In your previous tip, I discussed the importance of muscle mass in
determining your longevity and quality of life.
If you have good muscle mass, it’s an indication of a healthy
metabolism and enhanced anabolic capabilities to build up your body,
better handle stress, and rapidly and efficiently repair and rebuild
tissue – which means slower aging.
Building up your body’s anabolic capabilities and building up your
strength – through deep breathing, proper exercise, good nutrition,
and adequate rest – is one of the two major factors you control.
The other factor is mental: staying curious, always learning and
doing new things, and being enthusiastic. In other words, keeping
your inner child awake and alive, rather than buried under adult
pressures and responsibilities.
Recently, some amazing studies have been done which shed even
more light on the exercise and aging equation. These studies
indicate that it doesn’t take much, in terms of time or effort,
to slow the aging process and extend your life.
As an example, in 2009, the American College of Medicine and the
American Heart Association conducted a study on the relationship
between a walking-based exercise program and life expectancy.
Subjects who engaged in a program of moderate walking (30 minutes
a day, five days a week) found their risk of death decreased by
27 percent. In addition, the study found a significant reduction
in deaths from heart disease, as well as a somewhat lower
reduction in deaths from cancer.
Here’s another one for you: the famous Framingham Heart Study,
which has been in progress since 1948, tracked a group of adults
over decades to try to identify the common factors associated with
cardiovascular disease.
Among their findings was a distinct correlation between decreased
respiratory capacity and increased mortality.
In other words, if you stop moving, stop pushing yourself, stop
enhancing your breathing abilities and capacity…you can expect
to age quicker. AND you’ll be more likely to succumb to heart
disease or the other dis-eases of our time which are tied so
closely to lifestyle factors.
So….what does this mean to you?
Well, from my point of view, it’s pretty simple. Starting (or
maintaining) a well-rounded exercise program is one of the
smartest things you can do, if you are interested in living
longer AND having more life in those years.
Aerobic exercise is important for your heart and breathing
capacity. Resistance exercise is important for building muscle
mass and healthy bones that resist osteoporosis. Alternating
these two types of exercise on a daily basis is a great way to
fit exercise into your routine while providing some variety in
your training.
JUst as importantly: Breathing coupled with specific types of
movement and stretching is ideal for quickly and enjoyably
increasing your lung power and vital capacity, as well your
resistance to stress.
Greater lung power and capacity equals health and longevity!
This is one of the reasons I emphasize breathing and energy
exercises in my own health and fitness regimen, and recommend
it so heartily to you.
It’s an approach that is time-tested and proven.
In both Eastern and Western traditions, breathing in tandem
with specific types of exercise were considered a sure path to
enhanced health, wellness, and personal power. The Indians
and Chinese were to on this centuries ago. As were the ancient
Greeks.
To them, exercise was a tool used to harness even greater
potential than simply physical skills and benefits. If designed
properly, it can also be used to integrate your mind, body and
spirit, resulting in enhanced physical capabilities and health,
as well as a greater ability to focus on and enjoy your work
and your daily life.
You Can Do It!
Karen Van Ness
“Best Breathing Exercises: Transform Body Mind and Spirit with
Dynamic Energy Exercise!”
www.BestBreathingExercises.com
P.S. The programs available at the Best Breathing Exercises
website will help you improve your breathing, your fitness and
your health — as well as bust through any limitations that
current conditions or challenges may be placing on your life.
Visit http://www.bestbreathingexercises.com to learn more.
Copyright, Karen Van Ness, 2011