Think of your health as a pension – start paying in today and you will reap the performance benefits down the line, says Professor Greg Whyte
Let’s get the bad news out of the way. From our mid-thirties, our physical performance levels begin to decline. Hormonal changes, genetic coding of cells and other internal processes which affect performance begin to kick in. We see this most visibly in elite athletes because they hit this age in optimal condition, so the effects are more trackable.
The good news, though, is that we have more control over the nature and speed of this drop-off than we realise. In fact, taking action on how we approach exercise and recovery now can counteract this ageing process significantly.
If You Do One Thing, Make It This
One of the first things to drop off is muscle mass and this decline can be steep if we are inactive. Maintaining our functional strength is an essential piece of the age-proofing jigsaw. In fact, if you're a midlifer and you're short on time, I would focus on strength-based exercise. It’s one of the least likely things for people to do in mid-life, when actually it's probably the most important. Depending on the level we start at, we can also look to make tangible gains in the short- and long-term. If you needed another reason, research has also demonstrated that strength training improves sleep quality more than any other form of exercise.
"Sleep quantity is a hard thing to affect at this lifestage given everything you have on your plates, but you can choose to focus on quality instead."
Why Variety Counts Now More Than Ever
True fitness is multi-factorial. Endurance, strength, agility, mobility and flexibility – each area has its own importance as we age. Yoga works flexibility, mobility and strength, but is very poor for cardiovascular endurance. So if all you do is yoga, then you're missing out on the other pillars. Try to integrate activities which maintain and improve different areas.
Recovery: An Ageing Antidote
The speed at which we recover between workouts is another area affected as we age. By continually rotating the type of activity that we do from day to day – strength, stretching, cardio etc – we allow different aspects of our physiology to recover whilst we are stressing other aspects. Another benefit of mixing things up in this way is that it keeps things interesting, driving motivation so you will keep doing it for longer, harder and more often.
Sleep Quality Not Quantity
In the certain knowledge that our recovery is slowing, we need to do everything we can to support the recovery we do get. And sleep is a key part of this. Quantity is a hard thing to affect at this lifestage given everything we have on our plates, but we can choose to focus on quality instead, enhancing our nighttime routine and our environment so we fall asleep quicker, wake up less often and spend more time in restorative states of sleep.
Think Healthspan
We used to call it lifespan – how long can we live for? What's much more important though is healthspan. Can we live longer? Yes, but, crucially, can we do it in better health and independence? Whatever life stage or condition you may be in, it’s the actions we take now to slow that rate of decline that can elongate our healthspan.
In our fiscally-minded society, we know all about the importance of pensions so we have enough money in the future to enjoy life at the same levels we do now. The only way that you can enjoy that money is if you’re in good physical shape so, to my mind, it’s essential to think about your health in exactly the same way.
NIGHT POWDER is formulated by a human performance team to support rest and recovery. Designed for athletes, but made for everyone.
