Look and feel 10 years younger

Part two: Exercise and stress management
By Cheryl Embrett

If you want to look and feel younger, consider investing in a new pair of running shoes. "Exercise is the natural fountain of youth," says Sherri McMillan, one of North America's most respected fitness leaders and author of Fit Over Forty (Raincoast, 2001). "People who work out and take care of themselves look and feel so much more energized than their peers who don't," she adds. In fact, as much as half of the decline we experience between the ages of 30 and 70 can be attributed not to aging itself but to a sedentary lifestyle, according to the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute.
Ready to look younger? Here's how to get started.

Kick-start with cardio
Regular physical activity keeps everything humming along – your metabolism, digestive and circulatory systems, energy level, even your mind. In a recent Stanford University School of Medicine study, researchers followed a group of runners and nonrunners for 21 years and found that the runners put off age-related disabilities for 16 years longer than their less-active counterparts. Any regular physical activity that gets your heart pumping will help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, slow middle-age spread and give you a more youthful glow.

If that’s not reason enough to get moving, consider this: One study found that female and male swimmers in their 60s reported sex lives comparable to people in the general population who were in their 40s.

Getting started:
• Good cardiovascular options include walking, jogging, biking and playing tennis or dodgeball. "The best activity is one you enjoy and will do regularly so you get results," says McMillan.

• The Public Health Agency of Canada recommends that adults get 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. Bonus: It's OK to get your fitness in mini-sessions throughout the day – a 10-minute jaunt at lunch, 10 minutes of tag with the kids after school, another 10 minutes walking Rover after dinner.

• To further stoke your body's fat-burning ability and melt away that muffin top, add interval training to your workout.

Page 3 of 5 - find more great exercises on the next page!