TELOMERES: The keys to anti-aging you’ve probably never heard of
By SukiSee the photo above? That’s Ernestine Shepherd (photo credit: lorna-harvey.com), 80 years old and declared the oldest female bodybuilder on the planet by the Guinness Book of World Records. Nothing about Ernestine looks 80, those biceps for starters. Unfortunately, in a day where hectic lifestyles are the norm, our bodies take quite a beating. If you feel stressed, tired and worn out, chances are, your body will age prematurely. But don’t despair, your body is a remarkable organism and through a little-known compound we all possess you can still drink from the fountain of youth. It’s time we learned about telomeres.
Telo-what?
Telomeres (tel-uh-meers) are small protective compounds that sit at the end of each strand of our DNA and control cellular aging. A shorter telomere accelerates aging whilst a longer one has the opposite effect. So the key to eternal youth is keeping those telomeres nice and long. The question is, how?
Before I answer that, a few facts
Telomeres get shorter each time a cell replenishes itself which happens constantly throughout our lives as we get older. Oxidative stress, inflammation, and other metabolic processes also erode telomeres, eventually leaving the cells chromosomes unprotected. This causes our cells to age and stop functioning properly. Telomeres are truly the aging clock in every cell.
Okay, so how am I meant to keep my telomeres nice and long?
Outside of freezing yourself in a giant tank, factors such as stress, smoking, obesity, lack of exercise and a poor diet are known to shorten telomeres. If you’re reading this over a slice of pizza, you may want to rethink that.
Instead, the secret sauce that has been shown to increase the length of our telomeres is weight training.
Weight training and its effects on telomere length
The benefits of aerobic activity for well-being and mortality are well established. Less documented is the relationship between weight training and longevity. However, in the first of its kind, a recent study by Penn State College of Medicine, observed weightlifters over fifteen years to offer some insight. What you are about to read may surprise you.
Researchers found that older adults who strength trained at least twice a week had a whopping 46% lower chance of death for any reason, than those who did not. They also had 41% less chance of cardiac death and 19% lower odds of dying from cancer. In other words, you cut your chance of premature death by almost 50% through lifting weights.
Another study by scientists at Kings College London, concluded that telomere length does, in fact, decrease with age, but women and men who are physically active, retained longer telomeres than those who were sedentary, even after adjusting for age, weight, disease, socioeconomic status and smoking. What is more, subjects who spent more than 3 hours each week in vigorous physical activity (such as lifting weights) had longer telomeres than subjects 10 years younger, who exercised less than 16 minutes a week. This difference suggests that inactive subjects may be biologically older by 10 years.
So what type of weight training should you be doing? Clue: Not Arnold’s
Weight training is synonymous with bodybuilders like Mr. Schwarzenegger. However, the Terminator’s style of training is not the best approach for longevity. Bodybuilding involves lighter weights, a high number of repetitions and slower movement. The best form of weight training to keep your telomeres long was found to be powerlifting: lower repetitions with a heavier weight, requiring greater force output. Force requires the body to recruit fast twitch muscle fibers. In a 2008 study, scientists at Sweden’s Orebro University found that the telomeres of powerlifters were significantly higher than those of healthy individuals who did not perform any weight training.
Incase you are wondering why Ernestine Shepherd looks so good through bodybuilding, there are factors beyond her workouts that play a role. She maintains a very clean diet, practices a consistent routine and performs other forms of exercise too. Secondly, it is unreasonable to draw any conclusions; good or bad from one individual.
Time to wrap things up, head to the gym and start lifting heavy! Lengthening your telomeres leads to a longer, healthier life, and the weight room it seems is the place to be. Happy lifting!
As always, pushing for health.
DISCLAIMER: This post does not constitute advice. It is a summary of scientifically backed findings. If you are new to weight training, do not perform any weight bearing exercise without the supervision of a certified personal trainer.
That’s amazing ! Brilliant post!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks !!
Great article! Isagenix has a great product for telomere health – Product B – that we use. But this is just icing on the cake – thanks for sharing this information!
thanks Jill. Yes – I write because I love sharing concepts with the wider public that will enable them to become advocates for their own health.
I think this is a very interesting article and contrary to what most think. Would sure like more data on exercise increasing the anti-inflammatory response. The only other issue is lifting heavy creates more chance for injury and most would need a qualified trainer to execute properly. For example I know Pain Doctors who see many patients for lower back pain and these former athletes all did lots of heavy squats in high school and college. Today they experience chronic lower back pain.
I agree that heavy weight training can cause injuries and problems down the track. My philosophy is everything in moderation, including weight training. I train my clients to lift moderately heavy weights so that they can continue training injury free for their lifetime …. therefore as they age, they maintain muscle mass, bone density and flexibility to ensure a high quality of life for as long as possible.
Hey Paula – moderation for sure. The irony is (and it’s partly ego), the heavier we go, the more we want to challenge ourselves. I see professional powerlifters are squatting over 1000lbs… absurd ! But at that point they are also being paid so it’s an income thing too. But yes, for the rest of us moderation is key -someone said to me ystdy that ‘Nature and the universe demand balance’ >>> so true!! When not in balance is when we get into trouble.
hey David – yes I think this is a fairly recent phenomena in terms of the anti-inflammatory response hence I couldn’t find much. Certainly on the 2nd point, a trainer FOR SURE if anyone is new to this. I myself have one even though I’ve been lifting a few years… but the heavier I go, the more my form must improve in order to execute without any risk of injury or overcompensation. WOW – So the high school squatters are experiencing low back pain? I wonder how long a go they squatted because even this lift has been subject to a new school of thought in terms of the most efficient set up and movement pattern. Have you heard of Dr. PErry Nickleston? He’s great: http://www.stopchasingpain.com is his website.
Did you know that in 2009 the Nobel Price was given for the discovery of an Enzyme that Reverses the Aging process ? Read more about it (and listen to my Radio show on it) at my Free Blog of all the things we are not supposed to know about at: http://www.aage-nost.com
Plase enjoy