Anti Aging

Exercise is the secret

I know the secret to reversing the signs of aging!

Are you ready for it? No, it doesn’t come in an expensive bottle of face cream or in a syringe full of Botox – it comes in good old-fashioned exercise!

Researchers from the University of Delaware have proven that exercise – fast exercise – actually helps reverse the aging process.

The study, from the January issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology, details how researchers examined 23 test subjects, between the ages of 18 and 88, for the relationship between their neuron activity and their corresponding muscle strength and speed. Overall, they found a delayed response in the muscles of older participants. No surprise there, but Christopher Knight, one of the researchers involved in the study says, “our muscles have a reduced capacity to contract or ‘twitch’ as we grow older…[basically] we lose fast-twitch muscle fibers as we age…[however] after power training with weights, we see an increase in firing rates!”

Eureka!

Knight also confirms that even though we are used to hearing that slow and easy exercise is the safest bet, we still need to perform exercises that work our fast-twitch muscle fibers as well. That’s why workouts with plyometric moves are important: because they work those fast-twitch muscles, the ones you will need to call on to save yourself from falling or losing your balance.