subject: Staying Strong - Vital To Healthy Aging [print this page] Staying Strong - Vital To Healthy Aging Staying Strong - Vital To Healthy Aging
Not so many years ago, scientists thought that the slow but persistent muscle tissue loss that starts after the mid 20's and continues through adulthood was an inescapable part of the aging process. You were trapped in a body increasingly made up with more body fat and less muscle tissue and there was nothing you could do about it.We now know that this is not so, and that the main reason that a 60-year old human body looks different from a 35-year old is not just the wrinkling and sagging of the outer casing. It is what is happening to the stuffing on the inside that causes us to look older. When muscle tissue and bone mass start shrinking and shriveling posture droops and the skin sags without the cushioning affect of firm muscle beneath the skin.Loss of muscle is the end result of years (maybe decades) of not doing enough strength maintaining activity. Our modern world has stripped it all away to make our lives 'easy' and more 'comfortable' but the price is high. When strength is siphoned away all the degenerative processes and conditions that characterize the aging process are accelerated.Bones that the weakening muscles are attached too also become weak and brittle and more easily injured. Balance is affected and serious falls are more likely with the end result being major injuries like hip and other fractures. Without strong muscles to support and cushion them joints that allow the bones to move also become stiff and start to hurt. All of these things conspire to stop us moving so we don't - and become less and less active which sets us on a merry-go-round of a downward health spiral. Other body systems - everything from the heart system to the immune system grow weak from disuse leaving us exposed to greater disease risk.The really good news is there is an antidote: halting further muscle loss and rebuilding lost muscle with proper strength training exercise. The brain needs to receive constant signals from the muscular system that strength is still needed otherwise the body is put into 'shutdown mode'. With proper strengthening exercise, you can maintain strength, vitality and vigor throughout your entire life. You can transform your body from the inside out right down at cellular level restoring health, improving function, and preventing disease. Everything from better blood sugar regulation to the transfer of oxygen and nutrients from the blood to the body's cells is boosted when you restore your muscular system's strength.Our grandparents and maybe even our parents did not have this knowledge and suffered the indignity of their health and mobility being eroded away. We are lucky in that so much new research has uncovered information and we will never have to suffer those indignities. That is as long as we each take it upon ourselves to stay strong and fit with intentional proper exercise to protect our future.
