exercise

Exercise

Exercise is the foundation for a long healthy life--use it or lose it! It is not just that you live longer, but each day is better when you are in shape. Yet two-thirds of women and just over a fourth of all men 74 years old cannot lift ten pounds! Many billions of dollars a year could be saved if we could just reduce the time the elderly spend in nursing homes by even one month, and weakness due to lack of exercise is a major reason the elderly cannot function on their own. Among the benefits of exercise:

Calorie burning (during and after)--look and feel better!
Health--reduce probability of adult-onset diabetes, heart disease, cancers of certain types, etc.
Feel Better--it's not living longer that's so important (though you will) but mainly you just enjoy life more when you are lighter and stronger.
Anti-Aging--promotes growth hormone and testosterone release that keep you younger; provides blood circulation to the skin resulting in a more youthful appearance.
Etc., etc. (one could really go on and on!)--if a pill, even an expensive one, could be invented that did all the things exercise does, it would be taken by everyone, subsidized if need be for the poor, because the benefits would far exceed even substantial costs.

    What kind of exercise? I strongly recommend a mix of aerobic and strength training. Whatever you like for either works fine. Personally, I either run or use an ellipitical cross-trainer for the aerobic portion of exercise (running at least twice a week for the weight-bearing benefits).
    (A friend suggested I put more in here, immodest as it will seem). My best in the Bolder Boulder is only 38:16, although in my 50th year I ran 10 miles in California (flat, sea-level) in 59:23 (5:56+/mile), two weeks earlier having run 36+ in the Davis Turkey Trot 10K. Also at age 50 I ran 10:52 for two miles on the U.C. Davis track (5:28 first mile, 5:24 second)--only beat this a time or two in High School in cross-country and that was probably on short courses! Was a lazy hurdler in High School track, never running over a quarter mile competitively, and just ran cross-country to get a second letter and to get ready for basketball.
    For strength, I do either calisthenics or weights, depending on my mood. Aerobics should be done 3-5 times a week and (this is a bit more controversial) a *really* hard strength workout only once a week. If you are into weights, you could do a split routine (flexion/extension, upper body/lower body, etc.) where you work out twice a week, but use different muscles. You will *definitely* get stronger faster (and it's easier!) working any or all muscle groups only once a week. People used to work out two or three times a week, doing basically the same thing each time--if you are one of these, recall how strong you felt when you first returned to weights after a layoff, only to feel really weak two days later?
The reason is this: For typical people the entire process of muscle breakdown, excretion of wastes, rebuilding of new cells, and glycogen reloading of the muscles takes from 5 to 9 days, with an average of 7. Just try the "once a week system"--you'll get stronger faster than you ever have and its easier and less time-consuming!
    NOTE: While some exercise is clearly good for you (raising average life span and making it more enjoyable as well), a lot of exercise is actually not good for longevity. The reason is that exercise (and the larger food intake involved, holding weight constant) increases oxidant (free radical) formation. And free radicals are bad news.