This is a great article about what happens to the human body after the age of 40.  But guess what?  Exercise can help delay or prevent losing muscle mass, keeping us strong through into our twilight years.  Please read, comment and share.

Chad

Aging Well Through Exercise

Is physical frailty inevitable as we grow older? That question preoccupies scientists and the middle-aged, particularly when they become the same people. Until recently, the evidence was disheartening. A large number of studies in the past few years showed that after age 40, people typically lose 8 percent or more of their muscle mass each decade, a process that accelerates significantly after age 70. Less muscle mass generally means less strength, mobility and among the elderly, independence. It also has been linked with premature mortality.

But a growing body of newer science suggests that such decline may not be inexorable. Exercise, the thinking goes, and you might be able to rewrite the future for your muscles.

Consider the results of a stirring study published last month in the journal The Physician and Sportsmedicine. For it, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recruited 40 competitive runners, cyclists and swimmers. They ranged in age from 40 to 81, with five men and five women representing each of four age groups: 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70-plus. All were enviably fit, training four or five times a week and competing frequently. Several had won their age groups in recent races.

For more on this article please go here.  

I read this great article about an application that can be your workout companion.  Anything that will help you stay on track to your fitness goals, I'm a big fan of.  Check out this article and please post your comments.  

~ Chad

By TOM SIMS

HONG KONG — Don’t tell my trainer, but my smartphone has become my favorite exercise companion. To novices, that may sound lonely and pathetic, but it’s nearly 2012 and the technology on offer is extraordinary. I have discovered a few high performing fitness apps that motivate and teach like a professional. They go where I want, when I want, at very little cost, and record my every move so that I can track my progress. And they’re fun.

Take it from a self-proclaimed appaholic and get with the program. Here are a few of my favorites:

Endomondo is an app that derives its name from “endorphin,” hormones that are released to the brain during sports, and “mondo,” Italian for “world.” It’s quite a kick for the globally minded.

The app primarily maps and records your physical activity with GPS, but it does much more. Endomondo broadcasts your route to your worldwide network of friends, and even strangers if you allow, while you are on the move. Friends can track you and give you a pep talk along the way.

When I travel, I can peruse the app’s Web site for routes that locals have taken, download them and follow. No maps needed. Just the app.

One of its strengths is data collection.  For more on this article, please go here.