We can all repeat verbatim the benefits of exercise can’t we? Those public health campaigns have sunk into our brains no matter how much we might’ve tried to resist them over the years.
More optimal blood pressure, lower resting heart rate, reduced risk of heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Better mental health, lower stress levels and increased energy. I could go on ad infinitum about the fabulous positives that come from a long-term, consistent commitment to regular exercise. You know it though don’t you? But what if I told you that increasingly, evidence shows that exercise helps keep our cells young. In fact, younger in age than our actual age in good old-fashioned birthdays?
An article I came across just last week really caught my attention as it was something I hadn’t seen any proof of previously. Could it really be possible that exercise can reverse the ageing process of our cells, making us biologically younger?
A 2024 study by Brigham University in San Francisco seems to strongly suggest just that. It focuses on telomeres; in laypersons terms, telomeres are the end caps of our chromosomes. As we age, they get weaker and split as the cells divide. In the physically active participants in the study, the telomeres were observed to be consistently longer and stronger. On average their telomeres made them, biologically speaking a whopping nine years younger than their inactive, more sedentary counterparts.
On reading the study in more depth, I have to admit I was a tiny bit disappointed. The evidence showed that this strengthening of the chromosomal structure was largely dependent on high-intensity cardiovascular exercise. In fact the control group were exercisers who performed 30-40 minutes of high intensity cardio, five days per week. To be specific, that meant running, cross-trainer, biking or swimming ‘to an effort level which means you are sweating and it is difficult to maintain a conversation’.
So why was I disappointed?
Well, aside from the fact that that sounds hard… as you may well know from my previous articles, I’m a huge fan of strength training. Sure, I do my cardio a few times a week and I enjoy it, it has it’s place… but it just doesn’t give me the same physical or mental buzz as I get from lifting some big ol’ dumbbells. And what about my beloved Yoga and Pilates? If I spend all my allocated workout time sweating like a mad woman on the treadmill, yes I might lose a bit of weight… but I’d definitely be less zen and less equipped to deal with the stress life throws at me. And after all, research has shown lower stress levels contribute to warding off all those nasties I mentioned at the start of this piece. And if yoga is where your stress leaves the building, then you must do your yoga my friend.
When I did further digging, I was relieved to see previous studies had been less specific in the type of exercise required to slow down that chromosomal deterioration. Although they all suggest consistently and regularity is key, five times per week is the advice across the board, lots of other studies incorporated different types of exercise outside of that high intensity cardio spotlighted in the Brigham study. A 2019 study published in Biology offered evidence that regular exercise of any type improves skin elasticity, potentially because of the consistent release of happy hormones which exercise provides. And elastic skin means younger-looking skin doesn’t it!?
There’s also the aesthetic benefits in terms of regular exercise and how being a healthy weight and having good muscle tone (thank you dumbbells) and upright posture (thank you Pilates) can shave years off us.
In addition to this, maintaining a regular, relatively high intensity exercise program, is known to help with our sleep schedules. And as we all know, not getting enough sleep can see us waking up a solid ten years older overnight. Call me dramatic but no amount of Touche Eclat can sort me out if I’ve been awake tossing and turning all night.
Now, I’m going to throw my hands up here and say that anecdotally I’m a terrible example of this… I’m a huge fan of exercise; sleep is not a huge fan of me.
But I digress… sticking to the science, exercise helps regulate our hormones and tires us out. Both things which lead to a better nights sleep. In fact, a study published in 2017 by Advances in Medical Preventions found that regular (there’s that key word again) exercise leads to better quality and duration of sleep for adults in middle and older age, interestingly, these stats also applied to adults living with chronic pain, who might traditionally have avoided exercise.
Obviously we can’t reduce our chronological age, but we can do lots to improve our heart and lung functioning to ensure they’re functioning optimally. And optimally might well mean, functioning as they were when we were five or even ten years ago. To wrap our heads around this concept it’s important to understand our metabolic age and exactly how that’s determined.
If you can get yourself to a gym with Tanita scales or another brand with a great body analysis capacity; I’d highly suggest you step on and find out what your metabolic age is. You might be in for a pleasant surprise… or a bit of a shock.
The main component in calculating our body’s metabolic age is how many calories our body burns at rest, or in other words, our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Your metabolic age is then calculated by these clever machines in comparison to the average BMR for people of your age.
If you don’t have access to the scales wizardry; you can hazard a good guess at your metabolic age by using height, weight and age in lots of online calculators. Of course it’s important not to get hung up on your metabolic age… it is after all just one determinant of physical health and not the defining factor; but it is a great indicator of how you compare with the general population and may encourage you to make some lifestyle changes in order to become a little ‘younger’. Metabolically speaking!
// Sarah Lawton
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