Sunday, June 14, 2009

Exercise and Aging

I was looking back at some old photos of me, my husband, and some of our friends and that got me thinking about the aging process. Why is it that some people age well and some not so well? I'm sure many of you have come across old friends and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a few years and thought "wow, they really don't look so good" or "wow, they look great!". I'm sure a lot of it is just good genes, but I think it also has to do with how active people are in their daily lives. I've always felt that it's the increased blood flow and oxygen to your cells, which helps keep you looking younger. According a recent study, exercise actually changes the makeup of your cells and increases the life of those cells. Below is the link to that article.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/28/AR2008012801873.html


And if you want to know your fitness age, take this test from the MORE Magazine website. Based on simple fitness tests that you do, it tells you how old you are in fitness years.

http://www.more.com/2027/4792-how-fit-are-you--take#1

1 comment:

Picture Lady said...

I enjoyed the links! I used to get that magazine. I feel younger already:-)
I think age (staying young) is more about happiness... if you're happy you are busy, involved, laughing, socializing and exercising indirectly. The endorphins are flowing and you look forward to each day ... planning for the future. Age/illness comes faster with disappointment, stress and pessimism. Suggesting that an optimistic attitude has more healing power than exercise.
At least that has been my experience. Your friendship as a running group is quite healing. Sounds like there is laughing, goal setting and of course exercising.
Jog -on!