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But the masters category in many sports has proved that we are capable of a lot more then we may have believed and in the last few decades people's physical performance has increased significantly. The performance of master's age athletes continues to improve, and 70 and 80 year old marathoners are no longer a rarity. The oldest people who have accomplished this great physical feat are around the 100 year-old mark. Four minute miles have now been run by men well over 40 yet just a few short decades ago this was a feat we thought impossible for anyone of any age. A man of 80 has clocked less than 7 minutes for the mile. When you consider that the average male high school student takes 7 minutes 40 seconds to run a mile you can see just how significant that is. Older women are making their name in 100 mile plus endurance races and other older athletes compete in a wide range of sports from swimming to bodybuilding. So we know that there can be little decline in physical performance and capabilities because of one's age. And we also know that nursing homes are full of people who have lost all of their physical strength and function. We may wonder what could make such a difference between someone running a marathon at age 80 and someone sitting in a nursing home needing 24 hour care just to dress, feed themselves and do the necessities of daily living. Well, the difference is loss of muscle strength from not doing enough muscle building and maintaining activity throughout the adult years. This loss of muscle begins as early as the mid 20's with muscles shrinking as much as one half pound per year. This rate accelerates and doubles after age 50 if nothing is done to halt its demise. It is easy to blame the aging process but this is not the problem. Our inactive and sedentary world is to blame along with the attitude that we must 'slow down' and 'take it easy' as we grow older. Instead of slowing down we need to get stuck in and fight to keep our precious strength as without it there can be no quality of life. If strength is allowed to dwindle away we are then left exposed to the killer diseases that stalk us in our modern world. When the human body weakens all of its systems weaken as well including the body's armor and defense system - the immune system. Our muscular system makes up to 50 percent of our body weight so the ongoing loss of it has a huge impact on our overall health and wellness especially in the last third of life when we need it the most. The only way to keep your muscles is to work them regularly. Strength training exercise is the perfect antidote to hold off the ravages that living a no proper exercise lifestyle will bring. Just 2-3 sessions each week are all that is needed if done right and a bit of effort put into them. We did not have this information just few decades ago and we watched our parents and especially our grandparents suffer as they went down the road of rapid decline. But it can be different for us but we have to get stuck in and help ourselves. It will not happen by itself, we have to take action and make it happen. Strength training exercise is easily accessible to everyone either at a gym or at home. The sooner you get started the sooner you will reap the multitude of health benefits that improved body strength will bring no matter if you just want to stay functional or run a marathon..
Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body, regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook ''I Have Found the Fountain of Youth - Let Me Show You Too!" http://www.over50looking30.com Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who in her nearly 30 years of fitness and bodybuilding competition experience she has helped thousands of people start their journey towards losing weight, becoming strong, fit and youthful at any age. Sign up for her free newsletter on Weight Loss Tips http://FitnessWeightloss.com and get her free report ''Discover ‘Secrets That Most People Will Never Know About To Really Lose Weight".
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