The Fountain of Youth? Plyometrics and Longevity

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Health, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Story at-a-glance

Plyometric training, which includes jumping and hopping exercises, helps older adults improve muscle strength and balance, as well as bone density, reducing their risk of falls and fractures
Older adults who engage in supervised plyometric exercises experience significant improvements in lower-body power, making everyday movements like standing up and walking safer and easier
Even short-term plyometric training — lasting as little as four weeks — results in measurable gains in strength, agility and balance, with the most significant results seen in those who start with lower baseline strength
Upping the intensity of exercise stimulates bone growth by triggering your body’s natural bone-building processes, making plyometric training an effective way to combat osteoporosis and maintain skeletal health
When combined with resistance training, plyometric exercises provide the best overall benefits for muscle function and fall prevention, helping older adults maintain independence and mobility as they age

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, and welcome to another episode of Dr. Mercola's Cellular Wisdom, the podcast where we explore the inner workings of our bodies, one cell at a time.
0:07.8	I'm Ethan Foster, your resident observer of the human condition. And by observer, I mean, I read labels on cereal boxes and wonder what half the ingredients mean.
0:16.0	And I'm Alara Sky, the inquisitive troublemaker who can't resist turning every conversation into a health lesson.
0:22.1	We aim to keep you entertained and enlightened without making you jump through hoops,
0:26.2	although today we might be talking about jumping in a more literal sense.
0:29.5	Indeed, we are. Today's episode is all about pliometric exercises and how they can help older
0:34.2	adults stay strong, balanced, and, hopefully, far from the emergency room.
0:39.0	You heard right. We're discussing the boingy kind of workouts, jumping, hopping, and bounding around
0:43.3	like we're kids in a playground. Except we're doing it responsibly and with a bit more decorum.
0:48.1	Well, let's not promise too much decorum. After all, if you're going to jump around, you may as well
0:52.5	have fun with it. But apparently, there's some real science behind these moves.
0:56.2	Dr. Mercola's research points out that pliometric training helps older adults build muscle
1:00.3	strength and improve balance.
1:02.1	And that's crucial because as we gracefully age, muscle loss sneaks in like an uninvited
1:06.0	guest.
1:06.8	By the time we're in our 70s, we could have lost up to 30% of our muscle mass.
1:10.6	That's a big chunk of prime real estate.
1:12.6	Right.
1:13.1	30% is the difference between bounding up the stairs
1:15.6	versus asking them to install one of those motorized chairs
1:18.5	that take you upstairs at the speed of a glacier.
1:20.9	Though those chairs are stylish, they're not exactly beneficial for muscle retention.
	...

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