One of my regular blog readers, sent me an email a few days ago and asked me if she is too old to exercise. She gave me a bit of her history in the email but I needed to know more. I emailed her requesting her phone number. Then when I called her we had a lengthy conversation so I can get to the core of what she meant.
Turns out she is 59 and everyone around her says she is old; her kids, her friends (who are mostly about the same age) and her colleagues at work. Her friends complain of this and that other health issue, all of which are non-issues for her! Her kids, well, they are kids.
She actually thought that perhaps she was disillusioned by the way she left and the way everyone actually saw her. When I got to the bottom of it, the truth was, she was in great shape, took great care of herself and had no major health issues - except doubt inflicted by those around her! Even after my pep talk didn’t work, I asked her if I can feature her in my blog to make a point and if she would then take my word for it and she agreed.
I want to first explain something that is the cause of Rose's self-doubt. It's a concept called belief systems. Unfortunately, whether it goes back to childhood or newly inflicted belief systems, we go through our lives being told certain things that we internalize and make a part of our belief systems. This is of course not true of everything. The opinions of those closest to us, of those we most respect and love are usually internalized.
If we imagine for a moment, that we use more than the average 10-20% of our brain capacity to shatter these belief systems, we will have an awesome power. A power to create our own beliefs based on what we want to achieve in every aspect of our lives. This is not something that can happen overnight and certainly requires continual work. This is a whole other blog in itself!
Okay, now I will admit that scientifically, we lose physical power with age. Science shows us that our hearts and lungs are not as efficient at processing oxygen, our muscles lose power, our bodies recover and heal more slowly from exercise and our eyesight isn’t as good as it was when we were younger. Having said that, this is the majority and does not mean it must include YOU!
Over and above this, there is good news too. According to Masters Athletics, a person’s athletic endurance peak is between 30 and 35. At 50, you are still 90% as durable and 80% at 65. In addition, no matter what age you begin an exercise routine, you will get relatively the same improvement as a younger person.
So in Rose's case, she has been working out regularly since her teen years, and when she says she feels like she is 25 not 59, chances are science will show this to be accurate. So when your 59 year old friends complain of aches and pains, take a look at their physical activity. If they have a sedentary lifestyle, chances are they are scientifically older than their chronological age.
The final issue I want to address is muscle strength with age. I’m sure you’ve all heard that you lose 10% of your muscle fibers per decade after age 50. As with everything else I’ve mentioned, this can be negated with proper strength training. In fact, if I were to compare my active 59 year old case study to a sedentary 40 year old, I can guarantee that Rose's body muscle content will be considerably higher than the 40 year old!
Bottom line, create and maintain an active lifestyle, eat healthy and add smart supplementation to your day and you will shatter what science shows us about aging!
If you have any questions about any of the above or would like a list of my recommended smart supplements, contact me at 647-405-4471 or 1-877-405-4471.
Wishing all my blog readers an active and healthy 2011!
To your health,
Nadia
Your weight loss partner
1-877-405-4471
healthyweightdancingfeet@gmail.com
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