, improves the immune system and helps protect the body against a host of chronic diseases.
Research has shown that cardiovascular exercise increases longevity. Men who spend at least 2,000 kilocalories per week doing moderate exercise such as cycling, tennis, swimming, jogging or brisk walking, lowered their overall death rate by 25 to 33 percent and decreased their risk of coronary artery disease by an astounding 41 percent when compared to their more inactive fellow counterparts.
Cardiovascular exercise as a form of an anti-aging exercise program benefits any age group. However, it should be customized to fit the particular needs of each person.
It must be noted that any aerobic activity stimulates deep breathing by using large muscle groups in a continuous and rhythmical manner. Exercises such as jogging, running, walking, bicycling, hiking, dancing and swimming are such activities.
Strength Training Program
Several anti-aging experts agree that strength training should be an integral part of any anti-aging exercise program. The reason is simple: After the age of 30, our body mass begins to decrease by 6-10 % with each decade. This means by age 70, we have only about 50% of our muscle strength left!
Needless to say, decrease in body strength leads to decrease in function, less energy, less balance, and increase in accident rate. Therefore, increasing strength through your anti-aging exercise program should receive as much attention as the other components of anti-aging exercises listed above.
Strength training, as a form of an anti-aging exercise, activates your pituitary gland to release growth hormone (growth hormone is a key anti-aging hormone).
Therefore working together with the cardiovascular component of anti-aging exercise training, one is bound to see an increased level of anti-aging hormones released into the blood stream which of course lends to a successful delay of the overall aging process.
Read about Yoga as a form of Anti-Aging Exercise tomorrowLabels: anti-aging, exercise |
posted by Maggie @ 1:25 pm   |
|
|
|
|
|
