How to run your next PB with a younger body…

Often what accompanies the frustration of a disappointing fitness result is the fear “my body has reached its upper limit” and so often the conclusion “this is my body ageing…”

Training possibilities are endless for beginners, improvers and competitive souls with a desire for improved performance. By paying attention to the body’s specific needs using devices like sports watches and heart rate monitors, it is easier than ever to train in heart rate zones which reflect your body’s specific requirements. This has the positive effect of turning your regular activity into a truly transformative session capable of stimulating the improved adaption you desire.

As you train with close attention to your body’s specific needs. then you begin to use metrics like heart rate as a direct feedback response from the whole body system. And it’s because of this attention to your body’s feedback, you become more aware of your body’s response to training. That’s because you are gaining valuable insights about your training effectiveness and this information means you are able to set the optimal duration and intensity of your workouts, significantly lifting your potential for improvement.

By understanding the benefits of individual specific workouts like this and paying close attention to metrics like heart rate, it means you are building the capability to help your cells to behave younger. That’s because there are postive effects for the body from accurate exercise prescription. One study, from the University of California San Francisco, found the link between exercise and the rate at which telomeres slow. The longer it takes for telomeres to slow, the longer your cells will live. This meant today’s accepted rate of performance decline has just been scientifically challenged.

Any time your training work out is harder than your body can manage it means you are not going to achieve a beneficial adaptation. Over-doing exercise can present tell-tale signs when excess stress is occurring. This is important to know because all exercise generates catabolic stress, followed by an anabolic adaptation. While the stress from the exercise can be short lived, the anabolic adaptation stage can last for days. This is where a lot of exercisers and athletes get into trouble and are not even aware of it. 

For example, many athletes will have a resting heart rate of 56 and lower. They frequently believe a low heart rate is beneficial and is evidence of beneficial athletic training. Rather than evdience of being in good shape, it is frequently evidence their heart is suffering excess catabolic stress. There are other markers to be looking at as well, like body temperature.

By staying within our optimal individual parameters, it means we help our body to successfully adapt. Research suggests as many as 60 percent of athletes suffer from “over reaching” which is the reduced performance outcomes that come from continued effort beyond optimal range.

For example, by training in the lower heart rate zones, it means we greatly assist cell regeneration. Lower heart rate zone workouts, used for building higher levels of aerobic capacity, provide beneficial changes in the hormone production of testosterone, insulin, insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I), and growth hormone.

By training in a way which supports these hormones, what this does is influence the integrity of muscle, bone, and connective tissue as well as help to maintain metabolism within a normal range. This brings us to a whole new level of lifetime performance because when exercise stimulates these beneficial chemical changes it mitigates the loss of lean muscle mass, strength and cardiovasculardecline associated with ageing.

The essence of trainng specifically to our body’s individual needs means we can train our biological body to have a fitness age younger than our chronological age. And this is a reflection on how much we can care for our bodies. It reflects how much you can do for yourself. It reflects how much focus, accuracy and specificity matter. It matters for you as you train, as you adapt, as you move through your life cycle. It matters in this context, the context of being a phenomenal Event Ready Body.

At Event Ready Bodies, we would encourage you to plan your training with your individual parameters in place and to engage professional support to establish these. Exercising within your optimal zone assists you to train efficiently and effectively, achieving a body which behaves younger for longer.

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