John Aaron Wellness

I remember when I first started working out, the big question people most asked me was, “How much can you bench?” It was like a badge of honor. The more weight you could bench press, the higher up your collective he-man reputation climbed. But it wasn’t until I attended a seminar at The Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas that I learned about the importance of “grip.” And, it’s not just for a firm handshake, either. Grip strength was a big thing in the bygone era of ‘Charles Atlas.’ You don't hear too much about it today. As a result, most of us have focused more on what I call vanity muscles (the kind you like to flex in the mirror) and as a result, we've un-knowingly learned to develop a WEAKER grip. This “vanity” phenomenon has caused people to think it's normal if your grip isn't strong. That's what wrist-straps are for! Some think it's perfectly fine, and normal, if your grip can't hold yourself up when doing leg raises or chin-ups - It's not...

As you approach and go over 40, you can start to feel a difference in your body. Even if you were an athlete all through your younger days, it is inevitable that changes happen in your body that will prevent you from doing things you could. However, you can largely reduce the effect of these changes. You can keep your energy levels, strength and flexibility in good shape enabling you to delay the effects of the aging process. This is because inactivity and poor nutrition actually speed up the aging process. Some of the first changes you will notice are: • Losing your balance • Getting out of breathe easily • Tightening up of your body • A decline in muscle mass • Weakening and thinning of bone mass • Cartilage, ligaments and tendons becoming less elastic Understanding why these changes are happening, what your new nutritional needs are, and which kind of physical activity is good for you will help you stay fit without hurting your body. A sedentary lifestyl...

I've never been an extremely outgoing person. So, given my introverted personality, I tend to have a small and tight circle of friends. Imagine my surprise to learn that if you want to age well, having strong social relationships are equally important as having a positive outlook on life. The unfortunate thing for introverts like me is this: unless the circle of friends is replenished, their numbers reduce with time. Sickness, physical distance or death will inevitably make an impact on your social circle. So, in addition to planning for financial security, I’ve learned we must invest in the behaviors that can add not just years to our life, but life to those years. So I distilled three main points that I use as a ‘template’ to lead and live my life to those lofty, aged, senior goals. They are as follows: Despite being ridiculed, I often try to imagine living 120 happy, healthy years. No, that's not a 'type-o.' I plan on living at least to the ripe old age of...

I often wondered about the ads I’ve seen in magazines and billboards advertising the youthful benefits of Human Growth Hormone (HGH). I know that this particular hormone is produced by the pituitary gland to fuel childhood growth and help maintain tissues and organs throughout life. So, why is it so important that companies have unleashed a barrage of ads? Two words: Baby Boomers. It seems that, around the age of forty, the pituitary gland begins a process of early retirement by slowly reducing the amount of growth hormone it produces. Although this is a perfectly natural transition, the volume of Baby Boomers that have reached this stage is a market to big for supplement and pharmaceutical companies to ignore. And this, has prompted an "on mass" interest in the use of synthetic human growth hormone (HGH) to stave off the realities of old age. But before you rush out to the 'flavor of the day' clinic or demand synthetic HGH from your personal physician, consider...

As if you didn’t already know, right? Well, now it seems that science has discovered a cellular link to the process of aging. They have discovered that the tips of chromosomes have a cap-like structure that resembles the plastic caps of shoelaces. Called Telomeres, these structures respond to stress, and if you are chronically stressed, they can cut your life span short. Here’s why; in young cells, these telomeres appear to be very long. In the cells of old people, however, they are nothing more than mere nubs. It seems telomeres do play a part in the aging process because further research indicates that every time cells divide, the duplicate cells have shorter telomeres. This process is repeated until the telomeres become less than nubs, and cell division stops. What’s worse is that chronic stress can speed up this process by shriveling the tips of the telomere bundles of genes inside cells, thereby shortening their life span and accelerating bodily deterioration. There is hope,...