Exercise Reverses Aging
Study shows that a 70 year old person who starts running regularly can regain their strength. An added benefit is that they can then “walk with the pep” of a college student. Time to get out those running shoes!
Lately I know many health and fitness experts (including one more doctor friend) who has taken up walking. They’ve deemed it the age reverser and told me I need to walk at least 10 miles a day (10 miles!) I’d be happy to walk for 10 straight minutes, although I do get in my 2 Pilates work outs a week with a trainer and walk when I can (but not ten miles- not gonna happen)
Skip the Long Walks on the Beach and Take a Short Run!
NY Times reports on a recent study that says the following:
Running may reverse aging in certain ways while walking does not, a noteworthy new study of active older people finds. The findings raise interesting questions about whether most of us need to pick up the pace of our workouts in order to gain the greatest benefit
Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder and Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., began to wonder whether this slow decay of older people’s physical ease really is inexorable or if it might be slowed or reversed by other types of exercise and, in particular, by running.
Here’s the best part:
In fact, when the researchers compared their older runners’ walking efficiency to that of young people, which had been measured in earlier experiments at the same lab, they found that 70-year-old runners had about the same walking efficiency as your typical sedentary college student. Old runners, it appeared, could walk with the pep of young people.
So get out those running shoes (with your health practitioner’s blessing, of course) and you’re off the races!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND FOUNDER of HEALTH NUT NEWS
Erin is an animal lover, rescuer, writer and long time green eco health nut. She loves sprinting and singing in the rain. She’s worked in the natural health world and done volunteer work in the same arena for nearly 25 years. You can follow her here on Facebook and subscribe to her newsletter too!
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