What is the biggest, most major, number one factor in determining
your longevity and quality of life?
According to research over the past 5 to 10 years, it’s your muscle
mass.
Your muscle mass is determined not only by the quantity and quality
of your physical activity. It’s also determined by your metabolism.
More than even your genetics, it’s your metabolism that determines
how quickly you age. Metabolism is the sum total of your body’s
processes of converting food and drink into energy for building up
your body, less the breaking down and getting rid of old cells and
waste products.
The greater your metabolic drive – that is, your body’s ability to
rapidly and efficiently repair and rebuild your tissue – the slower
your body ages.
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.
You – yes, you! – have the power to make profound changes in your
body composition, mental clarity, vitality, and sense of personal
power.
In fact, from studies on identical twins, scientists have learned
that aging is about 35% genetics, and 65% how we live.
I remember a great example of this from one of my biology courses
in college. (I was a Psychology and Biology major, and have always
been fascinated by these subjects.)
The professor was discussing the fact that lifestyle and other
external factors, such as life events, have more influence on our
health and aging than do our genetics.
He held up two pictures of two different women. One looked like she
was old enough to be the other woman’s mother.
We were shocked when the professor told us that both women were
exactly the same age, born in the same month in the same year.
Wow!
As they get older, people tend to allow their level of physical
activity to decline. Or they may avoid activity altogether,
especially if faced with a health challenge.
Then they wonder why they feel so tired, stressed and worn out
all the time, with aching backs and joints. They have forgotten
that our bodies operate under the “move it or lose it” paradigm.
Cultivating energy through dynamic exercises…building and
maintaining muscle mass…and maintaining your range of motion,
particularly through the spine and core, are keys to ensuring
enduring vitality.
Not only will you slow the degenerative processes of aging. You
will also provide yourself with a higher quality of life.
Bottom line: if you haven’t already, begin today to take action to
build yourself up. You have more control than you think in how
well – or poorly – you age. Simple lifestyle choices can make all
the difference.
I’ll have more to share with you on this in coming tips.
You Can Do It!
Karen
“Best Breathing Exercises: Transform Body Mind and Spirit with
Dynamic Energy Exercise!”
www.BestBreathingExercises.com
Copyright, Karen Van Ness, 2011