Welcome to FunctionalTrainer.co.za

 In this article I will focus on the theories of how you age. This knowledge will help you to make the shift in thinking about how you lead your life. I had lots of comments from the last post about hormone therapy, and solutions to aging problems. I must stress that no amount of pills or medicine can help to the extent that using your bodies natural processes can. Hormone therapies are for specific people and supplements can assist in healing, but there is no substitute for healthy, moderate lifestyle, moderate exercise and sufficient sleep!

This article will help you to understand the thinking behind the approach to Anti-Aging medicine. As you have learnt in the last article we can see that there are many factors contributing to a person’s perceived physiological age. These factors affect individuals in different ways through their life courses. It is important to understand this point because the theories of aging are based on certain assumptions:

Age is DEVELOPMENTAL… This means that people age differently as they reach maturity. This is because they may be exposed to various experiences of sickness and lifestyle than others.

Normal aging and PATHOLOGICAL aging is different…Related to the first… aging may be brought on by the onset of disease, for example diabetes may cause heart disease. This is not normal aging, although nowadays disease is accepted as part of life.

Aging may be slowed by TECHNOLOGY…advances in science and medicine may be able to prevent disease through vaccination, anti-biotics etc which can prolong life in certain instances.

This leads me to discuss the four top theories that I found valid.
There are more, obviously, but they are beyond the scope of what I want to achieve with this article.

‘Wear and Tear’
As you live, your body, organs and cells work hard. As with any complex machinery, this use leads to natural breakdown in structure and normal functioning. Even if you don’t drink, smoke or expose your body to the sun often, normal ‘wear and tear’ occurs.

Obviously bad lifestyle choices force organs like the kidneys, liver, stomach and skin to work at levels far beyond what is normal for them. This causes excessive damage and premature aging.

Good news is that this theory suggests that by helping these organs to function at optimal levels you will be able to cope more easily with the damage of normal life and therefore slow down the aging process.

Neuroendocrine
When we are young, our brains regulate the release of hormones into our systems to control our bodily functions. Different organs release different hormones to control sexual functioning, heart rate, even responses to hot or cold! The thing is hormones never work alone. They are always part of a team.

 As you age your body produces lower levels of hormones, thereby effecting your functioning… causing a decrease in the bodies ability to repair and regulate itself. Decreases in hormone levels result in decreases in all the subsidiary processes involved with those hormones as well!

This theory suggests that by regulating the primary hormones you can stimulate the body to fix itself and return your body to youthful levels.

Genetic Control
We all know that our DNA carries a map for our bodies to follow as to cell life and reproduction. This theory says that we are mainly genetically predetermined as to physical and mental functioning.

This is the theory of the ‘Biological Clock’. When the clock goes it signals the body to begin to age. This is very subjective because as you know each of us has different DNA to the next person. Our ‘Genetic inheritance’ is completely unique.

The treatment from this thinking is that if we can repair the DNA within our cells, we can prevent damage and slow down the clock.

Free Radicals
As has been discussed previously, ‘Free radicals’ are molecules in your body which are electrically unbalanced. This occurs through natural chemical processes in your body, for example the production of energy for muscle contraction.

The free radical molecule attaches itself to other molecules in an attempt to nullify the imbalance. This action destroys normal molecules and cell membranes, which in turn produce even more toxins.

Free Radical action can be compared to rust Oxidation that occurs to metal as it degrades over time. This theory helps us to understand that by consuming sufficient ‘Anti-Oxidants’ you will counter the effect of the free radicals that your body produces naturally and thereby slow down the aging process.

Wow that’s quite a load of heavy reading. I do feel that is it important though you to be aware of the different ways you age. This site is not just a gym site. As my clients know… Nothing exists in isolation. A failure to address a problem in one area of your health will minimize your potential in other aspects.

Next time we will go into something a little lighter. Hope you enjoyed it.

Kind regards

Jason