Is there a secret to staying young?
I’m sure you know about the big fight that just occurred this past weekend, Floyd Mayweather v Connor McGregor?
For those of you that don’t know, Floyd is 40 years of age and has just won his 50th professional fight defeating McGregor within 10 rounds and now surpassing Rocky Marciano’s record of 49 wins. The new record stands at 50 professional fights, no losses!
What is even more remarkable is how youthful Floyd is. He just beat a 29-year-old; five fights ago, he beat the 22-year-old middleweight champion, Canelo Alvarez, quite easily.
And just so you know, Canelo is the new star of boxing - a superstar - and considered one of the best boxing has seen in a long while. Floyd was 36 years of age when he easily dealt Canelo his only loss. So what’s his secret?
If you ask me, there are a number of key aspects to staying younger for longer.
Firstly, looking after yourself has got to be at the top of the list. To me, that means getting good sleep, keeping active, consuming a well balanced healthy diet and not trashing yourself on drugs or alcohol.
Secondly, let’s look at the physical aspects. When you are younger, you naturally have more muscle and less fat. This changes as we get older, meaning your muscle mass will decrease and your fat levels increase as you age. Of course, you can maintain your muscle mass, or increase it, by strength training. No matter what your age, the more muscle you develop, the stronger you will feel. Higher levels of good, lean, healthy muscle will help to keep your hormones balanced, and as a result, help you to store less fat. The lower the body fat, along with lean muscle mass, gives you that toned, lean look that most people desire. This in itself is youthfulness in essence.
Then we have the cardiovascular aspect - keeping your cardiovascular system in shape will always help you to feel young and full of energy. If our hearts and lungs are conditioned to enable us to do more, we can run for a bus or climb the stairs without feeling exhausted. These two systems work hand in hand - the stronger our cardiovascular system, the more we can use that muscle when we undertake any activity. Having a level of cardiovascular fitness is like having a bigger engine with plenty of gas in the tank. Your energy levels rise and so then does your ability to do more, maybe even more than someone half your age.
Thirdly, we need to look at our flexibility, and how freely we can move. This is where looking at our biomechanics - the mechanics of our body - comes in. The more aligned we are throughout our skeletal system, the less muscle spasm we have, the less compromised our nerves, the more chance we have of being pain-free. While keeping our joints healthy and working as they should, this also means less injury, as well as giving us the freedom to move more easily. Of course, to take care of this, you need to see someone like myself - a biomechanic specialist.
All of the above then enhances your balance, coordination and ability to move; if you lose any of those abilities at any age, you’ll begin to feel old.
Your mind set is also important - a youthful outlook, being young at heart, goes a long way. Put this together with a youthful body and you are onto a winner.
I believe part of Floyd Mayweather’s secret is looking after himself and the fact that he keeps himself in good shape all year round. He doesn’t just decide to train, diet and get in shape when he has a fight scheduled. He also is very young at heart; it’s funny, he seems kind of ageless.
That’s the secret.
Comments