A health expert has revealed the types of exercise that are most effective in maintaining our health, and he suggests one method is particularly beneficial.
Dr Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard University professor specialising in human evolutionary biology, appeared on Steven Bartlett’s podcast Diary of a CEO to discuss health matters last year.
He shared that while he had always been a fan of walking and running for fitness, he hadn’t considered weight training until much later – a decision he now regrets. During the podcast episode, Dr Lieberman emphasised the importance of regular weight exercises to maintain good physical condition as we age.
He said: “I’ve become more serious about doing some strength training. I’ve always loved walking and running and endurance activities and I’ve always hated doing weights, I just don’t like it – I’m not a very strong person.
“People tend to do what they like, you get reinforcement from it. The more I studied the importance of resistance training, the more I realised the importance of doing weights, especially as you age, I’ve started kicking myself for being lazy about that.”
He now aims to complete two good strength workouts every week.
“Especially as you age, the loss of muscle mass can be really debilitating,” he explained on the podcast. “As people get older they tend to lose muscle and as people do that they become frail and you lose functional capacity and that starts off a vicious cycle.
“Once that happens, you’re less likely to be physically active, then your muscles waste away more, it’s very debilitating.
“Ageing is just a clock ticking on, nothing we can do about age, but senescence the way the body degrades as we get old. What physical activity does, is that it slows senescence, especially for certain organs.”
“The most important myth is that as you get older it’s normal to be less active and that is just not true.”
The doctor also highlighted the negative impact on our mental and physical health when we become less active, noting that inactivity often leads to illness.
Dr Lieberman has dedicated years to studying various communities around the globe, emphasising that most research so far has been focused on American or European populations in relation to diseases.