People that want to start getting fitter and healthier, whether it’s embarking on strength training or having a healthier diet, sometimes have to understand the most important foundations of longevity and health. The fact is that a lot of people embark on absent-minded fitness routines because they think they are being healthier, but it’s important for us to understand what the right dose of exercise can do for us, as well as how we can incorporate it into our lives.

Why Strength Training Boosts Health

Regular strength training can lower the risk of so many ailments, such as heart disease and cancer. Strength training has a number of positive impacts, not just because it prevents you from gaining weight, but muscular strength is associated with the risk of lowering high blood pressure, preventing cognitive decline, and even if you are diagnosed with cancer, having higher muscle mass correlated with greater strength means that you have a better chance of surviving the disease. 

Additionally, exercise and strength training means that you will be happier which means that you aren’t going to become too stressed. It’s important that we have things like the right supplements and diet in our lives. While there are a variety of potent products on the market that can help when we are starting out strength training, the fact is that we can still reap the longevity benefits of strength training.

VO2 Max and Longevity

The VO2 max is the defining metric of your cardiorespiratory fitness. Your fitness level is so important for a number of reasons. It can be a very good reflection of your overall body health and shows the strength of the heart, blood vessels, nervous system, lungs, and muscles working in tandem. 

When you have a good VO2 max, you will feel better in your life but you will also feel less stressed. People who have more physical activity in their lives are not going to be as stressed and are more resilient. If you have a high VO2 max, you are going to be far stronger in many areas of your life, it can also come with a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia. Learning to calculate your VO2 max and improving it should be a big part of how we track our health.

Bringing These Two Components Into Your Life

These are two sides of the same coin. Cardiorespiratory fitness in the form of your VO2 max and strength training are both incredibly important to your overall health. The best way to get them into your life is to just begin. You can increase your VO2 max through a number of methods such as Tabata sprints. Strength training is about hitting the gym, but even if you don’t have time there are things you can do such as isometrics training at home. 

The fact is that we are all sedentary to an extent. Even those that exercise religiously at the gym may find themselves not exercising at home. To beat the modern epidemic of obesity and sedentary lifestyles, these two components hold the key.