- Metabolic Rate. As you age, your metabolism slows down. But just about any regular exercise—even walking 20 minutes a day—will raise your metabo¬lism.
- Muscle Mass. Choose exercises with weights that you can comfortably re¬peat 10 to 15 times. You only need to work each body part once a week to make a significant difference. For more serious training, your diet should include extra protein, and possibly supplements of creatine, glutamine, and HMB.Page 14Seven Steps to A More Youthful Life
- Bone Density. Once you hit age 35, your bones slowly start to lose density. Weight bearing exercise—such as stair stepping, back packing, mountain hiking, weight training, or even tennis—help signal your body to retain bone mass.
- Fat Gain. As your metabolism slows with age, you tend to gain more body fat. Ten to twenty minutes of cardio-vascular exercise before and after break¬fast will help burn this fat off efficiently. Exercising for longer periods will burn off muscle in addition to fat, and should be avoided.
- Flexibility. Regular stretching exercises will help keep your body limber as you age. Beginner’s level yoga or martial arts classes often teach excellent stretching exercises.
- Strength. Training for strength is different than training for muscle mass. For strength, you exercise for shorter durations—4 to 6 repetitions only.
- Growth Factor. You can actually increase your body’s production of growth factor by short, intense exercise followed by sound sleep.
- Lung Volume. To increase your lung capacity, you must use your lungs at their full capacity. That does not mean long intense cardiovascular workouts, which unfortunately burn off needed muscle. Pushing a car for 10 feet, for example, is a much better workout for your lungs.
- Heart Fitness. Ten to twenty minutes of strenuous cardiovascular exercise will build your cardiac reserve capacity. Stair stepping, bicycling, and swim¬ming are much better than jogging. Start slow and build up.
- Co-ordination. Leading a sedentary lifestyle allows your neuromuscular co-ordination to deteriorate. Exercises such as dance, sports, or martial arts counteract this tendency. But remember this principle . . . don’t play sports for exercise, exercise to play sports. Playing sports when you’re out of shape can lead to injury.
Please note that for most of the areas on this list, exercising for short durations is better. It’s also much easier to fit short exercise sessions into your schedule.
Source : http://www.alsearsmd.com
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