What is a telomere?
Telomeres are the 'knobbly bits' on the ends of your chromosomes. They become shorter over time. This corresponds to the length of your life. You're thinking, "Eeek, that's flipping creepy!" I have a body-timer set to go ping! Then I b*gger off back to Stardust!" Yes, it is slightly disturbing!
Telomeres are non-coding DNA 'lumps' that keep your DNA 'frozen in place'. They remind me of the waxy plastic caps on the end of a climbing rope in school. Remove the plastic bit, and the rope will fray.
As individuals age, cell division decreases, while 'cell death' and tumours grow. This clearly raises your risk of sickness, illness, and death. Well, we're all going to cop it, but is there anything we can do to slow it down? Amazingly, we can measure telomeres and how they respond to various human activities.
Athletes and exceptional exercisers are known to have much longer telomeres than the general population. This is unsurprising given the numerous benefits of rigorous exercise.
It may not be sufficient to engage in jogging, swimming, cycling, walking, yoga, weight training, or gardening unless each of these activities is performed at a high intensity for a limited time.
Researchers discovered that targeted acute exercise can delay, pause, and even lengthen telomeres. WOW! HIIT (high intensity interval training) and plyometric sequences (jumping push-ups, box jumps, and burpees, for example) are combined with resistance and aerobics. There is little study on this form of training because few of us are practicing it. However, all signs lead to this path.
A study in Israel produced a non-exercise-based result. Telomere length was shown to grow after test subjects were placed in an oxygen tank for five 90-minute sessions per week. Amazing! However, you can achieve the same results with 3-5 hours of acute exercise each week, in addition to the benefits of improved cardio-vascular health, strength, agility, illness reduction, disease reduction, and mental wellness. Also, you don't need a massive f****** oxygen tank in your home!
Noice!
Have a wonderful day and start lengthening your telomeres!
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