A 50 Year Old With The Body Of A 20 Year Old?!

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In today’s world, America specifically, more and more people are losing sight on the importance of regular exercise and the advantages it entails. We seem to know in our heads how important exercise truly is, yet sometimes our “laziness” and “having little effort”, for some reason, overpowers that importance. Some examples of what might come as priority and create some difficulties when it comes to getting the necessary exercise includes the following:

- A 9-5 Job

- School/extra curricular activities

- A family to take care of

- Social gatherings

-Being surrounded by fast food chains

I think Americans, as a whole, need to make it a point to work together and slowly start gravitating towards a healthier nation. What I believe needs to happen is that we start with ourselves. We must recognize what we as individuals should accomplish for our own personal needs and health reasons. Once we each establish what we must do individually we can come together stronger and motivate each other, while setting all differences aside.

Imagine being 50 years old with the body of a 20 year old. A recent article, written by the New York Times, brings this idea to reality by discussing a recent study found.

"The muscles of older men and women who have exercised for decades are indistinguishable in many ways from those of healthy 25-year-olds..." - Gretchen Reynolds

This recent study that was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, specifically looks at the men and women that participated in the running and exercise booms of the 1970’s. Those that continued this exercise for decades after, have been found to have muscles that resembled those of younger muscles.

As someone who runs a health and wellness blog and has a passion for all things related, I believe that Americans can start a new “exercise boom” by starting with coming together. Although it might be hard to accomplish with all of the fast food restaurants around us or the temptation/duty (for your job) to sit behind a screen all day, it can happen. And I believe we could potentially accomplish this through a few different ways.

One way might be through boosting the education system when it comes to health and wellness. By enhancing the health and wellness education system at schools, kids can learn to start this hobby of living a healthier lifestyle earlier on, rather than learning later. By starting early, this also allows for kids to continue this hobby of staying active throughout their life as they grow older. The concept is engrained in their mind, hopefully making them think that they should live no other way.

Another way Americans might feel motivated to come together is if they are shown more impactful and educational commercials and shows/movies that regard health and wellness. Marketers and advertisers should also do a better job of advertising these shows/movies so everyone is aware of their existence. These shows/movies whether they are for kids or adults could do a significant amount of influence on people’s lives, especially with the right actors and setting. If someone’s favorite actor for instance is playing a role meant to motivate them, it will probably be enough to make changes in their own life choices and unhealthy habits.

Quite frankly, I am not very shocked by what this study has found. As obesity and poor lifestyle choices among youth does not seem promising when it comes to the health of their future selves.