Until recently, the passing of the years has been associated with many unwelcome personal changes.
Along with the loss of the vitality of youth and the addition of gray hair and wrinkles there is loss of body strength, weight gain, and increased susceptibility to injury and illness.
We used to blame those things squarely on the getting older but with research and greater insights into the aging process the real culprit lies not with our actual aging but with our lifestyle and the way we live our lives in the decades before we actually get 'old'.
The number one bio-marker of the aging process and the one thing that drags down our health and causes us to age prematurely and at an accelerated rate is the loss of our muscle tissue.
Without strengthening exercise we each lose around one half pound each year with the rate doubling after we reach age 50 years.
The problem is we do not usually notice it as it is such a slow and gradual process.
The loss of muscle tissue is hidden as there is usually a corresponding increase in body fat as our body composition (muscle/fat ratio) changes for the worse.
It is the padding on the inside much like the stuffing in a cushion that wastes away and causes our outer casing -our skin to sag and wrinkle.
The most precious asset we own is our strength.
It is after all the strength of our muscles that holds our skeleton in place keeping us upright so we can walk around and move.
Strong muscles support and cushion our spine and joints so we can do our everyday tasks and activities with ease.
We often do not give our muscles a second thought.
We expect them to work away in the background and are often not aware that they need some maintenance and focus to keep them strong and healthy.
Fifty to one hundred years ago we would not have had to worry about them as our daily lives were much more active.
But our modern day lives no longer have enough vigorous muscular activity left in them to keep us strong and healthy so to take care of our body strength we need to include 2-3 sessions each week of proper strengthening exercise.
This type of program is called strength training and is what you do at your local gym or fitness center.
When we look after and protect our body strength we keep our body in the one template where it functions most efficiently and economically.
It we allow our strength to erode away from disuse it causes problems.
A slouching, slumping, out of line body will become a painful hurting one eventually and one that is no longer capable of all that it has been designed for.
It seems pointless to work hard all of your life, then comes time to retire and you finally have time to enjoy all those things you had to put on the back burner then have your body and your health fail you.
You may not even plan to be particularly active in retirement, but you still will not want these special years to be upset by chronic back, hip or knee pain, or a nagging disability or health issue that demands much of your attention.
This will effectively rob you of the pleasure of participation in all the enjoyable activities you have been looking forward to for so long.
Without proper strengthening exercise, all of the essential elements body function will decline as we get older so we all must take steps to avoid this.
The older you become the more you need proper exercise and you will never regret doing it - ever.