Friday, August 26, 2011

Dr. Oz's Tips for Living Life to its Absolute Fullest

The following are Dr. Oz's tips for living life to its absolute fullest. In the September issue of Men's Fitness, he prescribes a mix of competition, training, nutrition, and preventative medicine that will keep you tuned for the rest of your life!

For guys in their 20's
Twentysomethings’ testosterone levels are high, so they have a big desire to be sexually intimate and a need to build muscle mass. Place more emphasis on muscle-building activities. They should be working out every other day, building up their core, arms, and legs. The one activity they should definitely be doing is pull-ups. You know you’re fit if you can lift your own body weight at least 10 times—that’s the  bare minimum.

Check yourself:
No. of push-ups he should be able to do: More than 35
No. of sit-ups he should be able to do: More than 45
Health screenings he should be getting:
? Tetanus vaccine  (every 10 years)
? Influenza vaccine  (every year)
? Height, weight, waist, and BMI (every year)
? Blood pressure (every year)
? Oral exam (every year)
? HPV vaccine (before 26)

Guys in their 30's
Once you reach your 30's, you can start to move away from muscle-building activities a little bit and focus more on fitness. Young guys are more able to move around, but thirtysomethings are a little stiffer and start putting on more weight. So now they have to worry about not burning as many calories.

Check yourself:
No. of push-ups he should be able to do: 25–29
No. of sit-ups he should  be able to do: 30–34
Health screenings he should be getting:
? Cholesterol  (every 5 years)
? Thyroid stimulating  hormone  (every other year)
? Eye exam  (every two years)

Guys in their 40's
By the time you hit your 40's, it all becomes about your body’s pliancy. Once you lose the ability to stay flexible and balanced, you start to develop frailty—and frailty is what really hurts us when we get older. So I would spend more time doing yoga or balance activities, like doing exercises with your eyes closed. To improve your balance, do this simple test. Stand up straight with your arms folded across your chest, close your eyes, and raise one foot, bending the knee at a 45-degree angle. Set a goal of balancing for 15 seconds
.
Check yourself:
No. of push-ups he should be able to do: 20–24
No. of sit-ups he should  be able to do: 25–29
Health screenings he should be getting:
? Prostate exam (every year)
? Skin cancer exam  (every year)

Guys in their 50's
The big epiphany—and this is going to blow your mind—is that the fitness level of someone who is 17 years of age is no different from someone who is 65 years of age. So your man has to be able to stay physically active throughout his life. Guys past the age of 50 should focus more on endurance activities as they get older—things like biking, running, the elliptical if he has weak knees, and swimming.

Check yourself:
No. of push-ups he should be able to do… 15–19
No. of sit-ups he should be able to do… 20–24
Health screenings he should get…
? Pneumovax vaccine (repeat at 65)
? Colonoscopy (every 10 years)
? Osteoporosis

Forever Young
Here are some other factors that Dr. Oz says can help extend a man’s warranty, so make sure you start doing these every day!

Floss your teeth
This lengthens your life for a couple of reasons: One, heart attack rates are linked to gingivitis. If you floss regularly, you have a 50% less chance of having a heart attack. But you’ll also have better-looking teeth, which leads to better-paying jobs and people perceiving your IQ as being higher, so there are many long-term health benefits.
Have more sex
Just going from the average of once a week to twice a week increases your life expectancy by three years. The penis is actually a good barometer for how healthy you are. If your erection’s not strong, it reflects a lot of physical issues with your heart, your brain, and your kidneys. And don’t just have more sex—have safe sex. Infections and viruses might be linked to prostate cancer, and oral sex has definitely been linked to throat cancer.
Pop some pills
A multivitamin, 1,000 IU of vitamin D, 600mg DHA omega-3, and for guys over 40, two baby aspirins a day. It’s the most important inflammatory medication you can take. Aspirin can decrease the risk of getting colon cancer and prostate cancer by 40%. Plus, it thins your blood if you’re worried about strokes and heart attacks.
Don’t stress
A major stressful event, like bankruptcy or divorce, wipes seven years off your life, but having a good support system can soften the blow. Also, ID and resolve the nagging unfinished tasks (NUTs, I call them) in your life.
Sleep
People who sleep fewer than six hours a night have a 50% increased risk of viral infections and increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Lack of sleep is also associated with mental decline and overeating. Half of men over 50 have trouble sleeping. If that’s you, create an environment where it’s easy to sleep. Dim the lights 15 minutes before you go to bed and wear loose-fitting clothing…or sleep naked.
Anti-Aging Diet
And of course there’s nutrition. Listen up and eat these five superfoods to reverse aging:
Broccoli: Or other cruciferous veggies like cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, kale, and brussels sprouts. They’re great because they have chemicals in them that help detoxify the body and prevent cancer.
Eggs: A powerful source of protein, they cost just pennies each. Many people think eating eggs increases blood cholesterol. Not true. Eggs contain choline, a B vitamin shown to reduce inflammation in the brain, which may lessen the chance of developing Alzheimer’s. And these protein powerhouses protect your bones and fight frailty, too. Antioxidants and other nutrients in egg yolks help prevent macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness, and protect the retina from UV sun damage.
Beets: Beets help dilate blood vessels, which  improves blood flow throughout the body. They’re also packed with iron, which helps deliver oxygen throughout the body and ward off anemia.
Blueberries: Its antioxidants can help fight the free radicals that cause cancer. Other purple-colored foods—such as purple potatoes, blood oranges, and eggplant—provide a similar anthocyanin benefit.
Tomatoes: They’re packed with lycopene, a red carotene that’s extremely protective against colon, lung, skin, and prostate cancers. It’s also been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, cataracts, and macular degeneration.

Read Men's Fitness Magazine

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