A new study called, "Chronic Exercise Preserves Lean Muscle Mass in Masters Athletes," which you can read HERE graphically illustrates what happens to your muscles (with and without) the type of regular and beneficial exercise that the sport of triathlon provides.
The image above is a cross section of a 40-year-old triathletes legs and the associated muscle. But the two images below are the really interesting and telling ones.
As you can tell, the 74-year-old masters triathletes legs are not unlike that of the 40-year-old triathletes legs. The study's authors go on to write:
"It is commonly believed that with aging comes an inevitable decline from vitality to frailty. This includes feeling weak and often the loss of independence. These declines may have more to do with lifestyle choices, including sedentary living and poor nutrition, than the absolute potential of musculoskeletal aging.
In this study, we sought to eliminate the confounding variables of sedentary living and muscle disuse, and answer the question of what really happens to our muscles as we age if we are chronically active. This study and those discussed here show that we are capable of preserving both muscle mass and strength with lifelong physical activity."
They conclude by writing:
"The loss of lean muscle mass and the resulting subjective and objective weakness experienced with sedentary aging imposes significant but modifiable personal, societal, and economic burdens. As sports medicine clinicians, we must encourage people to become or remain active at all ages. This study, and those reviewed here, document the possibility to maintain muscle mass and strength across the ages via simple lifestyle changes."
In other words... KEEP EXERCISING FOLKS! GETTIN' OLD DOESN'T HAVE TO MEAN GETTIN WEAK ANY MORE!
Have you decided to join the ever-growing LCHF (Low-Carb, High-Fat) movement that is going on in Sweden? You don’t have to be a Swede to eat like one! Here’s a simple plan for starting your own low-carb, high-fat plan that will help you lose weight and get healthier than you ever thought possible:
Foods you want to eat often on your healthy LCHF plan include–
Full-fat meats, eggs (preferably organic), non-starchy vegetables, butter, cream, full-fat hard cheeses, cream cheese, coconut oil, olive oil
Foods you want to eat in moderation on your healthy LCHF plan include–
Nuts, seeds, berries, dark chocolate, wine
Foods you want to avoid on your healthy LCHF plan include–
Sugar, rice, corn, grains, pasta, bread, fast food, artificial sweeteners, root vegetables, processed foods, seed oils, starchy vegetables, potatoes, margarine, beer, fruits, skim milk, anything “low-fat”.
Eat until your hunger is satiated and don’t feel guilty about eating fat which becomes the fuel for your body in the absence of carbohydrates. Don’t try to eat a low-fat, low-carb diet! The high-fat part of LCHF is an essential element to making this work for maximum impact! And you’re certainly not counting calories if you are eating when you are hungry and allowing the fat and protein to satisfy you.
Beverages you want to include as part of your healthy LCHF plan include–
Coffee with heavy cream, black coffee, tea and water
For more detailed information about starting your own LCHF plan, read the recommendations (in English) from Swedish low-carb physicians Dr. Annika Dahlqvistand Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt.
A weakness of traditional activity and obesity research is that it relies on self-reporting — people’s flawed recollections of how much they ate or exercised. But the participants in a series of studies that Dr. Levine did beginning in 2005 were assessed and wired up the way I was; they consumed all of their food in the lab for two months and were told not to exercise. With nary a snack nor workout left to chance, Dr. Levine was able to plumb the mysteries of a closed metabolic universe in which every calorie, consumed as food or expended for energy, could be accounted for."
read the rest of the article here!
Dr. Levine is starting to explain what figiters have long known- it's not just your weekly workouts that count- it's the sum total of all the movements (small and large) you make throughout the day. Very interesting. Want to boost your fat-loss and extend the effects of your workouts? Do what this guy is doing and smash your chairs:
