Pilates: The Anti-Aging Exercise
Anti-Aging Exercise - is there really such a thing? When you think of the age-related effects on muscle. Some of the effects of aging can definitely be reversed with resistance and stretching exercises such as Pilates. Even though exercise may not cure many of the illnesses and diseases brought on by aging, it can definitely help to slow down and even reverse some of the adverse affects.
1. Muscular Strength and stability 2. Improve Joint function 3. Strengthen bones and prevent bone loss 4. Improve balance and core strength 5. Decrease risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and type-2 diabetes 6. Improve posture making us look taller and younger
Effects of Aging: The physiology of aging causes our muscles to shrink and lose mass. For Women: After the age of 35 years we lose half a percentage of muscle tissue each year.
ForMen: The same declines happen after the age of 40 years. The heart muscle weakens and you become fatigued faster decreasing the metabolism, which may lead to obesity and other dietary related diseases.
In addition to these changes, our bones are constantly remodeling through absorption and reformation. The shift in balance between the formation and absorption of the bones causes a loss in the overall amount of bone tissue decreasing the mineral content. These changes result in more fragile bones that can lead to osteoporosis. A debilitating disease if a fracture occurs. With these changes in our physiology in mind, if we are not doing some type of anti-aging exercise we will become weaker and more prone to age related disease. Recent results of a study conducted through the Buck Institute for Age Research found a reversal of the genetic fingerprint equal to those seen in younger adults. Older men and women (who had never been on a regular exercise program) underwent a 6 month twice weekly resistance training program. The results showed a reversal in the age of muscle tissue of these study participants. This is a great incentive that anti-aging exercise can be effective in reversing the aging process anytime you get started, even if it is later in life.
Why use Pilates for anti-aging exercise? As we age gravity tends to pull us down... we lose inches... our bellies start to protrude... our feet flatten... stuff sags and just doesn’t look as good as it did when we were age 30. But... This all does not have to happen!
The health of our spine is directly proportional to the age of our body. If your spine is weak and always in pain it will age your whole body. How many people do you see walking around hunched over or with bad posture that look younger than they are? NO ONE! What about the people that are walking around with their heads held high, shoulders back, and spine erect. They probably look at least 5 – 10 years younger than they are. The beauty of Pilates as anti-aging exercise is that it works to realign the spine while correcting the muscular imbalances throughout the body to bring you back to a natural state of homeostasis. Pilates exercises can be done on a mat or on equipment. The resistance comes from your own body weight on the mat and from spring tension on the equipment. The result is a stretching and strengthening of the muscles, while simultaneously pulling on the bones and joints of the skeleton. This action helps to stabilize and realign the spine and bring the body back to its natural state.
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