Training For The Long Term And For Longevity

Head Coach

May 21, 2017

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To be fit and healthy for the long term and to do so enjoyably you will need experience regular progression and maintain your ability to be strong and mobile in using multiple disciplines of training. For long-term commitment to your health, you will need to recognise progress and celebrate your improvements:

So the first thing to do is to look at what works for the bodies structure for long term health.

1 Fitness. Pick something you love doing that is cardiovascular and also has a fat burning effect as this will boost your mood and your energy and also give you psychological well being. Physically you will also have a slimmer and sexier presence. For a minimum of 3 times a week and you can if you love training do a form of cardio for 30-60 minutes a day. Within those 30-60 minutes you could also add 8 rounds of 20 second all out sprints. That will give you a feeling of power and of determination whilst steady state cardio will give you a feeling of rejuvenation and vitality.

My favourite methods are using the curve treadmill, skipping and also Thai boxing. For you it could be dancing or rowing, it doesn’t really matter what you choose. What does matter is that it feels good first and can progress month by month.

2. You will need mobility to feel relaxed and strong. Mobility is a combination of flexibility and strength. I tend to like getting this from gymnastics and from martial arts at the moment. You can get this from Olympic lifts as well. The snatch lift requires great mobility and can also give you great power. For me I like handstands. Bridges, pull ups and pistol squats.

You can actually get this done in as little as 20 minutes a day for three days a week or do as much as an hour a day everyday, again that’s up to you. You have to workout what works best for your lifestyle. None of this is set in stone. You can focus on different parts of training for different phases. There is no one single solution that fits all and there is an art of tweaking and finding what works for you.

3. Flexibilty. This is so so important for the long term as tight muscles are soon to be injured muscles. So doing as little as 5 minutes of stretching everyday doing the actual stretches you need will revolutionise the quality of your life as you will move easier more fluidly and with grace which again feels awesome. Generally I would say from the thousands of people I’ve met and trained the common link is to do stretches and breathing techniques that improve your posture. When you improve your posture you will feel more present and look more present to others and since great posture improves diaphragmatic breathing and deep breathing you will in turn feel more confident.

4. Balance and footwork. This is something you can daily and this will also benefit your posture, your balance and the function of your body as a whole.

This can be done in as little as 4 minutes a day. One exercise you can do is simply close your eyes and stand with one leg while the other knee is raised and close your eyes and hold for 2 minutes on each leg and then switch over.

The foundation of these concepts will make everyone and anyone healthy.

4 Causes Of Old Age And What To Do About It

Head Coach

January 17, 2014

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As we grow older, an active lifestyle becomes more important than ever. While it may seem like good a reasons to slow down and take it easy, there are actually a lot of good reasons and research for why you should get moving and become more conscious of our health and lifestyle.

Here are four of the most prominent causes of old age that you should be aware if you’re looking to increase your longevity and improve your quality of life.

#1 Inflammation

Declining levels of sex hormones contribute to elevated inflammation in older age. In addition, a number of diseases, especially age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis and dementia, have strong inflammatory components. One of our long-term goals should be to engage in therapies or specific diets that could dampen the excessive inflammation process as a means to prevent chronic diseases. One of the main hormonal communicators of the repair process in the body is testosterone whilst excessive amounts of oestrogen can shorten your lifespan substantially. Unbalanced hormones speed up the ageing process.

#2 Oxidative Damage

Oxidative stress and energy dysregulation play a key role in immunosenescence, the gradual decline of the immune system with age. Immunosenescence results from the accumulation of molecular and cellular defects due to oxidative damage and thymic involution, the age-related reduction in thymus size and activity, and hyperstimulation of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. The net result of these processes is increased susceptibility to diseases and increased morbidity and mortality due to infections and other age-associated diseases. A principle player in that risk of oxidation is higher levels of glucose.

#3 Stress

A life filled with constant stress, breaks the body down little by little. Chronic stress has been shown to have a number of negative health impacts, from insomnia to weight gain to an increased risk for heart disease, not to mention impairing the immune and digestive systems as well as the central nervous system. Work-related stress can can have a harmful effect on critical DNA in the cells called telomeres. When telomeres become too short, the cells can die or become damaged adding to the ageing process.

#4 Glycation Caused By Sugar

Limiting sugar in your diet is a well-known key to longevity, because of all the molecules capable of inflicting damage in your body, sugar molecules are probably the most damaging of all. Not only is sugar converted in to fat, sugar molecules also attach to proteins eg. collagen in the skin and form more cross links making skin become less elastic. Fructose in particular is an extremely potent pro-inflammatory agent that creates AGEs and speeds up the aging process. It also promotes the kind of dangerous growth of fat cells around your vital organs that are the hallmark of diabetes and heart disease.

What To Do…

Regular physical activity and healthy diet are associated with decreased risk of many diseases and increased likelihood of a longer and higher quality of life. Physical activity also lowers the risk of functional and cognitive impairment, and lower levels of inflammatory markers in older adults. Exercise has also been reported to favourably impact immune function. To increase your lifespan avoid sugar as much as possible.

Do your best to keep your fructose consumption low, this is especially important if you are overweight or have diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure. Avoid simple/refined sugars, which are found in processed foods or added to your teas/coffee. Eat your 5 a day focusing on green vegetables and make sure you get enough vitamin E, a potent antioxidant that promotes healthy ageing, found in nuts such as Almonds (unsalted).

Cultivate a stress free lifestyle to set the foundation for other habits that are crucial to successful aging. Improve relationships with friends and family, meditate, practice mindfulness and eat nutrient dense foods to effectively reduce stress and live a more prosperous life.

Healthy Regards,

Adam White

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