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Back to basics: EXERCISE, the # 1 ESSENTIAL health practice; how much and is there an age limit?

By hkugler at Nov. 17, 2011, 12:50 a.m., 22961 hits

Back at Roosevelt U. in Chicago, where I did aging research and longevity studies with cancer-prone mice, we compared 2 groups of animals: one subjected to all the faulty health practices vs. good health practices (incl., besides the basics, exercise and cigarette smoke). The difference in average life spans was nearly 100%.
However, when we repeated the studies without including exercise in the “good health practices group, everything seemed to fall apart; die-off curves were uneven (suggesting an overall decrease in health of the animals), and average life span differences decreased to almost 40%.
The numbers can be superimposed, and fit, nicely onto the human model.
Add to this the (quite frequent) advice to seniors, ”doc, at my age, should I do regular exercise, including some weight exercise?“ - - - and the doc answers: ”At your age, not important. You may hurt yourself. Makes really not much difference because it's all in your genes."
Shall we start by asking: Should everybody have a - - what type - - exercise program, and is there an age limit to any part of the exercise program?


— Last Edited by Hans J. Kugler, PhD at 2011-11-09 00:19:22 —

 
Posts [ 2 ] | Last post Nov. 17, 2011, 12:50 a.m.
#1 - Nov. 12, 2011, 12:36 a.m.
Hans J. Kugler, PhD

A good friend, Dr. Paul Ward, Olympic trainer and multiple Masters Lifting Champion - - also author of “Encyclopedia of Weight Lifting,” is known as the “father of the Super Circuit Training, now THE training method used by literally all major sports teams.
Dr. Ward helped me to make ”minimum exercise for optimum results“ - combining resistance and cardiac exercises - less boring, more effective and less time consuming. Chapter 3 in my new e-book ”Dr. Kugler's Ultimate Anti-Aging Factor; applied anti-aging in action" outlines these new guidelines. Why and how, and a section on advanced training by Dr. Ward can be found at our site: http://www.antiagingforme.com.

— Last Edited by Hans J. Kugler, PhD at 2011-11-17 00:06:44 —
#2 - Nov. 17, 2011, 12:50 a.m.
Hans J. Kugler, PhD

Several e-mails asked specific questions:
1) Q.: How can your exercise program be less boring, and more effective?
A.: Myself, I hate to sit on a stationary bike for 25 minutes, heart rate in the right range, to fulfill minimum requirements for cardiac health. If you combine resistance and cardiac exercises with my (Dr. Paul Ward's) circuit training exercise (as outlined in Dr. Kugler's Ultimate Anti-Aging Factor), you do aerobic exercise for just a few (maybe 3 or 4) minutes, and then move on to a set of (5 to 8 stations) resistance (weight) exercises. If you do this at a reasonable rate, correct range heart rate will be maintained. Three or 4 sets like this - - lasting from 1 1/2 to 2 hours - - give superior results re. muscle mass, fitness, and body shaping.
About the exercise program in my book Dr. Jack Wilmore of Texas University states: “The bottom line is that Circuit Training programs continue to be effective beyond wildest expectations in producing changes in aerobic fitness, strength, lean body mass and very positive changes in body composition.“

2) Q.: What do you say to women who worry about looking too muscular?
A.: Simple! For every resistance exercise station you estimate how much max you could to with one repetition. Don't actually do it; keep adding weight and then, when it gets a little hard, just guess-timate how much you could do with just one repetition. This is called “1 RM”, or 1 repetition max. You now have two choices:
a) If you want to INCREASE muscle mass, do the exercises with MORE than 50% of 1 RM, do fewer repetitions per set (like 4 - 7), and do them slow. Inhale while releasing, and exhale while pushing.
b) If you just want to lean (no muscle increase), do the exercises with less than 50% of 1 RM, do more repetitions per set ( like 8 to 12), and do them at a good speed.
For those who want to go beyond these basics, Dr. Ward has an advanced training program at http://www.antiagingforme.com . Start at “free e-books.”