Dr Mosley recommends ‘something we should all do’ to remain younger
It’s “something we should all do”, mentioned Dr Michael Mosley, the one thing being resistance coaching.
He warned: “Unless you do resistance exercises your muscles start to decline after the age of 30.”
In his podcast episode titled ‘Stay Young’, Dr Mosley looked at how strength training can keep your body staying young at a cellular level.
He said: “Studies have shown that in just 12 weeks you can increase your muscle mass by up to 10 percent. And your strength by up 1o 150 percent.
“This in turn can impact your whole body. For a start, it can give your brain a boost.
“A review of dozens of studies on the effect of exercise on the over 50s has shown that both aerobic and resistance training are good for the brain.
“But research has found that resistance training was especially good on memory and executive function, which improves things like problem solving.”
Another benefit of resistance training is better sleep. Dr Mosley continued: “A recent study showed that a year long resistance exercise programme not only helped its participants sleep better, it also helped them sleep longer by nearly 20 minutes each night.”
And it may also help with weight loss: “Resistance exercise could also help you lose fat, particularly around your belly.”
Dr Mosley added: “Researchers at Harvard University followed over 10,000 men for 12 years, and they found, minute for minute strength training targets belly fat better than cardio.
“And that’s vital as a result of the fats you accumulate round your stomach doesn’t simply sit there passively, it produces chemical substances that may have a unfavourable impact in your blood sugar ranges.
“Muscle cells alternatively have a optimistic impact, while you train they absorb blood sugars like a sponge.
“In reality one examine discovered that for each 10 p.c enhance in your skeletal muscle, there was a ten p.c discount in your danger of prediabetes.
“Which means not solely does constructing muscle make you feel and look youthful, but it surely may additionally add years to your life.
“A latest evaluation discovered that 30 to 60 minutes of resistance coaching every week reduces the chance of dying from heart disease and cancer by as much as 20 p.c.”
So, what occurs to our muscular tissues as we age, significantly if we don’t do train?
Abigail Mackey, a professor of muscle physiology on the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, defined to Dr Mosley: “The main things that happen are loss of fibres…and a more worrying change is that the number of muscle fibres we have decreases.
“And this happens because of the muscle nerve connection being lost. If this muscle nerve connection becomes weakened because the muscle fibres have never been used, then eventually the connection will be broken and those muscle fibres will die.”
Professor Mackey mentioned you’re by no means too outdated to begin resistance coaching: “It doesn’t matter how old you are, you will get benefits. But I think what’s also emerging now is that if you’re active for all of your life, then you slow down some of these negative changes that happen with ageing. You might even prevent them completely.”
Dr Mosley’s parting recommendation: “If you haven’t done resistance training before, do check with your GP before embarking on a new exercise regime, and always start slowly. One simple lifestyle change you can do to stay young.”