By Doing this daily will set you up for a strong mind well into old age
My mission for many years is finding simple yet practical solutions that will keep us healthy and disease-free whilst sharpening our minds well into old age.
These goals can become clouded by the world’s conveniences, not to mention the endless stress and anxiety we experience in many different facets of our life.
As I age a bit more (which I don’t embrace as well as I should), I realise that it’s even more important to take the narrow road with fewer options.
When there are too many options
It leads to an achievable outcome without too much ‘shiny object syndrome.’
I’m not immune to all the different things we can use to help us.
Sometimes supplements, specific treatments or even diets can help better our health.
But most of these hacks have been available for years and packaged up differently to sell us another so-called ‘solution.’
A solution is to do what works for you, which can become part of your lifestyle for the rest of your time on earth.
Regularly keeping a routine aimed toward health is so important.
In addition, those who happen to be a lot younger and reading this should think about how they want to look, feel and be as they age.
It will start to creep up on you — believe me, it does. The days are long, but the years are short in retrospect.
Keeping your body and mind sharp is one of the best ways to experience abundant life.
What works for older women
Researcher’s tested different types of exercises on women. Those between the ages of 70–80 experienced mild memory problems and cognitive impairment. These symptoms are all suspects that could lead up to dementia.
During that time, researchers also observed what occurred to their hippocampus volume.
Exercise choices for these women ranged from twice-weekly hour-long aerobic training (brisk walking) or resistance training using lunges, squats and weights. Then the last group did muscle toning exercises.
These sessions continued for six months.
After the six-month mark, the size of the hippocampus was measured and compared against the initial assessment taken before the study.
Of the 86 women tested, only 29 of them women had the scan.
Nevertheless, the results showed that the total hippocampus volume in the group who exercised aerobic training for six months was more significant than the women who conducted muscle toning exercises.
Unfortunately, no such difference in hippocampus volume was seen in those who did resistance training compared to the balance and muscle toning group.
Although the women who did aerobic training improved their verbal memory, there was a small piece of evidence that increased hippocampus volume was also associated with poorer verbal memory.
What can you do
Further research will be required to delve a little deeper into this assessment.
But let’s not forget that this evidence shows aerobic exercise slows the shrinking of the hippocampus. It also maintains the volume in women at risk of developing dementia.
Aerobic exercise seems to stave off mild cognitive decline, which is a significant discovery given the rising cases of dementia.
Dementia is diagnosed every four seconds worldwide, and if aerobic exercise can eliminate our chances, then it’s something you should consider today and as you age.
Key take away
Evidence shows that women should participate in aerobic exercise, even if it’s very low impact.
Couple that with strength training to keep your bone density strong and stop you from the crippling effects of osteoporosis and fractures that might result from falls.
Although the evidence clearly states that strength training isn’t as practical for brain health, it is, in fact, beneficial for your other health outcomes.
Why not use both exercise alternatives to provide variety in your training and help you lead a much more active life?
I’m on Youtube! Please help grow awareness of health, lifestyle and well-being holistically, and follow my YouTube channel here.
Medium — Please sign up via my link if you want to read more articles like this or start writing your writing journey. I’d love to see you on the other side.
Sign up here for your medium subscription.
I get a portion of your monthly fee at no extra cost to you, and it will go a long way in supporting me as a writer.
As a gift, please download this as a thank you.
Download your FREE Fat Loss Recipe book here.