18 Sep/Oct 2017 oxygenmag.com.au
Cross Training
= Anti-Ageing
T
elomeres, located at the ends of your DNA strands, are like
the tiny plastic tips on the ends of your shoelaces, protecting the
DNA from harm. As a cell ages, the telomeres shorten and fray,
exposing the DNA to the elements. The good news is that exercise
can help slow and even prevent this process from occurring, and new
research shows that people who did four different kinds of exercise within
the span of a month were 59 per cent less likely to have short telomeres.
Here are some super cross-training ideas to keep you youthful in body and
spirit:Class act: Test-drive any number of group classes in your area for one
low price with a service like ClassPass. classpass.com
Ready, set, race! Take your cardio on the fly and sign up for a 5K or
even a mini-triathlon.
Get muddy. Obstacle course races and mud runs are found in nearly
every city all year-round. Check out spartanrace.com.au,
toughmudder.com.au or obstacleraces.com.au to find one near you.
Mountain high: Take advantage of the winter wonderland and go
skiing, snowboarding or snowshoeing as the flakes build up.
Get bendy. Work on your mobility and flexibility with a yoga class. No
time to hit the studio? Download YogaGlo (free, iTunes) for hundreds of
yoga flows to suit your mood and schedule.Learn,
Then Burn
Exercising
within four
hours of
learning
something
new could help
you retain that
information,
according
to Dutch
researchers.The theory:
Exercise
boosts the
chemical
compounds in
the brain that
improve
memory
consolidation.Pound,
Explode!
Does the thought of
plyometrics make
you queasy? Suck
it up, buttercup:
a study done at
Loughborough
University in the
UK found that
short, explosive
contractions are the
best way to increase
strength and
improve functional
capacity. Do this
quick-and-dirty
routine between
seasonal parties to
boost strength.
Warm-up with five
to 10 minutes of
cardio and dynamic
stretching. Do a
few small hops and
side-to-side leaps to
prep your body and
your mind, then go
for it: do one to two
sets of two to three
reps of each move if
you’re a new athlete
and up to three sets
of six if you’re more
advanced.Vertical leap
Forward two-
footed bound
Tuck jump
Lateral skater
Switch lungeYou only live once
— you might as
y
well be a badass!
ygyg
Move THE LATEST
By Lara McGlashan, MFA, CPT