Women who exercise have reported fewer symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, including feelings of irritability and being bloated. Increased blood flow to your brain improves function almost immediately and helps you to feel more focused after a workout. Regular exercise promotes the growth of new brain cells responsible for boosting memory and learning.

One of the key health benefits of exercise is that it helps normalize your glucose, insulin and leptin levels. This is a crucial factor for optimizing your overall health and preventing chronic disease. Recent studies indicates specific exercises may also add more years to your life span than others.

These Exercises May Increase Life Span Based on Studies

An epidemiological study of Danish men and women found playing tennis, badminton and other team sports helped individuals live longer than those who were sedentary. Even more interesting, these same people had a longer life span than those who participated in more solitary activities such as jogging, swimming and cycling.

A previous study evaluating exercise effects in more than 80,000 British men and women found those who played racquet sports also tended to outlive those who jogged. These results triggered the current Danish study, which widened the inquiry to look at a variety of sports and the association those have with premature death.

The data was gathered from nearly 8,500 adults as part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. Limitations of the study included the facts that all who were enrolled were Caucasian, and had no history of heart disease, stroke or cancer. Individuals completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire and were monitored for approximately 25 years. During this time, nearly 4,500 of the participants died.

The health and lifestyle questionnaires asked participants about their physical activities each week and asked them to designate one workout as their primary form of exercise. Using these answers, researchers looked for associations between longevity and exercise after adjusting for factors such as education, drinking and socioeconomic background.

The data indicated a clear correlation between social sports and longevity.  Although how long individuals spent doing these activities varied, it became apparent the duration did not necessarily affect the longevity of the participants. Coauthor Dr. James O’Keefe, cardiologist at St Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, explained tennis likely took the top spot as it is intensely interactive.

In other words, people spent time talking with each other during the activity. The study did find activities normally enjoyed alone, such as running, weightlifting and swimming, still extended life and offered other health benefits. However, O’Keefe recommended for optimal benefit you may want to consider supplementing your workout with other activities that foster a social connection.

Benefits of Social Interactions

Research data have demonstrated emotional and physical health are inextricably linked, and there are significant health risks to social isolation. A study published in BMJ Heart found isolated and lonely individuals were at a significantly increased risk of heart attack and stroke. O’Keefe explained:

“For both mental and physical well-being and longevity, we’re understanding that our social connections are probably the single-most important feature of living a long, healthy, happy life. If you’re interested in exercising for health and longevity and well-being, perhaps the most important feature of your exercise regimen is that it should involve a playdate.”

Another study published in Heart found social isolation, but not loneliness, was associated with an increased risk of death in people with a history of heart disease.  Having a support system appeared to mitigate some factors that led to a higher risk.

While not surprising, the researchers found the effects of isolation and loneliness may be compounded by other traits commonly found among those who enjoyed their own company. To further explore this the researchers surveyed almost 480,000 adults in the U.K. and measured health metrics, including height, weight, body mass index and grip strength.

The participants were then tracked for seven years. Isolation was associated with a 43 percent higher risk of first-time heart attack and a 39 percent higher risk of first-time stroke. Loneliness was associated with similar results.

However, after accounting for biological, health and socioeconomic factors, the increased risk of heart attack and stroke only ranged between 4 percent and 7 percent for loneliness and isolation. Another study evaluating the mental health benefits of exercise found an interesting pattern.

Those who exercised nearly 45 minutes per session experienced better mental health than those who favored marathon workouts. Sweating three to five times a week had a lower number of poor mental health days than either no exercise or working out more than five times a week, leading the researchers to conclude exercise for two to six hours a week may be the sweet spot for mental health.

Full Body Workouts Offer Increased Benefits

Limitations to the featured study made it difficult for researchers to generalize the results. O’Keefe pointed out how and why some sports may add additional years more than others is difficult to determine from an observational study. Although little of the exercise in this study was heavily intense, O’Keefe believes the different physical demands in some sports could play a role.

However, income and socioeconomic factors likely played a role in this study as well, as those who have sufficient money and leisure time to play tennis may also have the means to evaluate and use a variety of health care options. Yet another factor may be that racket sports are full-body workouts, and using your arms and legs makes your heart work harder. Cycling and jogging, two of the other sports studied in the featured research, primarily use your lower body and some core muscles.

Additionally, racket sports often require intense bursts of activity, much like a high-intensity interval training workout. As noted by the University of Rochester Medical Center:

“Racquet sports alternate bursts of high-intensity exercise while you score points, with brief rest periods while you pick up the ball and serve. This stop-and-start activity is similar to interval training. Playing racquet sports, or any active sport, [three] hours a week can cut your risk of developing heart disease and lower your blood pressure, according to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

One key to getting a good aerobic workout in tennis or racquetball is to keep your rest periods brief. Your heart will continue to work at an aerobic level, but without the sustained stress.”

There Is an Exercise ‘Sweet Spot’ Where You Reap the Greatest Reward

While the percentage of adults over 18 who meet the physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity only reaches 21 percent, there are those who meet and exceed those guidelines on a routine basis. But, like most things in life, too much of a good thing can do harm.

The current guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity. The guidelines do not list an upper limit. High intensity exercise for long periods of time may increase the risk of injury and heart issues, but no clearly defined guidelines exist for what constitutes “too much” exercise.

Research has demonstrated chronic training for and competing in extreme events, such as marathons and ultramarathons and very long-distance bike races, may trigger negative cardiovascular effects. In one study, those who exercised beyond 60 minutes saw a decrease in their antioxidant levels, along with an increase in arterial stiffening.

In another study, lifelong endurance athletes had a very high rate of myocardial fibrosis (stiffening of the heart muscle). This hardening of the heart cells may play a role in precipitating sudden cardiac arrest or inducing an irregular heartbeat. In a British study of more than a million healthy middle-aged women, researchers found those who exercised two to six times a week had the lowest cardiovascular risk compared to those who exercised either rarely or every day.

Brief and Intense Activity Equals to Longevity and Good Health

Similar results were found in a Danish study comparing the mortality rates of joggers against sedentary individuals. Those who did light to moderate running were less likely to die than nonexercisers or those who ran a fast pace for more than 2.5 hours per week.

A heavy exercise load each week can depress your immune system and increase inflammatory processes, potentially leading to increased risk of coronary changes and illness. Exercise intensity also plays an important role in determining how much exercise is enough.

Data found engaging in occasional vigorous exercise leads to additional reductions in the risk of premature death. When you include brief bursts of high-intensity activity, you may considerably slash the amount of workout time needed to enjoy the benefits.

These types of workouts, known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT), lead to immediate changes in your body, including reprogramming your muscles for strength, and stimulating your fast-twitch muscle fibers, the latter of which increases production of human growth hormone. HIIT also:

• Triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, which is important for longevity
• Alters mitochondrial enzyme content and activity
• Increases cellular energy production
• Decreases your risk of chronic disease
• Slows the aging process

Using a Variety of Exercises With HIIT

Research has suggested that working out smarter, not harder, can reap greater rewards in the long run. Performing short bursts of intense activity are much safer and effective than conventional cardiovascular workouts for your heart, general health, weight loss and overall fitness. The good thing is that you’re able to work out more efficiently and effectively in less time.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends at least 20 minutes of vigorous activity 3x a week. It also mentions that HIIT workouts burn more calories than the conventional style workout since with HIIT, the body continues to burn calories after your workout is done. Another benefit to HIIT is the variety of workouts you can use to accomplish the goal.

It is important to remember HIIT is only one facet of a well-rounded program that should incorporate physical activities you enjoy, flexibility and strength training. Simply by making minor changes to your fitness program, you can turn a fun game of tennis with a friend into a fun and strenuous workout which will improve your life and longevity. So, why not serve an ace to your game?!

Your mind may actually be your biggest hurdle to staying fit and athletic well into your 80s and 90s, especially if you buy into the myth that you’ve got to spend your afternoons sitting in a rocking chair once you reach 75.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, could be further from the truth!

From Triathlons to Rodeos, Seniors Do it All

If you’re looking for a bit of “exercise” inspiration, look no further than this uplifting article from Happy News. It explains that more and more people are achieving stunning physical accomplishments in their “golden” years. Most of you are probably familiar with Jack LaLanne, who was the picture of fitness well into his 90s, but he is but one example. Others include:

• •Tao Porchon-Lynch, who is winning ballroom dance competitions and teaches at least 12 yoga classes a week at age 93.
• •Lew Hollander, who became the second 80-year-old to complete the Ford Ironman World Championship, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon
• •Allan Johnson, who at age 80 still competes in rodeo competitions

Further, there are only four living people (and 16 in all history) who have earned a tenth-degree black belt, which is the highest rank in the martial art Judo. The fourth is not only the first woman to earn the title … she also did it at the age of 98. So if you’re having any thoughts that you’re “too old” to exercise, keep Sensei Keiko Fukuda (and the others listed above) in mind.

At age 98, she became the first woman to earn Judo’s highest-degree black belt, and she still teaches the martial art three times a week!

Not everyone has to become a world-class athlete to stay in shape, of course. Many communities have senior baseball leagues, swim teams, and other group sports that you can take part in, or you can simply exercise regularly with a personal trainer or on your own. The key to keep in mind is that the more active you are, the healthier, more nimble and happier you’ll be — AND …

You are Never Too Old to Start Exercising

You are never too old to start exercising and my mother is an excellent example.

Exercise can be a part of your life no matter what your age, and, in fact, becomes only increasingly important as you get older. Two years ago, my mother fell down a flight of stairs and broke her shoulder and wrist. It took quite awhile for her to recover, and when she did she started an exercise program to regain strength, balance, and flexibility.

My mom didn’t start working out until she was 74 and now, at the age of 77, she has gained significant improvements in strength, range of motion, balance, bone density and mental clarity. After a bit of apprehension at first, she now, as you can see on the video, loves her workouts and, I’m hoping, will inspire you to get active as well, no matter what your age.

Yes, You Can Exercise at ANY Age

There’s an overwhelming amount of evidence confirming that physical exercise is a key player in disease reduction, optimal mental, emotional and physical health, and longevity. After reviewing 40 papers published between 2006 and 2010, researchers found that exercise reduces the risk of about two dozen health conditions, ranging from cancer and heart disease to type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia and depression. Exercise also slows down the rate of aging itself, providing perhaps the closest example of a real life fountain of youth as we will ever find.

Ideally, you will have made exercise a regular part of your life long before you reach your “golden” years … but if you haven’t, there’s no better time to start than the present. Research has shown that regular exercise, even initiated late in life, offers profound health benefits. For instance:

• •Even a small amount of exercise may protect the elderly from long-term memory loss and even help reverse some of the effects of aging.
• •Women between the ages of 75 and 85, all of whom had reduced bone mass or full-blown osteoporosis, were able to lower their fall risk with strength training and agility activities.
• •Moderate exercise among those aged 55-75 may cut the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, which increases heart disease and diabetes risk.
• •Among those who started exercising at age 50 and continued for 10 years, the rate of premature death declined dramatically, similar to giving up smoking and mirroring the level as seen among people who had been working out their entire lives.
• •Exercise significantly improved muscle endurance and physical capacity among heart failure patients with an average age of 76.

Further, the older you get, the faster your muscles atrophy if you’re not regularly engaging in appropriate exercise, so the key to avoiding sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) is to challenge your muscles with appropriately intense exercise. Age-related muscle loss affects about 10 percent of those over 60, with higher rates as age advances, but you can prevent this from occurring if you exercise.

For the Elderly Exercise Can, Quite Literally, Save Your Life

Exercise is a key to remaining steady on your feet as you get older, which is of incredible importance because not only are falls responsible for most fractures and traumatic brain injuries among the elderly, but those who fall can also develop an intense fear of falling again, which leads them to limit their activities and in turn increases their risk of falling even more.

So while it may seem like exercises to improve balance and strength are optional as you get older, they should really be viewed as a necessity — like eating and sleeping — as they can quite literally save your life. As you get older your muscle and bone mass decrease and the senses that guide your balance — vision, touch, proprioception — may all start to deteriorate, and this can make you unsteady on your feet.

By taking the time to do balance, strength and other exercises on a regular basis you can keep your sense of balance strong, and even restore what’s already been lost.

In a study published last year, eight weeks of balance training reduced slips and improved the likelihood of recovery from slips among the elderly. Separate research, which noted that “altered balance is the greatest collaborator towards falls in the elderly,” found balance training is effective in improving functional and static balance, mobility and falling frequency in elderly women with osteoporosis.

The ability to balance on one leg is also an important predictor of injury-causing falls, so if you know that you’d be shaky if you tried to stand on one foot, you’re at an increased risk of being hurt in a fall and should start appropriate exercises immediately.

Making Exercise Safe and Effective

In the videos above you’ll hear Darin mention safety a number of times. This is always an important aspect of exercise, but is of crucial importance if you’re older and just beginning. Many elderly people forgo exercise altogether because of a fear of injury or pain, but what’s important to remember is that proper exercise will ultimately reduce your risk of injury as well as help to improvepain.

As Darin mentioned, if you’re older it’s best to get a workout buddy — a personal trainer or someone who is experienced — to help guide you through your routine, at least at first. You will want to start slowly and gradually increase intensity as you grow stronger, avoiding activities that aggravate or cause pain. While you need to use caution and avoid starting out too intensely, you do need to exercise at a level that is challenging to your body or the benefits will be lost.

Ideally your fitness program should be comprehensive, providing the necessary balance-training activities for stability while also improving your strength, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and fat-burning capabilities with high-intensity “Sprint 8” exercises. Just like strength training, you are never too old for anaerobic Sprint 8 exercises. The only difference is that the older you are the less your maximum heart rate will be, but you still work out with the same intensity.

During the ‘Sprint 8 exercises,’ you raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, followed by a 90-second recovery period. You repeat this cycle for a total of eight repetitions. For an in-depth explanation of the Peak Fitness regimen, be on the look out for an upcoming post on this. Depending on your fitness level, you may need to perform Sprint 8 exercises while walking or riding a stationary bike.

As I mentioned earlier, regular exercise is essential to counteract muscle loss. However, it’s important to realize that simply lifting weights will not necessarily result in gaining muscle mass. In order to effectively build muscle you also need to incorporate high-intensity exercises such as Sprint 8 in addition to strength training.

An Exciting Exercise Option for Building Balance

You can certainly build an excellent exercise program using nothing more than free weights, resistance bands and items you have around your home, but there is one form of exercise you may also want to consider, which is performed on a vibrational machine called the Power Plate.

This multi-directional vibration machine has a number of benefits for your health beyond the cardiovascular and metabolic aspects commonly associated with exercise. For example, the vibrational action of the Power Plate can help improve the following:

The tri-directional movement promotes proprioception, which is just a medical term for sensing the relative position of neighboring parts of your body. Proprioception is an internal feedback mechanism crucial for balance, as your body constantly adjusts to uneven terrain as you walk.

The unique ability of the Power Plate to train and build your neurological system has huge implications for treating people with neurological problems as well as elderly individuals who are prone to falls because of instability. As the video below shows, you can re-train motor patterns and re-establish communication within your body as the Power Plate balances muscle groups, resulting in profound improvements in your overall balance.

Now’s the Time to Take Control of Your Health

I’m very proud of my mom for taking control of her health and starting an exercise program in her 70s, and she is already experiencing the benefits. If you are older and currently weighing whether or not to start one of your own, please use your age as a reason to exercise, as opposed to an excuse not to.

If my mom can do it, there’s a good chance you will be able to too.

If you don’t have access to a personal trainer or experienced exerciser who can help guide you, many health clubs now offer fitness classes geared toward seniors, ranging from dance classes and water workouts to yoga and tai chi. The more active you are, and the wider the range of activities you do, the more mobile, independent and, likely, happy you will be as you get older.

One final tip — make sure you engage in activities you enjoy. There was one common thread among the elderly athletes mentioned above, and that is, as Happy News reported:

” … they absolutely love the activities they’ve found to do. Even if some of it is a hard slog, the pleasure they get from it always outweighs the tedium.”

Porchon-Lynch, the 93-year-old ballroom dancer and yoga teacher, expanded:

“Don’t be scared to live. Don’t procrastinate. There’s very little time on this Earth and there’s so much to do and so much beauty. … There’s nothing you can’t do.”

Sources and References

• Happy News August 29, 2011

1. Realize the Power and Potential of your Brain
a)It is far more superior than a supercomputer
b)Brain as a hobby
c)Use your left and right brain

2. Good Fats
a)Wild Salmon Sockeye
b)Herron
c)Mackerel
d)Caviar
e)Coconut Oil (https://amzn.to/2M1AYwY)
Coconut Oil Tablets (https://amzn.to/2yrpAZs)
f)Red Palm Oil (https://amzn.to/2tgBHCA)

3. Brain Foods

a)Blueberries
b)Blackberries
c)Poison Berries
d)Muscadines
e)Algae
f) Chlorella (https://amzn.to/2JMkgVN)
g)Spirulina (https://amzn.to/2JL8zyl)
h)Chia Seeds (https://amzn.to/2MzGfgd)

4. Unique Sources

a) Lions Mane Mushroom (https://amzn.to/2thVcLc)
b) Lions Mane Mushroom & Others (https://amzn.to/2JQ8AkD)
c)Brahmi
d)Gotu Kola (https://amzn.to/2JQERby)
e)Ashwaghanda (https://amzn.to/2JZR1Ow)
f)Basil (https://amzn.to/2LWYPhh)
g)Turmeric (https://amzn.to/2LX0DH5)
h)Essential Oils (Frankincense, Cedarwood, Lavender, and Rosemary)

5. Exercise Rewires your Brain (Various Ways to Exercise Your Brain)
a)Puzzles, games, and problem solving
b)Meditation & Yoga
c)Physical Exercise

6. Social Well-Being
-People are social creatures.

7. Listen to Music
-Mozart effect.

8. New Things
-Stimulate the brain to create new pathways or neurons.

9. Sleep
-6-8 hours sleep.

10. Behaviour and Attitude
-Understanding your own patterns and differences.

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