Proper Exercise Is Essential For A Long Healthy Life
Now-a-days you hear a lot about the importance of looking after your muscular system especially as you get older
. For the last three odd decades we have been told we need to give priority to our cardiovascular (heart/lung) system.
We were told to keep this system in good health we should perform long, slow 'cardio' exercise like walking, jogging, cycling or other recreational type activities. That was all very well back then as we didn't know any different. But today with scientific research we know that these types of activities do not counter the number one bio-marker of the aging process - muscle tissue loss.
Holding on to precious muscle tissue is vital as it affects bone and joint health. Previously bone deterioration was blamed on the aging process but now it is well known that by keeping the muscles strong the bones that they are attached too stay strong and healthy as well. Joint health is also promoted as firm toned muscles hold joints firmly in place and cushion and protect them from the stresses of day to day activities.
If you can imagine the skeleton as being the chassis of our body and our muscles as the plumbing that hold it all together and allow us to move freely you can start to understand its importance. You cannot have bone health without strong healthy muscles and you cannot have joint (like knees and backs) health without strong firm muscles, and, the only way you can have strong healthy muscles is to challenge them with the right type of exercise. These body parts are all linked together and if one deteriorates they all do.
If our modern world had retained some of the 'work' in our daily lives everything would be fine as it used to be for our grandparents and great grandparents. But in the last 100 odd years every little scrap of 'work' has been removed from day-to-day activities to make our lives 'easy' and 'convenient'. We can virtually get through the entire day without literally having to move a muscle.
But the price is high. Without the challenge of vigorous movement that stimulates the 'growth and repair' hormones that keep the human body healthy chemicals whisper to the cells - decay - degenerate - die.
The expression 'use it or lose it' is never more appropriate than when applied to the human body. When you use it and supply it with enough muscle building and maintaining activity your muscles and bones will continually renew themselves replacing old worn out cells and tissues with new healthier tissue. But take that mechanism away and your body has no stimulus to regenerate itself, and tissues get old, frail and become susceptible to disease.
There is no other way around it. We have to put intentional proper exercise like strength training back into our lives if we are to reach our full potential and enjoy a long healthy life right up until the final event. Surely this is a much better option than a shortened life preceded by years of illness, disease and disability. Each of us has this choice.