He looked down and stared in horror at his withered painful leg. "My God, whose leg is that?" he cried. "It can't be my leg. That's an old leg." But it wasn't old. The other leg was just as old, and it looked fine. His right leg had deteriorated because it had been in a cast for several weeks due to an injury. Stanford researcher and author, Walter M. Bortz, M.D relates the above incident in his book, "We Live Too Short and Die Too Long". Bortz came to the conclusion that many of the changes that are commonly attributed to aging are, in reality, caused by inactivity. They can occur within a matter of days in anyone, including young people, who are forced to stay in bed. In the late 1960's, the Swedish physiologist, Bengt Saltin, asked five young men to remain in bed 24 hours a day for three weeks to study their bodies' physiological response. Two of the men were athletes and the remaining three ranged from relatively active to sedentary. Saltin found that within those 21 days all of the men experienced a dramatic drop in their aerobic capacity equivalent to almost 20 years of aging. But it's never too late to start feelin' great! William H. Evans, PH.D author of Biomarkers says it well. "Aging is not a static irreversible biological condition of unwavering decrepitude. Rather, it's a dynamic state that, in most people, can be changed for the better no matter how many years they've lived or neglected their body in the past." Evans should know. His landmark studies at Tufts University involved people ranging in age to nearly 100 years. In a 12 week program of strength training for men in their 60's and 70's, their lifting ability went from 44 to 85 pounds-nearly a 100% increase. Yes, you have a second chance to right the wrongs you have committed against your body. With the right exercise program, which includes strength training, you can regain the vigor, vitality, heart health and endurance you thought were gone forever! |
