A few weeks ago I wandered back to our local running club. I hadn’t been there in over 5 years mainly because I no longer consider running the main stay of my fitness routine. I still do it, just not the excess I used to (125km).
It was a lot of fun to see some old friends again. For the most part I did not see any major changes in the way they looked except there was a direct correlation between the number of miles they routinely run and how old they look.
Frankly the ones who ran long long distance regularly looked MUCH older than those who didn’t!
I can guarantee you they were not taking fish oil.
Now let me say something clearly. I DO think aerobic exercise is very important. For the most part all of the anti-aging benefits that are seen with exercise are seen with aerobic activities like running, aerobic machines etc.
But it should also be stated that your body needs to produce power and has an often hidden side of its athleticism. Anaerobic performance- also known as explosive and/or interval training constitutes at least half of your capabilities.
Because most exercise physiologists are aerobes (runners and cyclists) and because anaerobic benefits are harder to measure using standardized blood tests, this “other half” of you gets short stick.
Now you may be wondering, “When is he going to get to the fish oil stuff- he always does!”
You are right!
A recent study in the International Journal of Fitness showed that aerobic endurance athletes (soccer players), improved their anaerobic fitness levels over controls who did not take fish oil supplements.
Add this to the well-known aerobic and recovery benefits of Omega 3’s and you have yet another reason to remember to take your fish oil!
Now here is a little confession from me to you.
I stopped “playing sports” many years ago. For the past 2 decades my time has been dedicated to getting the most anti-aging and regenerative benefits I can from EVERYTHING I do. Now this may sound boring to you, but it’s not. I truly enjoy the exercise routines I do and the anti-aging benefits they give me.
But aerobic or anaerobic, I could not maintain them in the face of my busy schedule, fraught with traveling and long hours of research without fish oil.
It’s great to see the other side of fitness and to see that it is beginning to move out of the gym and into the lab. It’s also great to see how much Omega 3’s contribute to maintaining all sides of our physical ability.
Here’s to speed, power and endurance getting better every year!
Doc