❱❱ REMAIN IN THE GAME
FEATURE
REST AND RECOVER Young bodybuilders often train up to seven days a week in the misguided belief that more is always better . Few realise that this approach can actually stop progress and could put them on the sidelines for weeks or even months . Longevity in bodybuilding means taking care of your body over the long term , which requires a balance between hard training and rest and recovery . Most forget that you actually grow outside the gym , through proper nutrition and the rebuilding process that ensues . If you fail to give your body the time and fuel it needs to repair itself , you risk a breakdown down the line . So take a few days off every month to recharge , especially between big workouts or heavy training blocks . It is also wise to schedule some higher rep , lighter weight training sessions or periods where you use machines and cables to recuperate and actively recover from heavier free-weight sessions .
OPTIMISE NUTRITION A key aspect of maintaining fitness and health with the passing years is optimal nutrition . The body can handle a lot of punishment in the gym , but when coupled with poor eating habits and repeated year after year , eventually the cumulative physical damage will catch up with you . When you ' re young and your metabolism is humming , you may think you can live on junk food . However , what you put in is what you ultimately get out , and a lifetime of poor eating will result in an athlete whose relative athletic age is much shorter than their chronological age .
With a judicious diet , which should consist of predominantly whole foods that are nutrient dense , and one that supplies an adequate amount of all the macronutrient groups , the ageing process can be slowed and age-related maladies can be mitigated , such as cardiovascular diseases , cancer and general tissue and cognitive degeneration .
In addition , the less body fat you have , the greater your chance will be of living and lifting to an advanced age . Learning how to eat to stay lean while still building and maintaining muscle is therefore crucial – so forget the dirty bulk !
USE IT OR LOSE IT Muscles that are used won ' t atrophy , so enjoy your workouts and maintain your activity levels as you age . If you want to remain strong over many years you have to find a sustainable approach to staying active , which should be grounded in good training principles such as periodisation and progressive overload .
While the search for the eternal fountain of youth continues , scientists agree that the closest things to it are exercise and diet . When you don ' t challenge your muscles with increased resistance they will gradually atrophy , and the loss of muscle leads to a loss in mobility , which could lead to cardiovascular disease and mental degeneration .
DEXTER JACKSON ATTRIBUTES HIS LONGEVITY TO EXCEPTIONAL GENETICS , SMART EATING AND SWITCHING FROM USING HEAVY FREE WEIGHT EXERCISES TO CABLES AND MACHINES .
❱❱ REMAIN IN THE GAME
Life is always evolving and the human body imperceptibly is also altered as we progress through the different stages of human existence . Your quality of life is largely under your own control and the road to longevity has been paved by others living a healthy bodybuilding lifestyle .
Longevity essentially means accepting where you are in life and adjusting your regimen according to your body ’ s abilities at any given period in time . Some lifters refuse to adjust and let go of their past “ glories ” in the gym , and they are the ones who tend to pay the highest price in old age .
Dexter Jackson , who competed with a multitude of great bodybuilders since the 1990s , has taken great care of his body over the years . He attributes his longevity to exceptional genetics , smart eating and switching from using heavy free weight exercises to cables and machines . These are the tenets that bred his success through the
DEXTER JACKSON
years , allowing the champ to defy age , time and all odds in a physically and mentally demanding sport .
Although we are not all Dexter Jacksons , we make our own choices in life and we all pay the price or reap the rewards of our actions . By intelligently combining exercise and diet we can live well past accepted societal norms that lead many to believe it ’ s not possible to live long and remain strong . M . E
32 Muscle Evolution