Living a long life only seems tangible if you are also healthy and energetic.
As you get older, things usually start to decline but that doesn’t have to be the case, according to Dr Michael Mosley.
The doctor explained you could stay young and healthy “if you have science on your side”.
Fortunately, one lifestyle change could help achieve this goal – exercise.
Trying to catch his breath, Dr Mosley started his podcast episode titled Stay Fit by finishing a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session.
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He said: “This type of intense aerobic exercise that really gets your heart rate going is one of the best things you could do to stay young.
“It not only helps build your muscle mass, but gives you more energy, boosts your immune system, improves your health and keeps your brain sharp.
“Which is why it can make you look and feel years younger.”
The key seems to be getting out of breath as this type of exercise operates at a cellular level, encouraging your cells to make more mitochondria.
Dr Mosley said: “You can think of mitochondria as tiny batteries that live inside ourselves and provide them with energy.
“The better they’re working the better you function.”
Also appearing on the podcast, Professor Matt Robinson from Oregon State University explained that mitochondria and their function decreases as a part of normal ageing.
However, exercise helps to make new mitochondria as well as remove older mitochondria.
What’s more, the professor found through research that high-intensity training is the most effective for this process.
How to start HIIT
The great thing about high-intensity intervals is they’re “very versatile” and can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.
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Robinson said: “If somebody is not at all exercising, it’s a way to just look through your daily life and say, ‘Is there a way I could maybe do a short bout to get my heart rate up a little bit?’
“So maybe looking around the office building and taking the stairs.
“If someone has a regular walking routine, it’s increasing their pace for maybe a minute or two minutes.”
An easy way to check if you’re doing it correctly is trying to speak because you won’t be able to carry on a conversation during high-intensity exercise.
Don’t just take the experts’ word for the effectiveness of HIIT, as Dr Norman Lazarus has managed to “turn back the clock by decades” by taking up this physical activity despite not exercising until his fifties.
The doctor now cycles 100 kilometres a week, which he sometimes does in one ride or several.
He even looked at the effects of cycling on health in research and found out the physical activity helps to balance out the immune system.
“You are enabling it to function as it might have done when you were decades younger,” Dr Mosley said.
Dr Lazarus said that he can vouch for that as he hasn’t been to a doctor in between 20 and 25 years.
If you feel convinced and want to add high-intensity exercise to your routine, Dr Mosley added that you should speak to your GP before you start.
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