Over the years, most people will likely pick up some go-to habits in their exercise routine—good and bad. In this article, I will discuss the worst exercise habits you might not know are aging you faster. If you recognize any of them in your routine, you must dump and fix them as soon as possible.
No matter your age, you should try to get regular exercise and activity. If you wish to age gracefully, cardio is essential to improve your heart health & conditioning, and strength training for building & maintaining lean muscle mass. Living an active, healthy lifestyle not only increases longevity but also boosts the quality of life. But beware of the following exercise bad habits that may do more harm than good.
Exercise Habits That Speed Up Aging Process & How To Fix Them
Read on here about the three worst habits that are aging you faster and what you can do about them.
# 1
Exercising Too Hard, Too Often
Often people are tempted to work hard and push their bodies to get the most out of their weight training sessions. But you should desist from getting into it. Make sure you’re not exercising with excessive amounts of volume beyond your ability to recover. There are only so many muscle fibers and motor units you can engage in a single session, and any more than that converts into “junk volume,” meaning you’re accumulating fatigue.
When you exercise too much, your body also creates more cortisol, which you should avoid at all costs. Excessive cortisol = more stress, which will age you faster. If you’re doing strength training regularly, follow the following practice.
- Three to four working sets for most of your exercises should suffice,
- Don’t work on the same muscles on consecutive days, and
- Three to four days a week for strength should be enough. Related: Anti-Aging Exercise
# 2
Overdoing HIIT
HIIT is an excellent method of exercise. You can burn calories at a higher rate than regular cardio. In addition, it improves your metabolism and offers solid sweat.
The downside to HIIT is that it can be challenging to recover from—particularly if you’re also going all-out with your workout routine on the other days of the week. Also, you are more likely to get higher fatigue and get injured if you are not fit enough or don’t follow the proper method of doing HIIT. Just like strength training, don’t overdo it. Limit HIIT in your routine to twice a week to allow your body enough time to recover.
Related: HIIT Safety Rules & Guidelines For Seniors
# 3
Neglect Zone 2 Training
Most people tend to get into the habit of only doing weight training and HIIT for exercise. These forms of exercising can help gain muscle mass, burn fat, and get into great shape, which is good. But this lacks another essential aspect of fitness. That is, zone 2 training (cardio or aerobic exercises at a constant, moderate level –is something you shouldn’t neglect).
Aerobic exercises are necessary to improve your resting heart rate, metabolic health, longevity, and mitochondrial function.
When you’re not incorporating zone 2 training into your regime, you miss these key health benefits, which can accelerate your aging process. Make sure to include 2 to 3 sessions of zone 2 training per week into your routine, aiming for 30 to 45 minutes in each session.
Related: Aerobic/Cardio For Longevity & Fitness
About Author: Renu Bakshi, AKA Fitness Buffhq, is ISSA Certified Elite Trainer. He 
passed Personal Fitness Trainer Course, Nutrition Health Coach course & Specialist Exercise Therapy course from ISSA, the USA, obtaining + 97% marks. He shares his experience and knowledge about nutrition and effective workouts to get you in the best shape of your life, no matter how old you may be. The author says: “For me, age is just a number!”