"Grow old and die"
I've always hated that phrase. It just sets an expectation that life pretty much ends when you hit the "old" stage. And while I'm nowhere close to being classified as "old", I don't expect to start wilting away when I get there.
The truth is, to grow old does not have to mean to grow decrepit or frail. Aging is inevitable. Hair turns grey, gravity starts to take its toll on our body, and we may lose a step or two in our running speed. But looking old is not the same thing as feeling or acting old. There are some key biological facts to remember.
The evolution of the human body has not caught up with the couch potato lifestyle that many of us fall into, especially as we advance into middle age.
The human body is designed for a life in nature where a feast and famine cycle is typical.
Our bodies still think we're cavemen.
Our ancestors, as recently as the last century, followed a Summer-Winter circle of life. Summers would be spent hunting and foraging for food, and Winters would be the time to hunker down against the elements and live off carefully rationed food that had been stored. The human body, over thousands of years, adapted to this and developed internal controls to facilitate survival.
During warm weather, when activity levels are high, the body uses nourishment to feed all the functions that the body requires for these hunting, farming, and foraging activities. The brain sends signals that encourage the body to be lean, efficient, and strong. Bones and joints are fed to become more resilient, the heart and circulatory system increase in blood and oxygen capacity, and the body's immunity functions are enhanced.
When the cold season hit, humans typically would slow down and adopt a low activity lifestyle and just try to survive the Winter. The body, with the goal of preserving energy, would go into "famine" mode where only the critical bodily functions were supported. Energy would be doled out to keep the heart beating, the blood pumping, and the nervous system operating. But other areas would be left to decay. Without the signals encouraging growth and the expenditure of energy, muscles would begin to atrophy, cardio capacity decreased, and the body's immunity system would weaken.
In addition to the effects of the feast/famine cycle, as we grow older, the body's natural balance of growth and decay begins to shift to the decay side of the scale. This occurs as we enter our 40's and 50's and increases as we advance in age.
Chronic stress also contributes to this imbalance, as the body reads the chemical changes associated with stress as signals that our environment has changed for the worse. In response, the body goes into shutdown survival mode and allows non-essential systems to decay from the lack of support.
The key to overcoming the tendency to exhibit this cycle of growth and decay is to fool the body. We must fool the body into maintaining the "feast" stage of the growth cycle.
How do we do that?
Exercise is the key factor. Exercise mimics the physical work that our bodies associate with hunting and foraging. Maintaining a consistent high intensity exercise program will promote steady and consistent growth and maintenance of all body functions including the cardio related systems, bones and joints, and muscle tissue.
Grow old and stay young.
