Everyone knows that exercise improves our health and helps increase our body’s strength and muscle mass. But did you know that exercise slows down the aging process?
The good news is that you can benefit from the anti-aging properties of exercise without signing up for a marathon or going to a gym. As long as it is done frequently, even small physical activities, such as walking the dog or taking the stairs over the elevator, have a positive effect on the body and mind. Here are five anti-aging effects of exercise.
It increases muscle strength
As people age, they become vulnerable to sarcopenia, a condition in which they lose muscle mass and strength as they age. According to scientists, resistance training is one of the best strategies to slow this decline.
It keeps your muscles strong, which you need to open glasses and push heavy doors, and it also makes daily tasks like cooking, cleaning, and climbing stairs easier. In addition, it can reduce your susceptibility to disease, improve your mood and cognitive health, and allow you to remain independent for longer.
Research from the University of Alabama shows that resistance training is safe and beneficial for the elderly, with exceptionally low injury rates that are consistent across all age groups and potencies.
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Improved brain activity
The potential for developing diseases like dementia or Alzheimer’s is among the scariest effects of aging. The prospect of forgetting everyone we know and even our identity is terrifying. Fortunately, with regular exercise and treatment options for mild cognitive impairment, it might be possible to control our brain degradation.
It has been scientifically proven that regular exercise improves our brain’s executive, memory and psychomotor skills. By staying active, you do a lot to help maintain your mental health and reduce your chances of developing dementia, as declines in certain brain functions are associated with dementia.
Even in your mid-20s, regular exercise can improve your mental health. According to a study conducted in the United States, those who exercised frequently had superior control over executive functions, much better memory performance, and a robust psychomotor connection between their ideas and movements.
It makes the skin younger
Exercise keeps skin cells healthy and active by increasing blood flow, providing more oxygen and eliminating waste.
In one study, experts instructed sedentary volunteers to exercise twice a week for 30 to 45 minutes at a heart rate of 65 percent of their maximum. After 12 weeks, tests on the unexposed skin of participants who had shown typical signs of aging before the study began mimicked those of 30- to 40-year-olds.
How does exercise rejuvenate the skin? It helps nourish skin cells and maintain their health and vitality by delivering more oxygen and removing waste, which increases blood flow. Also, when you sweat during exercise, your pores open and expel buildup. Sweating removes toxins that would otherwise clog pores and cause breakouts.
Improves posture
Your ability to maintain good posture deteriorates with age due to muscle wasting and changes in bone density.
