How exercise slows aging

An active lifestyle has a positive effect on mental ability, making a living and moving not only the body but also the brain. It turns out that physical activity does not just make the muscles stronger. It makes them younger, extending our physiological youth.

Study Group of the Research Institute Transnational metabolism and diabetes (Translational Research Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes) collects volunteers muscle tissue samples in order to understand what leads to such changes in muscle as flabbiness and weakness. It turns out that a piece of muscle from the quadriceps femoris can tell a lot about the physical condition of the person.

What affects our health

Metabolically active muscle

Science lets you know how much we have the muscle tissue at the moment and in a bad condition.

Metabolically active muscles - a type of fiber with no harmful fats, which are part of the mitochondria. They have a huge impact on how we lose weight, what energy level and how high the risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Even the chances of recovery during combat

This type of muscle fiber is so important that pharmaceutical companies have begun the race to develop drugs that will keep them healthy. It literally prolong youth and physiological help the body cope with the disease faster.

We can not ignore passage of timeBut it only goes forward and has an impact on our physical condition. The number of hours spent in a sitting position increases, the mobility is lost, the energy level gradually falls. As a result, we find ourselves at a reception at the doctor, who clicked his tongue disapprovingly looking at blood test results for sugar.

But there is always a way out. For example, you can change your lifestyle to a more active one.

mitochondria

Dr. Bret Goodpaster (Bret Goodpaster), one of the researchers, said that the strength and muscle health, and the number of mitochondria in them depends on how much we move. Mitochondria is a classic case of supply and demand (if there is demand, there will be good).

No matter what we are doing - stroll briskly or killed in heavy training - our muscles need energy, which produce these microscopic plant.

As soon as a break in training too prolonged, the body makes a mark that the need for such a large number of mitochondria is not present. As a result, production of cell energy is reduced, they become sluggish, falling overall energy levels. Our inner roaring fire turns into a weak spark.

Unhealthy fat inside the muscle

They also found that the last thing we need to worry about the bump about the size press or priests. Most importantly, how much unhealthy fat is inside the muscles. It can be toxic and lead to the fact that healthy tissue will become less sensitive to insulin. This starts the dialing mechanism of excess weight, weight loss complicate and may cause the second type of diabetes.

Muscles with unhealthy fat cause weakness and make us less mobile. All this can lead to tremor (vibrating conveyor), and loss of muscle tissue in advance.

The weaker we become, the more difficult given exercise, the more painful effects of training. As a result, the choice is obvious - to lie on the couch and watching TV rather than go to a sports club or a walk.

How to slow down aging

Any aerobic exercise activates the system to generate new mitochondria. As the body requires more energy, mitochondria switch on genes that trigger mitochondrial DNA transcript. The more you engage in, the better your muscles will burn fat.

This does not necessarily make a big effort. Studies show that after 3-7 days of walking briskly for 45 minutes triggers the production of new mitochondria. It is also desirable to add 2 days of strength training.

For example, one 65-year-old lady still felt weak, but lost a significant part of the weight thanks bariatric surgery (Surgery for obesity). She continued to choke while lifting up the stairs and thought about retirement, because of the (MRI technologist) had to keep walking up and down the stairs. By the end of the day it really becomes exhausted.

But after six months, during which she regularly performed cardio (Walking on a treadmill, exercises on an exercise bike for 60 minutes 3-4 times a week), she not only increased number of mitochondria by 30%, but almost half reduce the content of harmful fat in muscles. Not only did she not retired, but drove 300 miles on the bike from Washington to Pittsburgh.

Healthy life is impossible without proper nutrition. Vegetable or animal protein at every meal and extra servings of vitamin D, if its level in your body following provisions, accelerate muscle recovery after exercise.

If you have a full training schedule, which includes both the power and cardio, it may well be that your biological age 5-10 years less numbers listed in your passport.