Chronological age versus physiological age versus psychological age

Have you ever heard someone say "she has the body of a 20 year old", or something to this effect? While there is some exaggeration at play, there is a difference between a person's chronological age and physiological age and psychological age.

Chronologically, you may be 60 or 70 years of age, based on when you were born. There is no arguing that unless you've embraced some new alternative way of doing math. The real question is how old do you feel?

Through exercise and good nutrition, you can actually be physiologically younger than the average person of your chronological age. For example, if you compared two 80 year old women, one who has exercised and eaten well for most of their lives and the other who has never exercised, smoked, and eaten poorly, the results would be dramatic. You would likely find the active woman to have a better body composition, at less risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, while the inactive woman would be likely stricken with at least one of the aforementioned diseases and less than ideal quality of life.

Psychologically, you may feel even younger than you are chronologically or physiologically. Your psychological age is determined by you, not anyone or anything else, so you can actually feel as young as you want. You may think you should act a certain age, but that is more than likely your desire to fit into some conventional notion of who a person of your age should act.

Regardless of how you feel right now, recognize that you have within you the ability to change how old you feel today. With a positive attitude and a commitment to exercise, you can turn back the clock immediately.

So, how old do you feel?

Progressive loading - the key to getting stronger, faster

You are working out on a regular basis. You watch what you eat, get enough sleep, and lead a relatively active lifestyle. So why doesn't your body change? Probably because you are not progressively loading your body.

Consider if you will, an older woman who is very deconditioned and weak. If you asked her to lift a 5 lb dumbbell, she might find it challenging, possibly only able to lift it 3 or 4 times. If you asked her to repeat this 3 times per week for 3 weeks, you would return after 3 weeks and find that she could probably lift it 12-15 times with less perceived effort.

The reason for this is the body's adaptive process, whereby it gets stronger when challenged on a regular basis using strength training. However, using the same example, that person might be able to continue increasing the number of times they can lift the weight (repetitions), but at a certain point (approximately 15-20 reps), they will no longer be getting stronger, they will be increasing their muscular endurance.

To get stronger, you would have to increase the resistance once you get to approximately 15 reps. This increase in resistance would force the body to adapt further by getting stronger under a heavier load. If you keep repeating this pattern, it might look like this:
Week 1: 5 lbs x 4 reps
Week 2: 5 lbs x 10 reps
Week 3: 5 lbs x 15 reps
Week 4: 7 lbs x 10 reps (increased weight allowing for fewer reps)
Week 5: 7 lbs x 12 reps
Week 6: 7 lbs x 15 reps
Week 7: 10 lbs x 10reps (increased weight allowing for fewer reps)
Week 8: 10 lbs x 12reps
Week 9: 10 lbs x 15 reps

This is progressive loading, which will lead to further and further gains in strength, endurance, and overall results. This can also be applied to aerobic activity (increasing duration, speed, or challenging terrain).

Progressive loading will guarantee results, but it requires that you monitor your actual capacity, rather than just stop at a given number of reps. try it and you will find that you will get stronger within days.

Older adults, exercise, and obesity

25% of older adults are obese

If you or someone you know are over the age of 65, you may be surprised to know that 25% of older adults are considered obese. This is a terrible percentage give the access to information that older adults have regarding nutrition and physical activity compared to 20 years ago when obesity rates were substantially lower.

The reason this is so important is the fact that obesity is linked to so many other chronic conditions that already affect older adults regardless of weight and body composition, including diabetes and high blood pressure just to name two.

Weight control is simple to understand, but hard to accomplish for some. Simply eat less than you expend and you will lose weight. Consider for example, what you might eat at a typical north American restaurant. You could easily consume over 2,000 calories in such a meal, sometimes, just in the appetizer. The average person would need to work for over two hours on a stationary bike to burn this off. Since this is unlikely, the better choice would be to avoid the 2,000 calories and eat something less calorie dense and more nutrient dense (salad with fresh veggies). As mentioned, simple, but not always easy.

The fountain of youth

Feel young again

While you may not want to be young again, you may want to feel young. By integrating a regular exercise routine with sound nutrition, you can turn back the clock on the aging process and regain some of the vitality you may have lost. More to come!