Regenerate: Don’t Degenerate

Heartiness Approach helps you regenerate your body through exercise, correct eating habits, and emotional wellness.

Avoid exercise. Tell jokes about exercising. Dread the exercise you know you should be doing. Feel guilty about not exercising. Degenerate until every move hurts and you can’t take care of your basic needs.

Too many of our friends live that story. The irony? Most of us do not need to follow that storyline. That is the story written by many who have gone before us. The choice is ours. We can’t choose our end. We can choose our path. The ranks of those who choose a lifestyle that creates a story of limited or no pain increase every day.  These lucky people continue with the ability to care for personal needs until the end. They regenerate their bodies as their bodies were designed to.

Heartiness Approach is not the only place to learn about and receive encouragement to regenerate as our birthdays add up but we are here and eager to help you join the increasing throng.

We will demonstrate how to start and keep exercising despite your current physical limitations. We will start there but along the way, we will discuss why exercise is valuable and essential. Exercise is more important for those with higher birthday counts because society, culture, traditions, and habits have long encouraged and expected that we all slow down with each birthday. If our pep talks don’t convince you that you too can regenerate your muscles, bones, and energy, the testimonials from others who escaped their future and wrote a new story will.  

Sarcopenia, age-related muscle loss, typically happens are at a rate of 3% to 5% per decade after men reach age 30. Less muscle mass leads to a greater risk of falls and bone fracture. While research does not provide conclusive evidence about the causes of sarcopenia there is a growing body of evidence that progressive resistance training (PRT) builds muscle mass for men over the age of 50 through 83.  I suggest that it will work for younger and older as well.

Building muscles require protein but older men tend to experience anabolic resistance which lowers a bodies ability to break down and synthesize protein.

Osteoporosis, weak bones resulting from a reduction in bone tissue, affects many individuals as their age advances. Among those who closely follow the research into the effects of loading exercises on bone density, there is agreement that bone density will improve through proper exercise programs.

One important factor that indicates the need for older adults to exercise more than younger adults is that as our bodies age they tend to lose muscle mass and bone density quicker unless we regularly follow an exercise routine.

Which Exercises Regenerate Muscle Mass and Bone Density?

While you may question my sanity to start this explanation talking about biophilia, the love of living things, I do so because such an inclination works well with an effort to exercise and get healthy. This is so when biophilia includes gardening to raise one’s food. Light gardening may do little for increasing resistance exercise but the connection to nature rejuvenates and helps replace the stress that often affects all of us. Heavy gardening can load the body with sufficient exercise to make a positive difference in muscle mass and bone density. Allow you biophilia to provide a triple improvement, reduce your stress, increase muscle mass and bone density, and eat REAL and clean food.

Everyone must start where they are, meaning that if you have not been exercising you will start with learning correct body posture and movements, without any added weight or resistance.  These are referred to stability and mobility exercises. And you won’t get in a hurry and skim through a few exercise progressions to speed things up. Be patient with yourself and keep at it. No matter where you start this is a long and ongoing process that ends when you do.

That covers the resistance or loading exercises but you also need to work on your cardiovascular system. Start by walking a little and work up to walking a little most days of the week. Over time you can increase how long and briskly you walk.

After your posture and movements adjust to correct form you are ready to add some resistance to your loading exercises. Loading exercise involves body weight exercises, weight lifting, and stretch bands. Don’t stop reading here. By the time you get this far you success and the way you feel will cause you to look forward to the promised improvements.

Your “before exercising” warm-up should include a quick run through of the stability and mobility exercises. Your progression with these loading exercises will consist of adding resistance, increasing sets, and increasing your frequency of exercise. Eventually, you will progress to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) where you will increase your exercise intensity for a minute or more and then return to normal intensity.

Depending on your goals you may progress to exercise routines designed to increase your overall power and quickness. Not everyone needs to progress to this level so don’t fret about the challenge.

Examples of Exercise Programs That Work

The phases in the following list describe a progressive fitness process. Most of us will progress to Phase 2 and remain there throughout our lives. Those of us who have goals that require higher levels of fitness may progress to Phase 3. Elite athletes will progress to Phase 4 where they will increase their ability to compete where extreme fitness is necessary.

Here are definitions that are applied to the terms used in the list below:

Stability – Nothing fancy here, merely having our muscular-skeletal frame properly erect and able to maintain acceptable balance.

Mobility –  Able to enjoy a full range of motion as we push, pull, lift, reach, and twist.

Aerobic – Referring to the use of oxygen to produce energy during exercise.

Anaerobic – Referring to exercising when fresh oxygen is not available for energy production. This is short duration or quick movements completed prior to the aerobic process starting to produce and supply additional energy.

Phase 1

Stability Mobility

Aerobic Base

Phase 2

Movement Training

Aerobic Efficiency

Phase 3

Load Training

Anaerobic Endurance

Phase 4

Performance Training