Read More at Well+Good [[{“value”:” When you hit the gym with the goal of getting sculpted legs or toned abs, you may not typically consider your grip strength. This often forgotten area is actually a key area of focus for those who study longevity: Having good grip strength has been found to be an indicator of healthy lifespan. Plus, in a more direct way, it can make your day-to-day life easier. “If you think about all the things that your hands do in a day, it’s easy to see how a strong grip is beneficial,” says Tami Smith, CPT, certified personal trainer and owner of Fit Healthy Macros. Here are the benefits associated with a strong grip—plus, a quick forearm workout you can do anywhere, any time. The benefits of good grip strength Grip strength is handy for opening things…
Want to Age Well? These 8 Yoga Poses Improve Balance, One of the Most Important Elements of Longevity
Read More at Well+Good [[{“value”:” You’re never too young to prioritize balance training. It may enhance memory and spatial cognition, lower the risk of injury in athletes, and improve postural control, the latter of which contributes to better motor performance in sports. One way to get your fill: Incorporate yoga poses for balance into your movement routine. A 2022 study in the Slovenian Journal of Public Health found that practicing 30 minutes of yoga a day for four weeks led to improvements in static, dynamic, and overall balance in older adults. Ahead, learn exactly why the movement practice can give your stability a boost and discover the best yoga balance poses to challenge and improve it, according to a pro. First things first: How does yoga help with balance? There are a few key elements that make yoga a balance-enhancing…
What’s the Single Most Important Thing You Need to Focus on to Stay Fit and Active as You Age?
Read More at Sixty and Me [[{“value”:” Exercise. Walking. Water Aerobics. Yoga. Good nutrition. Getting enough sleep. Managing stress. Hydration. All of these are important. The #1 concept that holds them all together is balance. In my work with adults aged 55–85, I’ve learned that to stay fit and active as we age, we need to focus on balance in three areas: Balanced joint alignment, Balance while we’re in motion, Balanced lifestyle. Let’s cover some simple, practical tips to maintain balance in all three areas. Balance Your Joints Some people believe that arthritis, joint pain, and stooped posture are unavoidable, non-negotiable parts of aging. While it’s true that our bodies eventually slow down, and we go through some life situations we cannot change, we don’t have to experience pain and limited motion. In many cases, it’s the uneven wear and…
Further Considering the Altered Transcription of Longer Genes with Age
Read More at Fight Aging! The machinery of gene expression changes with age. In recent years, it has been noted that the length of gene sequences correlates with the degree to which transcription of gene sequences into RNA molecules changes over the course of aging. Later work has started to examine the proximate causes of these changes, various fine detail mechanisms buried in the depths of transcription. The research community is not yet at the point of being able to conclusively demonstrate that altered transcription of longer genes produces meaningful downstream consequences in degenerative aging, as interventions specifically targeting just this process of transcriptional change have yet to be established. This is worth keeping an eye on, however. Recent studies of aging organisms have identified a systematic phenomenon, characterized by a negative correlation between gene length and their expression in…
How to Embrace Your Age to Find Creativity and Joy After 60
Read More at Sixty and Me [[{“value”:” Having just had my 64th birthday, I found myself pondering on what ageing really means for me. As a life, body confidence and joyful ageing coach and writer, I knew that it was something more than simply feeling positive about growing older. My feelings ran deeper than that. I have sensed for a long time a strange energy stirring in my soul. The closest way that I can describe this is that it feels like a yearning, a calling for something wild, free and deeply soulful. It feels close to the feelings of falling in love. And maybe I am. However, this love is not for another person, it is for a part of me that I kept locked away for years, afraid that if she was allowed to be fully expressed in…
Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Become Prone to Altered Behavior with Age
Read More at Fight Aging! The altered signaling environment in aged tissue produces changes in cell behavior, some of which is adaptive and helpful, and some of which is maladaptive and harmful. In some cases the same process can be one or the other depending on context. Cellular senescence, for example, is helpful in the contexts of cancer suppression and regeneration from injury, but only up until the point at which senescent cells are no longer removed as rapidly as they are created, at which point their continued, unrelenting pro-growth, pro-inflammatory signaling contributes to many of the forms of tissue dysfunction observed in aging. Vascular smooth muscle is vital to the operation of the vasculature, determining blood pressure via appropriate contraction and dilation of blood vessels in response to environmental cues. Today’s open access paper is focused on the ways…
‘I’m a Dermatologist, and This Is Why Double Cleansing Could Be Your Skin’s Saving Grace as You Age’
Read More at Well+Good Sometimes, skin care can be confusing. Case in point: Retinol is widely known as the key to perfect skin, but it often makes things a whole lot worse before making them better. Luckily when it comes to cleansing, things are a bit more straightforward. Ask any pro and you’re likely to get the same answer: The double cleanse is the gold standard of face washing. What’s more, it can become extra-helpful for your skin as you age. What is double cleansing? Double cleansing is exactly what it sounds like: cleansing the skin not once, but twice. As board-certified dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, puts it, “The double cleanse aims to clean your skin as thoroughly as possible by using two different types of cleansers to get rid of the different kinds of dirt and impurities on your…
How To Stay Mentally Sharp As You Age, According to a Psychiatrist and a Neurologist
Read More at Well+Good It was once long believed—by the average person and by brain health experts—that each person had a finite number of brain cells, which decreased over time. Lose enough and it can lead to neurological damage or diseases, including dementia. It’s a school of thought that could cause someone to obsess over every soccer ball they’d ever head-butted or night they had one too many alcoholic drinks. But this line of thinking isn’t exactly true based on what researchers have learned about brain health over the past decade. A wealth of scientific studies are connecting certain food and lifestyle habits with neurogenesis, the process by which new neurons grow in the brain. It’s a topic psychiatrist Drew Ramsey, MD talks about in his book, Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety ($22), and means that we can actively…
4 Key Reasons Why Maintaining Mobility As You Age Can Boost Your Longevity
Read More at Well+Good Though aerobic exercise and popular fitness indicators like balance and grip strength are regularly touted as essential for supporting longevity, there’s one often-overlooked metric that underscores all of the above: mobility. If you don’t keep up your mobility, which simply refers to the ability of your joints to reach their full range of motion, you’ll find it much tougher to maintain a cardio or strength-training regimen without injury, and to reap all the benefits therein. Even beyond those physical-health benefits, the effects of maintaining mobility as you age boosts mental and emotional health as you age, too. For years, science has shown that people who are regularly mobile—clocking around 7,000 to 8,000 steps daily (or the equivalent 30 to 45 minutes of exercise)—live longer than those who don’t, and that inadequate physical activity can increase mortality.…
5 Delicious Sea Moss Smoothie Recipes Loaded With Nutrients That Help Boost Heart Health As You Age
Read More at Well+Good Fall is just weeks away, and that means cuddling up on the sofa with spooky movies playing on repeat for hours on end. Needless to say, the excitement gearing up for the Hocus Pocus sequel premiering at the end of September is already through the roof. The best part, you may ask? The iconic steamy cauldron scene as the three sister witches throw in a little bit of this and a little bit of that to make their super secret potion from the magical spell book. Which, I’ll be honest, looks like me first thing in the morning as I throw in a blender a pinch of turmeric powder, a spoonful of yam, and a splash of coconut milk to make one of my favorite gut-healthy smoothies to start the day. Of course, unlike the Sanderson…