Want to age gracefully? Start by incorporating exercise into your daily routine! These exercises will help you stay healthy as you age.

Healthy aging with diet and exercise

Are you trying to improve your overall health but finding it hard to make significant changes in your diet or physical activity? Learn how to make healthy aging a reality with this comprehensive guide!

Quick Read Section

• The secret to looking fit and youthful is regular exercise, which improves both your physical and mental health.
• Engaging in physical activities keeps your mood upbeat, builds muscle strength, maintains a healthy body weight, and guards the body against cardiovascular illnesses.
• Exercise slows down cell aging, keeps your skin young and healthy, and keeps the mind stimulated.

Does too much exercise cause aging?

Absolutely not! On the contrary, exercise helps you look and feel younger than you actually are. Exercising daily promotes good physical and mental health, which is the key to looking fit and having that youthful glow.

Even just thirty minutes of workout daily can work wonders for your body. Regular physical activity helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, build muscle strength, sustain a healthy body weight, and keep you in a good mood.

So even though you possibly cannot avoid bodily changes as you grow old, exercising daily can help boost your mood and keep you feeling young at heart always.

Effects of Exercise on Aging

Know these anti-aging benefits of exercise on your physical and mental well-being.

1.     Exercise decelerates the aging of cells

Want to know the secret to look young forever? That’s right, it’s exercise!

Exercising daily doesn’t just make your body feel more energetic and youthful. In actuality, it really slows down the whole process of aging by a notch. Daily physical activity decelerates the process of aging that occurs in your chromosomes. Therefore, even though it’s impossible to turn back the hands of time, exercise helps lengthen the time of your biological by just a little. 

2.     Exercise keeps your skin young and healthy

Have you noticed how your skin glows from all that sweating after a workout?

As you grow older, your skin tends to lose shine and elasticity. Research studies have found out that exercise is one of the ways to retain the youthful glow and texture of your skin. Exercise aids the secretion of endorphins (happy hormones) in the body reduces stress levels and helps slow down the aging of your skin. Cardio, moderate exercise, and weight training can all trigger your brain to release endorphins.  Start exercising today to keep the wrinkles away!

3.     Exercise helps you stay energized every day

Unlike what you think, exercise does not make you more exhausted than you already are. Instead, it keeps your body active and gives you the energy you require to work. It is also a much healthier alternative than consuming energy drinks that have an unhealthy amount of sugar in them. Exercising helps your mind to stay alert and focused and overall improves your well-being for the better. You’ll also find yourself walking with a spring in your step every day as you age like fine wine!

4.     Exercise helps correct your posture

Due to loss of muscle mass and fluctuations in bone density, your body tends to become more slouched as you get older. Strength training and weightlifting help maintain muscle strength and improve your posture. Workouts that target your core and improve spine alignment help you stand tall and straight. Exercising also gives you the confidence you need to stand and look yourself in the mirror every day!

5.     Exercise makes you more flexible

Your muscles and joints tend to stiffen as you age, making it harder to stay active all the time. But with regular stretching exercises and workouts such as yoga, aerobics, and Pilates, you can restore the strength of your muscles and increase blood circulation throughout your body. Exercising helps your body to become fit and flexible. Say goodbye to stiff joints in bones and the knots that form in your muscles!

6.     Exercise helps you rest better

If you find yourself staring awake at the ceiling every night, exercising may just be the solution to your sleep struggles. Exercise is known to reduce stress and relax the body which is essential for a good night's sleep. Studies have shown that people who exercise daily tend to fall asleep more easily and experience deep sleep. The next time you’re struggling to sleep, just go for a brisk walk or run!

7.     Exercise helps maintain weight and trim belly fat

Your body’s metabolism slows down as you get older. This leads to the buildup of muscle fat along your thighs, belly, and hips. This is especially accentuated in women who have undergone menopause. Exercising helps you burn calories and improve your metabolism. Incorporate resistance training in your daily workout routine to reduce your belly fat and look fit for your age.

8.     Exercise keeps the heart happy

Physical activity is the key to keeping your heart healthy as you age. Being inactive can make your heart weak and affect normal blood pressure as the heart needs to pump harder to circulate blood throughout the body. This can leave you feeling tired and stressed every time you engage in some physical activity that is physically or mentally demanding. Exercising also reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases as it increases the level of good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol) in the body.

How to look younger with diet and exercise?

Who does not love the idea of looking young forever? But to look youthful, you need to put in some effort to maintain a healthy diet and work out daily to keep fit. Follow these diet tips to control your calorie intake and look younger as you grow older.

• Reduce the amount of sugar and salt you consume daily. High blood sugar is a contributing factor to skin damage. Drink hot beverages such as tea and coffee without sugar. Try and consume sugar from natural sources such as fresh fruits, oats, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and peas which are lower in carbs.
• Alkalizing foods are the way to go if you wish to have youthful skin. These foods help drain harmful toxins from the body and improve blood circulation to the skin. Maintain your skin’s healthy glow by eating avocados, tomatoes, lemon, spinach, and other leafy vegetables.
• Avoid eating foods that are roasted, fried, or toasted. Though fried foods are mouth-wateringly tasty, they can cause a great deal of cell damage and increase bad cholesterol (LDL cholesterol).
• Use spices more than salt in your food. Spices that are aromatic to smell and taste also help retain the colour of your skin and encourage the production of collagen. They have anti-aging properties such as lowering blood sugar levels.
• As much as you love meat, it is not good for your skin. Red meat, whether fried, grilled, or roasted causes oxidation which damages the skin. Substitute red meat with white meat occasionally to stay healthier.

Which exercises help with aging and make you younger?

Here are some simple exercises you can adopt to ensure body flexibility and build muscle strength.

1.     Bridges

This exercise helps maintain strength in your muscles, abs, and hamstrings. Lie down on the floor or a mat with your back to the ground and bend your knees. Place your arms by the side and press your glutes to push your back into the floor. Hold the pose and repeat.

2.     Squats

Stand upright with your feet apart and toes pointing outward holding a pair of dumbbells weighing five to ten pounds. Hold them at shoulder height and squat gently with your hips pushed to the back.

3.     Lunges

This pose helps maintain coordination and balance. Stand upright with your feet together holding a pair of dumbbells and step back with one foot. Then bring it behind the other leg and bend like you are curtsying.

4.     Planks

Position your body on the floor,  into a forearm plank stance with your elbows aligned along your shoulders. Lift your stomach to your spine and press your glutes till your body is parallel to the ground. Repeat this daily ten times for the best results.

Let's face it, we all detest getting older. We use expensive creams, and what not in an effort to stop the arrival of wrinkles. Regular exercise keeps your body fit, prevents chronic diseases, helps you build stamina, and can effectively erase years from your age. So now that you know how to fight aging from the inside out, make a move and put your knowledge into action!

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