Lack of movement throughout your life is just as bad as, if not worse than, the physical aging process on your body’s internal balance and health systems. Living a life without exercise or physical activity can be dangerous! In other words it will put the aging processes into a faster down hill slide then doing what is needed to slow down the processes.

Without movement on a daily basis your metabolism will shrink. While hypothyroidism, adrenal gland fatigue and a few other health conditions can interrupt metabolism as well, movement is beneficial.

Muscle cells need a lot of energy, which means they burn a lot of calories. In fact, they burn more calories than fat cells, even when you are not exercising. If your weight is under control the time you spend working out reaps benefits long after you stop sweating. We can’t age well without maintaining muscle mass. Balance and the ability to move freely can be improved upon and not totally gone. Without muscle people tend to fall easily. Muscle helps to maintain bone as well. Strengthening muscle mass around joints maintains the joint itself decreasing joint damage. When lifting weights, even moderate weights, try to keep up a schedule for 2-3 times a week. Do one or two sets of 12 to 15 repetitions on each major muscle group (abs, biceps, glutes, quads).

Aerobic activity should be walking, swimming, and if you are capable jogging mixed with walking should be done 150 minutes at least four times a week. More if your time allows. Twenty minutes a day is also recommended.

In a study performed at the University of Birmingham in England, the team assessed 84 males and 41 female cyclists, aged 55 to 79. The men had to be able to cycle 62 miles in under 6.5 hours, while the women had to be able to cycle 37 miles in 5.5 hours.

Unlike the “control group” of adults who did not get regular exercise, the cyclists did not have loss of muscle mass or strength, did not have age-related increases in body fat or cholesterol levels, and their immune systems were as robust as much younger people.

Male cyclists also had higher testosterone levels than men in the control group, according to the study authors.

A new study on aging at the University of Southern California and Yale University researchers suggest that at least part of the gains in life expectancy over recent decades may be due to a change in the rate of biological aging, rather than simply keeping ailing people alive.

“This is the first evidence we have of delayed ‘aging’ among a national sample of Americans,” said senior author Eileen M. Crimmins, University Professor and AARP Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), III (1988-1994) and NHANES IV (2007-2010, the researchers examined how biological age, relative to chronological age, changed in the U.S. while considering the contributions of health behaviors. Biological age was calculated using several indications for metabolism, inflammation, and organ function, including levels of hemoglobin, total cholesterol, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, and C-reactive protein in blood as well as blood pressure and breath capacity data.

Slowing the pace of aging, along with increasing life expectancy, has important social and economic implications. The study suggest that modifying health behaviors and using prescription medications (when necessary) does indeed have significant impact on the health of the population.

The full article can be seen by searching University of Southern California. “Americans slow down the clock of age: Humans may be able to turn back time, but a new study finds that Americans are slowing it down.” Science Daily. 16 March 2018.