Cardio… It Makes You Younger!
There’s an important relationship between cardio and your chromosomes. At the center of that relationship is something called telomeres.
Telomeres are the bits of DNA found on the tips of your chromosomes. Those little DNA bits are incredibly important. In 2009, several scientists won the Nobel Prize for discovering the true function of telomeres. When you experience physical and mental stress, telomeres start to erode, which kills cells and leads to premature aging, while also damaging your immune system. To break it down for you…
Shorter telomeres… bad
Longer telomeres… good.
How do you lengthen those telomeres? A few years ago, German scientists studied telomeres in middle-aged people, and how those telomeres were affected by running. The study found that if you lead a sedentary lifestyle from, say… age 20-60 where you hardly exercise at all, you lose about 75% of your telomeres over the years. That means your body is aging, and you’er facing everything that comes with aging… both inside and outside the body.
They also found that the middle-aged people who jogged on a regular basis had almost the same amount of telomeres as people half their age!
Bottom line… if you want to lengthen your telomeres, do some cardio, but make sure it includes intensity! You can start with today’s free walking audio that incorporates high intensity intervals, also known as HIIT. Your brain, body, and telomeres will all love it!
