It turns out Arnold Schwarzenegger may have been onto something all along.
We are all looking for ways to improve our health and slow the passage of time, whether that means channelling our inner Peter Pan or quietly hoping the Benjamin Button theory has some biological basis.
The demand for longevity science and anti-ageing solutions has exploded over the past few years and understanding how to extend the human healthspan has become something of an obsession, particularly amongst a growing number of billionaires who devote themselves to ice baths, strict dietary protocols, and carefully selected supplements in pursuit of a longer, healthier life.
But which lifestyle factors are actually the most effective at slowing, or even reducing someone's biological age?
Over the past nine years, Muhdo Health has been conducting its own epigenetic research and analysis, identifying key diet and lifestyle markers that everyone can incorporate into their daily lives. What we have found has the potential to significantly improve not just your health, but your Youngevity, the quality as well as the quantity of your years.
What have we found?
We analysed data from 354 individuals within our epigenetics database to identify clues to how we might begin reversing the biological clock and improving both the quality and potentially the quantity of life.
The analysis focused specifically on resistance training performed at a moderate intensity (RPE 5 or above) for a minimum of 30 minutes per session, comparing biological and chronological age across different training frequency groups.
So, does resistance training actually slow or reverse biological ageing?
Our results indicate that it does, but with an important nuance.
The benefits were most pronounced in those training at least three times per week. Those training four times per week showed the greatest reduction in biological age, averaging 6 years younger than their chronological age would suggest. However, those training every day, seven times per week, showed a significantly reduced benefit, with a biological age reduction of just 1 year on average.
This is a striking finding. More is not always better.
Whilst daily training still outperforms no training at all, the sharp drop in benefit between four and seven sessions per week strongly suggests that overtraining and insufficient recovery may actively undermine the biological age benefits of resistance exercise. Rest and recovery are not a concession to laziness; they appear to be a biological necessity for maximising the longevity benefits of training.
The sweet spot, based on our data, appears to be three to four sessions per week, enough to drive meaningful epigenetic change, without tipping into the diminishing returns of overtraining.
Arnold, it seems, had the right idea. He just needed to take a few more rest days.
We can even now track your muscle health from an epigenetic and gene expression point of view with our new Muscle Degeneration Test and understanding how ageing impacts muscle health.
Muscle degeneration, or sarcopenia, is the loss of muscle mass, strength, and function associated with ageing. Poor methylation can impair protein synthesis, muscle growth, repair, and maintenance, leading to increased degeneration and a decline in physical performance over time.
By identifying the genetic and epigenetic factors influencing your muscle health, you can take proactive steps to support strength, repair, and recovery, and train smarter, not just harder.
Do you know your biological age or muscle health, and how your training is affecting it? 👇
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