How old are you? This question may be trickier than it seems because, according to scientists, our chronological and biological ages aren’t always the same. If your chronological age simply means how long you have existed on earth, your biological age is how old your cells are. Regular exercise is one of the most efficient ways to reduce the main hallmarks of aging and improve biological age.
Yet, some forms of physical activity are more effective in increasing longevity and reversing premature aging than others. These 8 highly effective exercises will attenuate different aspects of the age-related changes in your body and help you maintain strength, coordination, and mobility in the later decades of life.
The top 8 anti-aging physical activities
According to studies, physical exercise prevents many chronic diseases and may even change gene expression. If you have already turned 40, now is the high time to include some of these activities in your exercise routine.
1. REHIT—the most effective exercise to reverse aging
Much research indicates that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is extremely effective in turning back the biological clock compared to other types of training—mainly because it accelerates metabolism and boosts cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max).
Reduced Exertion HIIT (REHIT) is considered as HIIT taken to the next level and delivers greater benefits in a shorter workout time. It is the shortest, most effective workout for healthy aging, requiring only 2x all-out 20-second sprints to catalyze important metabolic adaptations and promote rejuvenation on the cellular level. A typical REHIT workout can last as little as 5-minutes in total. It consists of the following:
- Warm-up: 20 seconds – 2 minutes
- Max intensity sprint: 20-seconds
- Recovery period: 1-3 minutes
- Max intensity sprint: 20-seconds
- Cooldown: 3-minutes
Cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the key health indicators which naturally declines by about 10% every decade after the age of 30. Research shows that Sprint Interval training is the most time-efficient strategy to increase VO2max compared to other types of training.
With CAROL’s signature REHIT workout, you can increase your VO2max by 12% in just 8 weeks, which is like turning the clock back on your age by 10 years. In addition, you develop more mitochondria, your blood plasma volume increases, your blood pressure and glucose levels return to normal levels, and your heart strengthens.
CAROL Bike is the only bike fully optimized for REHIT— making it simple, effective, and safe. It provides the shortest, most effective workouts suitable for any age and fitness level—while offering greater versatility and choice than most other smart bikes.
2. Zone 2 cardio
Some fitness experts suggest that the most effective anti-aging exercise program alternates Zone 5 (maximum intensity) and Zone 2 (endurance) training. These 2 types of exercise deliver different health benefits and complement each other well.
Endurance exercise is the most effective activity to prevent telomere shortening—one of the common signs of aging. Telomeres are located at the ends of our chromosomes and protect the genetic material contained inside. When they shorten with age, the cells stop dividing which is associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer. A systematic review of 49 studies shows that aerobic exercise is more effective for increasing the telomere length than other types of exercise.
Additionally, Zone 2 cardio may be more effective than HIIT in fortifying the heart muscle and boosting mitochondrial growth. Mitochondria are the cell elements responsible for producing energy, and their decline is another hallmark of cellular aging. According to studies, prolonged endurance training increases mitochondrial volume by 40–50%. The beneficial effects of endurance exercise include improved fat metabolism, better muscular fitness, and increased capillary density.
Zone 2 workouts include brisk walking, hiking or steady-state cycling. You can try Zone 2 cycling sessions on CAROL Bike.
CAROL Bike is scientifically-proven to increase your VO2max by 12% in just 8 weeks. That's like turning the clock back on your age by 10 years.
3. Strength training
Most experts agree that resistance training should be a cornerstone of the older adults’ exercise routine. Age-related muscle loss slows down metabolism, impairs mobility, and lowers energy levels.
Fortunately, regular resistance training prevents muscle degeneration and lowers the risk of developing obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and arthritis. Studies indicate that resistance exercise even changes the gene expression in skeletal muscles reversing aging at the genetical level.
It is recommended to start strength training earlier in life and train at least 2 times per week in the later decades of life. Body-weight strength exercises are a great entry point to strength training since they don’t require any equipment.
Basic body-weight strength training includes exercises such as squats, push-ups, planks, jumping jacks, lunges, crunches, burpees, and glute bridges. You can tailor the workout by increasing the number of repetitions of each exercise.
If you want to achieve greater improvements in muscle mass growth, introduce resistance bands and weight lifting to your resistance training.
4. Balance exercises
Stability problems are a common part of the aging process. Improving your coordination and stability can significantly increase your quality of life in old age by preventing injuries and facilitating day-to-day activities.
Holding yourself upright and against gravity fortifies the core and hip stabilizer muscles responsible for balance. According to fitness experts, even a simple daily walk is beneficial for stability and fall prevention. Taking a dancing class or a yoga lesson are some other great options to improve balance and coordination.
5. High-impact exercises
High-impact physical exercise requires both feet to leave the ground such as jogging, jumping rope, tennis, or burpees.
Despite being physically demanding, these exercises have many beneficial effects. They increase bone density—the amount of calcium and phosphorus contained in the bone—and aerobic fitness. High-impact activities develop muscular strength and reduce muscle reaction time reducing the risk of falls later in life.
People with bone-weakening diseases like osteoporosis should avoid high-impact activities and consult their doctor before training.
6. Full-body compound exercises
In real life, we rarely use just one muscle group at a time. Even when you sit or stand, multiple muscles and stabilizers are involved to maintain posture and stability. Contrarily to isolation movements, compound exercises train multiple muscle groups and joints at the same time.
Compound movements more realistically mimic the actual movements you would perform in daily life like climbing the stairs, lifting an object from the ground, or reaching for it overhead. This makes them more effective in building muscle and strength than isolation exercises.
In addition to that, they build muscle memory, improve posture and mobility, and decrease injury risk. Functional fitness programs that consist of compound exercises improve everyday life and are highly beneficial for well-being.
Squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, lunges, push-ups, and burpees are on our top-recommended list for beginners. You can start by doing 8 to 12 repetitions of each compound exercise. Full-body workouts require more time for recovery so make sure you don’t schedule them too often.
7. Agility training
Research suggests that reaction time starts gradually declining after the age of 24. Agility training is an underrated form of exercise that helps reverse age-related changes in cognitive ability and neuromotor functioning.
This type of training helps improve your health on 3 levels to get you moving quickly and efficiently through your daily life activities:
- On the physical level, you develop strength, power, and speed;
- On the functional level, your posture and hand-eye coordination improve;
- On the cognitive level, you train your ability to retain new information and reaction time.
A 1-year randomized-controlled trial of 79 healthy older adults showed that 2x weekly 60-minute agility training sessions significantly improved their neuromuscular, cardiorespiratory, and cognitive function.
Most competitive sports like football, tennis, rugby, or martial arts effectively develop agility and train your brain to quickly respond to unpredictable situations.
You can include specific agility exercises in your favorite sports activities or dedicate 3-5 minutes to agility exercises at the end of each training session. This is an effective way of preventing neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
8. Mobility exercises
Low mobility is associated with stiff joints, a poor range of movement, muscle weakness, and neurological difficulties.
Limited mobility in hips leads to compensation in your knee and ankle joints, and poor mobility in shoulders results in an over-arched back which may cause further discomfort. Back, knee, and neck pain and shoulder impingement are common injuries that accompany poor mobility.
Improved mobility ensures you can move as efficiently as possible during other exercise sessions. Here are 5 mobility exercises you should include in your exercise program before turning 50:
- Cat-cow movement: will increase mobility in your thoracic and lumbar spine.
- Circular upper-body motion: activates the muscles in your spine.
- Walking Spiderman: with hip lift and overhead reach is an effective full-body mobility exercise. It trains your adductors, hip mobility, hamstring flexibility, hip flexor strength, and thoracic and shoulder mobility.
- Ankle joint mobilization: good ankle mobility allows you to move more efficiently be it walking, jogging, or jumping.
- Hanging: is a simple exercise that improves the range of motion in your shoulders.
Physical exercise not only helps you feel good and maintain a quality of life, but it also shaves years off of your biological age.
Conclusion
No matter your age, regular exercise should be a central part of a healthy aging lifestyle. With CAROL Bike, you can get the most effective, most efficient workouts that are scientifically proven to improve your health and fitness. Just 3×5-minute REHIT sessions per week is all you need to improve your VO2max by 12% in 8 weeks. And its AI-personalization makes it suitable for any age and fitness level.
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