This Is the Best Exercise to Fight the Aging Process

What do you do when you exercise? Walk? Run? Aerobics? Yoga? You will be surprised to know the best exercise to help fight aging.

You think you're physically fit. You may even brag about it. Put your money where your mouth is and drop and give me 16 push-ups. That's if you're a 40-year-old woman. Men of the same age should be able to do 27 push-ups.

By age 60, women should still be able to do six push-ups and men 17. The New York Times calls the simple push-up the ultimate barometer of fitness. When you do a push-up, you lift and lower your whole body, using muscle groups in your arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs. It's a whole body work-out in one movement.

Push-ups also help older people withstand the rigors of aging. Seniors who do push-ups are less likely to be injured in a fall. Why? Muscle memory will help them reach out and break that fall with their hands so they don't hit their head.

[via New York Times]