{"id":220401,"date":"2025-12-31T19:23:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T19:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/220401\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T19:23:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T19:23:08","slug":"7-ways-to-reduce-your-biological-age-using-nothing-but-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/220401\/","title":{"rendered":"7 ways to reduce your biological age using nothing but exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Linda Green didn\u2019t step foot in a gym until she was 75. Now, three years since she moved to retirement home Ledian Gardens and started regular exercise, she has the biological age<\/a> of a 51-year-old. <\/p>\n

\u2018I feel like I can cope with anything,\u2019 says Linda. \u2018My biological age is based on my strength, flexibility, metabolism and cardiovascular<\/a> function which are tested across lots of different types of gym equipment. But for me, my biggest achievement since exercising is coming off steroids for my rheumatoid arthritis<\/a> after 20 years. At one point, I couldn\u2019t walk. My knees and joints just totally seized up. I had to have steroid injections into my knees. I was on steroids and other medication for around 20 years, and it took almost a year for me to come off steroids after I started exercising as I had to slowly reduce my dose. I\u2019m now on half the dose of my other medication. I never thought this would be possible after all those years. It\u2019s amazing \u2013 I feel like a new person.\u2019 <\/p>\n

As soon as she moved to Ledian Gardens in 2022, everything changed. \u2018The turning point for me to start exercising really was moving here,\u2019 she explains. \u2018I felt lonely and isolated in my old flat, which is why I moved. I didn’t exercise as I felt down and had no guidance, but we\u2019re all encouraged to use the gym here, and there\u2019s no excuse. It\u2019s on the doorstep. I don\u2019t have to get in a car and go there. I just walk a few corridors and it\u2019s there. The exercise classes are also all organised for you, so you don\u2019t have to plan it yourself. The classes are also tailored to our age group. For example, we\u2019ll do balance and strength classes because they both decrease with age, and we\u2019ll do seated yoga over regular yoga because we don\u2019t have the flexibility for regular yoga. But we\u2019re encouraged to do more than we think we can, to make us stronger and healthier.\u2019<\/p>\n

Exercise is the reason she no longer wants to \u2018hide\u2019 herself. \u2018We\u2019ve all got wrinkles,\u2019 she says. \u2018But exercise helps me to look healthy and feel nice. I\u2019m proud of myself and I don\u2019t want to hide.\u2019<\/p>\n

Here’s her top tips and everything she’s learnt to transform her health \u2013 and her advice for anyone looking to start exercise. <\/p>\n

1. Start small, with simple exercises and classes<\/p>\n

\u2018If you just go and sit in a class first and watch, you\u2019ll soon be joining in. You don\u2019t have to do everything straight away. My first workout was in a group of four or five, so we had almost individual attention from the coach and the class wasn\u2019t difficult \u2013 I think it was a strength and balance workout, but that first session was more about getting used to the machines. Some exercises we did were simply lifting our heels and then our toes. Just start small and build up.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s never too late to start. I\u2019m proof of that. I didn\u2019t step into a gym until I was 75, and now I can\u2019t imagine not doing it. You don\u2019t need to be fit to begin with \u2013 that comes later. Just give it a go.\u2019<\/p>\n

2. Make exercise part of your routine<\/p>\n

\u2018When I first started, I did two classes a week. Now, a week in workouts looks like this: <\/p>\n

Monday: Standing strength class + aqua aerobics + bingo Tuesday: Building balance class + standing stretch class Wednesday: Weighted gym session + swimThursday: Seated yoga classFriday: Swim + seated movement class Saturday: Weighted gym session + swim Sunday: Swim <\/p>\n

\u2018Each class is about half an hour. When I\u2019m not doing classes, I go to the gym on my own but I use the E-Gym \u2013 a smart fitness system that forms a circuit of strength machines, which connects and syncs your results to an app to tell you exactly what to do based on measurements that get taken before you start using it, including your blood pressure, weight and height. You do the same two circuits of the same exercises on the E-Gym every time (with different weights or reps), taking about 30 minutes in total.<\/p>\n

\u2018Before I moved here, I didn\u2019t do exercise as such \u2013 I just walked a lot at work. I was on my feet all day as I worked in Tesco, going round the shop and talking to people, so I suppose that kept me active. Now it\u2019s a routine. I\u2019ve got my gym days, my class days, and I like having that structure.\u2019<\/p>\n

3. Switch up the types of exercise you do to find what you enjoy<\/p>\n

\u2018I do yoga, weights, mat-based classes, and the balance one, which is really good. I do aqua aerobics and swim quite often too \u2013 it\u2019s lovely to just get in the water and move around. It\u2019s the variety that keeps me going. I never get bored. There\u2019s always something different to do. <\/p>\n

\u2018If I had to choose one thing, I think the gym has made the biggest difference for my physical health as lifting weights and progressing by increasing the weight I lift or the number of reps I do really challenges me.\u2019<\/p>\n

Related Story4. Tailor your training to you and your goals<\/p>\n

\u2018The E-Gym knows me \u2013 I just log in and it sets the weights for me automatically based on my height, weight, age and blood pressure. It tells me if I\u2019m improving and what I need to work on.<\/p>\n

\u2018When I first went on the machines, I didn\u2019t have a clue what I was doing. But they explain how to use everything (although I did also have an induction from a trainer in the gym who showed me how to set everything up), and the machines remember you and instruct how many reps and how heavy to lift based on the results from your previous sessions, so you can\u2019t really go wrong.<\/p>\n

\u2018The small group classes also really helped me learn what I was doing. You get attention from coaches but also company from the other students, so you don\u2019t feel silly if you\u2019re not sure how to do something.<\/p>\n

\u2018Seeing my biological age drop on the screen gave me such a boost \u2013 I thought, I must be doing something right!\u2019<\/p>\n

5. Track your progress to stay motivated<\/p>\n

\u2018The E-Gym tells you how much you\u2019re improving on each exercise, which really encourages you to keep doing. It\u2019s nice to see the numbers go up. It makes you want to do better. I\u2019m lifting 3kg weights right now \u2013 the machines tell you your strength each time.<\/p>\n

\u2018My two kids (I have a 56-year-old daughter and a 36-year-old son) say, \u201cMum, you\u2019ve got muscles now!\u2019\u201d \u2013 and they can\u2019t believe it. I can actually see definition in my muscles, which I never had before.<\/p>\n

\u2018When I started, I could barely lift the lightest setting on the E-Gym circuits. My strength increased by 36% from 2023 to 2025.\u2019<\/p>\n

To help keep you on track:6. Take a balanced approach to nutrition<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m coeliac so I have to follow a gluten-free diet, but other than that, I don\u2019t cut out any food groups. Breakfast is usually porridge with blueberries. Lunch might be a couple of gluten-free bread rolls with salad and ham or chicken \u2013 and we have an allotment here at Ledian so we have a lot of vegetables, like tomatoes, which I add to my rolls. Dinner is usually chicken and vegetables and potatoes.<\/p>\n

\u2018I still like a bit of cake now and again \u2013 but not every day! I have a gin and tonic on a Friday and that\u2019s my treat. I don\u2019t cut out everything I enjoy. I just don\u2019t overdo it.\u2019<\/p>\n

7. Use exercise to build your confidence<\/p>\n

\u2018Exercise gave me something to do \u2013 a reason to get up and go out. I feel part of something again. It\u2019s given me confidence \u2013 I even run bingo now! People call me the Head Girl here at Ledian \u2013 it makes me laugh. It made me feel like I belonged somewhere again. <\/p>\n

\u2018I also help out with the school mentoring scheme now \u2013 I\u2019d never have had the confidence for that before. Exercise isn\u2019t just about getting fit. It\u2019s about feeling like you matter again.\u2019<\/p>\n

Other exercises to maintain a healthy body:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Linda Green didn\u2019t step foot in a gym until she was 75. Now, three years since she moved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4959,114156,1107,499,103,61,60,1135,114155],"class_list":{"0":"post-220401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-content-type-feature","9":"tag-contentid-ac8b9781-f27c-4760-a7a9-486283ecafc0","10":"tag-displaytype-standard-article","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-locale-gb","16":"tag-shorttitle-7-ways-to-reduce-your-biological-age-using-nothing-but-exercise"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}