One Simple Regime Needed for Anti-aging. It’s Not Too Late. You Can Start Now!
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If there were a way to improve your chances of aging well (significantly!), would you do it?
Of course! No one wants to deteriorate into someone prone to injury or chronic disease.
It’s natural to long for a healthy, active life to spend with friends and loved ones. But we often don’t put the work in needed to achieve that.
I have good news for you.
There is a (pretty cheap) way to increase your chances of a healthy life, full of energy and low in risk of injury or disease.
And guess what- it’s never too late to start. Whether you’re a young, spry 20-year-old, or a wise 60-year-old — you can implement this one thing into your life and reap the benefits of it.
I’m not saying it’s not always easy, but it is simple.
AND it doesn’t include any crazy anti-aging devices, expensive treatments, or supplements.
The magic solution: strength training.
You must add strength training to your regime a few times a week.
Now, I’m not talking about training like a powerlifter to eventually deadlift 100s of pounds. We often fear the thought of strength training because either we fear injury or we think the training has to be intense — such as a competitive athlete would need.
Strength training has gotten a bad rap over the years because of the grunts and sweat and “bulkiness” of competitive athletes.
That is not the type of training I’m talking about!
Here is what you need to know to put the magic to work.
- We lose muscle as we age. Yet- muscle is imperative for basic life functions.
Studies show that muscle loss creates a higher risk of injury and chronic disease. It even increases the rates of nursing home admissions.
If you think about it, the ability to bend and move well comes from expanding and contracting muscles. We start out young and healthy because we are active. But for some reason, as we age, we think we’re too old to continue exercising those muscles? The weight may need to change, but the need for it to be done consistently doesn’t change.
The ability to stand up from a chair, get off the floor, carry grocery bags, or walk up stairs comes from muscle strength. To maintain these life functions, we must keep these muscles strong.
Because muscle does deteriorate as we age, it’s even more important to keep up the strengthening of it. Research shows that strength training and walking highly improve functionality as we age. It aids in better balance and reduces the risk of falls.
Not only does it increase functionality, but it also helps preserve bone density. (Females can be prone to a disease in which the bones become easy to break-osteoporosis).
2. Strength training benefits outweigh cardio every time when it comes to fat loss and healthy aging.
Now, you may be thinking, “I am active! I run daily!”
Cardiovascular training is NOT the same as strength training. Heavy cardio workouts (anything that causes heavy breathing like running, cycling, swimming, etc) work the heart and lungs. It can be an important part of health. But it often (when done as your only workout regime) deteriorates muscle even faster. You may feel you are burning body fat, but the truth is, muscle burns fat. Strength training has been shown to be more effective for obesity and aging than diet or aerobic exercise alone.
The more muscle you have, the easier it is to maintain a lower body fat percentage. And “cardio” is not what “revs” up the metabolism to burn body fat. Strength training aka putting resistance on the muscles is the healthiest thing you can do for your metabolism.
Convinced yet? Okay, here’s one more.
3. Strength training isn’t just for muscle health. It aids in other important areas of life that increase overall health.
Strength training can improve sleep and reduce depression. As we get older and see more life, it’s easy(er) to be stressed out by the state of the world. This can weigh on the body, causing us to look even more aged.
Good sleep is something we often sacrifice to get more things done. We don’t take sleep seriously or even try to work on it. Sleep plays a vital role in our health while awake. Sleep is when the body recovers and improves physical and mental health. In fact, a lack of sleep has been linked to obesity, increased risk of chronic disease, inflammation, depression, hormone imbalances, and a shortened life span!
Sleep has such an important role in quality of life. Improving your sleep through strength training can increase your chances of longevity. This study compares the effects of strength training vs cardio training on improving sleep. It shows a significant improvement!
When thinking of a long healthy life, depression isn’t a part of that. Studies show that strength training has a significant reduction effect on depressive symptoms. Combine that with all the other benefits of strength training- and why would you not start incorporating it into your week!!
Convinced now? Okay, good.
Here are three simple tips to get you started.
1. Get a $10–20 gym membership and do a free session with a personal trainer.
The personal trainer can take you through all the machines and get you comfortable with your surroundings so the gym is not so intimidating.
If you can only work out from home, get a few sets of dumbbells, bands, and a yoga ball.
A small assortment of equipment will go far! There are a lot of cheap or free at-home programs available online. Incorporating a 30–40 minute resistance workout 3x a week will have you feeling good within a few short weeks!
2. Schedule your workouts in your calendar at the start of your week.
Make these non-negotiable meetings with yourself. Try different times of day at first! You may find you like early mornings better than late afternoons or vice versa. Don’t feel like you have to get in a 5 am workout just because “that’s a good morning routine.”
Do what is going to work for you! Because then, you’ll do it. But start with setting these 3x a week goals to get you in the habit of discipline over just doing it when you feel like it (which at first, may be never).
3. Record your progress!
There will be times that you doubt progress or you get tired and discouraged. Recording your progress is an important part of self-reflection. It ensures you’re heading in the right direction and that you’re doing workouts that align with your goals. And it’s always great to see how far you’ve come!
One last thing to help you out: a free 1 month meal plan!
You can download the meal plan here.
It will give you the nutritious jumpstart needed to aid in recovery and energy when starting strength training!
I’d love to hear from you! Email me with any questions at copybymeag@gmail.com
Visit my website: here!
