For years my goal was “old man abs”. Inevitably, my wife would say that I have to do cardio to accomplish the goal.
As the health expert of the home I would respond with authority: “NO”.
That being said, I told my wife I think I’m going to start running this spring.
If you’ve been married for any amount of time many of you suffer the same malady as myself which is if you anticipate a response from your spouse that you know they will give and they give it . . . frustrating? In my case Monica sees me as someone that operates on impulse so any suggestion or observation that leaves my mouth is something she assumes I’m going to do unless there’s corrective measure.
I should have known when I mentioned I’m running without any real intention of doing so it would be received as commitment.
Hence, she gave me $200 for my birthday to get shoes. Hence, I bought roller skates for the treadmill. I don’t like cardio.
Cardio is important though. There are all sorts of studies on lung volume (vo2 max) and longevity. Cardio’s impact on mitochondria is interesting, but more interesting is mitochondria’s role in cancer, Parkinsons, and Type II diabetes. Well, indirectly . . . it’s too complicated for a roller skating tread mill guy to explain in 500 words.
When cells are stressed something called “Parkin” comes out and ultimately clears old mitochondria to make room for the healthy cells to become more efficient. This is called mitophagy.
. . . I’ve mentioned green tea before, but I’ve never mentioned one of my favorite compounds called Quercetin. It’s in green tea, it’s in apple skins, particularly organic apples. Quercitin is cool for a lot of reasons not the least of which is that it reduces uric acid, a by-product of poor metabolic health. I’d take it separate if I had allergies because it’s been shown to help regulate immune system balance. It also helps regulate immune responses in the brain and a recent study demonstrated that Quercetin ameliorates Alzheimer’s. Regardless, if you look at triggers in the three diseases I mentioned it’s something that should be in a person’s diet. Maybe replace the roller food from the gas station with say, an apple or broccoli . . It’s also in onions (look up onions and blood sugar, raw onions please), berries, broccoli . . .
A supplement that has shown to have actual value in those over 40 as it helps mitochondria function is CoQ10. I started taking it recently as I’ll be 40 in only 14 years ago. That a would be an example of something you can do in addition to . . . and oh, my, God, I just realized I just demonstrated once again if you just adhere to 4 basic principles you’ve covered yourself.
If you cover diet, which is don’t eat processed foods and restrict the amount of time you eat i.e. don’t eat after 6, you increase autophagy (mitophagy) the clearing out of garbage proteins and ineffective cells, you need adequate deep sleep to shrink your brain and increase circulation to remove the autophagy product. Nothing increases autophagy like exercise . . . that’s three of the four things. It doesn’t matter what health issue you research or talk about you’ve covered it with those four.*
*There are also specific genetic tests you can get for your individual make up to compensate for your risks.
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