And Jack isn’t just surviving, he looks as vital as when he was a young whipper snapper in his 70s.

So what’s the secret? There may not be one simple answer. To most people in the last few decades of his life, they know him for his juicer infomercials. But, LaLanne originally gained recognition as a successful bodybuilder. He owes his vitality to the power of strength training.

Many experts believe that strength training is the key to preventing age-related disabilities. As you age, if you don’t continue to use your muscles, you will lose mass. This has all kinds of implications, not the least of which is a connection to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. This happens by slowing your body’s metabolic rate, which encourages fat accumulation, which in turn snowballs into various health problems.

Muscle mass usually begins to decline at around the age of 40. And by 50, your muscle mass can drop by a staggering 15 percent every 10 years. Strength training can put a stop to the decline.

The most important thing to realize is that it is never too late to start exercising. The human body has an amazing ability to respond to exercise at any age. In studies of men and women in their 80s (or even older), they gained strength just as rapidly as younger adults by doing resistance training.

Consumer Reports gives the following ways that strength training rejuvenates your health:

• Benefits your cardiovascular system
• Fights diabetes
• Strengthens bones
• Prevents cancer
• Builds bones
• Increases mobility

(via: Washingtonpost.com)

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Strength Training Key to Longevity

The ever pervasive question is, of course, what was her secret to longevity? She apparently didn’t offer much in the way of advice. However, she claimed to not have ever drank alcohol or smoked.

“She kept active,” said her grandson Don Parker, 60. Describing his trips to her nursing home he said: “We used to go up there, and she would be pushing other patients in their wheelchairs.”

Her only actual advice to those who gathered to celebrate when she became the oldest person was “more education.” With that oblique bit of guidance, I began to wonder what other supercentenarians had attributed their longevity to. So, I did a bit of research, and this is what I came up with from the two oldest known people in history:

The oldest authenticated person in history was a French woman named Jeanne Calment. She lived to the staggering age of 122. Born on February 21, 1875 and passing away on August 4, 1997, amazingly she smoked until she was 117.

Countering that death-defying feat, Calment never had to work, since she married into wealth. Instead, she reportedly led a relaxed lifestyle, pursuing hobbies like tennis, cycling, swimming, and roller skating.

More peculiar practices included eating more than two pounds of chocolate a week (see picture below) and treating her skin with olive oil. The latter may explain why she looked as good as she did.

“I’ve only ever had one wrinkle, and I’m sitting on it,” said said at 110.

“I think she was someone who, constitutionally and biologically speaking, was immune to stress,” said Jean-Marie Robine, a public health researcher. “She once said, ‘If you can’t do anything about it, don’t worry about it.’”

Sarah Knauss, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, lived to 119. The second oldest person in history shared one thing in common with the oldest – a calm demeanor. Her relatives attributed her longevity to this fact. When she was told by her family that she was the oldest living person, her response was “So what?”.

Living well past the century mark probably has much more to do with genetics than anything else. When you see the oldest person ever to have smoked for about a century and ate pounds of chocolate every week, that’s pretty strong evidence. However, for the rest of us non-genetic freaks of nature, we’ll need to stick with the tried and true exercise and good nutrition. And remember not to sweat the small stuff.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Supercentenarians: What’s the Secret to Living past 110?