Did you know that your age according to your year of birth and your body’s age might be different? You might be 35 years old and your body may be 20. Or, you may be 23 and your body’s age can be 50. This is due to a number of factors in which the kind of lifestyle you lead has a major role to play.
A sedentary lifestyle would definitely mean that your body is taking the toll upon itself and you might not be able to place as much stress on your body as other people of your age. Your joints may begin to get stiff and you may begin to feel tired quickly. These are symptoms that a 20 something should not experience.
However, it can be corrected by a very simple habit: exercise. Exercise improves the blood flow in your vessels and improve your organ health. It helps you to burn fat cells faster and more efficiently and gets rid of toxins. Which, in turn, is very beneficial for your body.
Larry Tucker, who is a professor of exercise science at Brigham Young University in Utah, conducted a study in which he Compared people who exercised regularly with people who didn’t exercise at all. He found that people who were highly active had a body age that was minimum nine years younger than people who did not exercise at all or exercised with less intensity and less frequently.
He also discovered that people who exercised regularly had telomeres that were significantly longer than the people who did not exercise at all and the people who exercised less frequently and less intensely.
A telomere is an essential part of our cell that indicates how our cells age. According to T.A. Sciences, “Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes, like the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces. Telomeres are shortened as we age, but telomeres can also be shortened in acceleration by stress, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and a poor diet. Short telomeres are connected to premature cellular aging”.
Thus exercises play a vital role in maintaining or enhancing your bod’s age.
Here we have listed 4 exercises that can help your body to become and feel younger.
1. Squatting
This is all the rage these days and for good reasons too. Squats use two joints- your hip and knee to complete the movement. This engages more muscles and joints than other exercises. Squats play a major role in strengthening your entire body, especially your legs, calves and knees.
And for someone who stays on their feet for the major portion of the day, these can help you feel less tired and more in control of your lower body movements.
Here are the steps for a simple squat:
1.1. Stand upright and suck in air to make your stomach tight
1.2. Push your hips back and place hands behind head
1.3. Lower yourself down as if you are sitting on a chair
1.4. Hold this position for 20 seconds
1.5. Stand upright again and take a deep breath
1.6. Repeat 10 times
2. Cobra
This is a famous pose in Yoga which strengthens your back muscles. It also helps to relieve tension in the neck as well as tone your hips and lower back. Cobra pose is also said to improve menstrual irregularities as it focuses on the abdominal muscles. Here are the specific steps:
2.1. Lie down face downwards on your mat and exhale slowly
2.2. By pushing your palms on the ground, and straightening your arms, lift your chest up above the ground
2.3. Tilt your head as far back as you can and hold the position for 15 seconds
2.4. Lower yourself back to the ground slowly and lie with your cheek pressed to the mat
2.5. Stay in this position for 30 seconds and then repeat the cobra pose 5 times
3. Low Lunge Arch
This exercise is one of the most beneficial exercises you can do to keep your body younger and fitter. This pose builds up stamina and increases endurance of your thigh muscles.
When your groin, quadriceps and hamstrings stretch, the flexibility of your muscles increases. This exercise is also beneficial in relieving tension in the hips and arms and also increases your concentration, balance and awareness. Follow the steps below to achieve the perfect pose of the Low Lunge Arch.
3.1. Place both your knees on your exercise mat and straighten your back
3.2. Gracefully extend one leg backwards while keeping knee in the 3.1 position
3.3. Place your palms together and extend your arms upwards
3.4. Tilt your back back as much as you can while maintaining the pose of 3.3
3.5. Stay in this position for 30 seconds
3.6. Repeat this whole procedure 10 times
4. Walking
This might seem simple but walking is very effective in keeping your body and mind feeling younger and smarter! Regular and brisk walking can have a positive impact on your body weight and also prevent cardiovascular diseases. Walking in a park or in a relaxing environment is a common way to lower your stress levels. According to The Walking Site, most people walk only 2,000 steps per day, but experts recommend 10,000. “7,500 steps a day is what we Canadians call the BAM, or bare you-know-what minimum, for health,” says Hagan.
As advised by The Walking Site, “A reasonable goal is to increase average daily steps each week by 500 per day until you can easily average 10,000 per day.
Example: If you currently average 3000 steps each day, your goal for week one is 3500 each day. Your goal week two is 4000 each day. Continue to increase each week and you should be averaging 10,000 steps by the end of 14 weeks”.
An 18th century Scottish physician, Dr. William Buchan, aptly said that “Of all the causes which conspire to render the life of a man short and miserable, none have greater influence than the want of proper exercise.”
Source : tapoos.com
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