No Time or ‘Surplus Energy’ For Exercise?

The Irony Of Our Instinct To Conserve Energy

Recent research has shown the remarkable difference that exercise makes to the heart and muscular health of 75-year olds who have been exercising regularly in their earlier years. Scott Trappe, the lead researcher, explained how surprised they were by the results: “We saw that people who exercise regularly year after year have better overall health than their sedentary counterparts. These 75-year-olds – men and women – have similar cardiovascular health to a 40- to 45-year-old.”

The study also found that people in their 70s who had been exercising regularly during their adult life had muscle health that was virtually the same as the muscles of people in their 20s:

“50+ years of aerobic exercise fully preserved capillarization and aerobic enzymes, regardless of intensity. These data suggest that skeletal muscle metabolic fitness may be easier to maintain with lifelong aerobic exercise than more central aspects of the cardiovascular system.”

With this and so many other studies showing the huge benefits of exercising regularly, why does the couch-potato lifestyle persist? Could it simply be that busy schedules lead to the feeling that we lack the energy to make the obvious healthy choices? The irony is that researchers have also found overwhelming evidence that “regular exercise plays a significant role in increasing energy levels and reducing fatigue.”

One attractive solution to this conundrum: Whole Body Vibration Training (WBV) accelerates the effects of many simple exercise routines so emphatically that a 10-minute session amplifies many-fold the results you could expect without the vibration aspect. The FlexxiCore Challenger was designed to make WBV more accessible and enjoyable for the hard-pressed individual who might struggle with the thought of a regular gym-based work-out regime; a roll-away platform that combines oscillation with vibration.

Tracey McAlpine, editor of Fighting Fifty - which advises on ways to age positively and live life after 50 to the full - recently tested the FlexxiCore Challenger. This was her verdict:

“There is something slightly addictive about the FlexxiCore Challenger.  By week four I was really looking forward to using the equipment daily.  My mood and sleeping patterns were greatly improved, my balance was so much better and my muscle tone impressive, especially considering I hadn’t been near a gym or got back into running.  Discomfort in my knee had practically disappeared, so I upped my game, I started ‘working out’ on the FlexxiCore Challenger.  I introduced hand weights and made sure to do squats and stretches while on the equipment.  My body definitely was wobbling much less than it did when I started the trial, it was changing shape and looking well-toned.  My feet even improved, I had more movement in my toes.  My productivity levels were increased, and I had far more flexibility.”

Tracey’s Full Report can be read here.

This article was first published by Positive Health Online Magazine - Issue 252