For thousands of years mankind has wanted to find a way to extend our time on earth. The legendary "fountain of youth" said to be a spring that reputedly restores eternal youth has been promised through the ages. But, few if any potions or treatment have been able to deliver on the promise to slow the aging process ? until now. Today when we refer to the fountain of youth what we mean is to restore strength, health and vitality.

Old age has become a bad thing. The irony of wanting to grow up and be older when we are young suddenly becomes a devastating reality when we actually get older. Suddenly we wish we were young again. The question asked is how much truth is there in this new notion of anti aging and is it possible to seriously fight the signs of aging?

Aging is not just about what is showing on the outside in the way of saggy skin and wrinkles, gray hair and flabby bodies that have lost their shape and firmness.

These outer signs of aging originate from what is happening on the inside where we can't see the deterioration. But it is happening in stealth like ways, right from age 30 and accelerating at a frightening speed after age 50.

The first serious inwards signs of the aging process are a loss of lean muscle tissue. Around 300 -500 grams of this very special and important resource of the body starts disappearing each year unless one works hard to keep it. This loss of muscle mass has serious consequences for the whole metabolism (the bodies engine) slowing it down and triggering a very long slow "shut down" sequence of the human body.

Many of the health problems that get blamed on aging are actually symptoms of waning strength and deteriorating fitness caused by laziness, idleness and apathy. This downward spiral of accelerated aging often ends in premature disease or illness and the likelihood of having one's life cut short.

The most potent anti aging remedy is to work hard on developing and keeping your physical strength over the course of your lifetime. A very important reaction happens when we perform vigorous physical activity. Hormones are stimulated that send signals to all body cells, organs and systems that activate the repair, rebuilding and renewing of these tissues having an effect of total rejuvenation.

By getting stronger and staying strong, you can break the downward spiral of aging and weakness and enjoy a more active lifestyle with an improved quality of life. It is crucial if you wish to remain youthful to perform a proper exercise program that contains at least 60% strength training exercise. No other type of exercise will do the same job so don't be mislead into thinking that all you need to do is just go for a walk or do a bit of gardening.

These activities are great for an active lifestyle but will not be intense enough to make any change in your cellular metabolism which has to be shifted back to an anabolic (growth and repair) mode to have an anti aging effect.

It is also very important that you seek the help and guidance of a fitness professional to teach you correct exercise technique and to set up your program with the right multiple muscle group exercises for the best effect.

You will also need to learn about exercise intensity, duration and frequency to get the most out of your program. Your progress also needs to be monitored and the program changed every few weeks to keep your results coming.

Each of us yearns to maintain our youthful appearance, energy and good health free from disease and sickness for as long as we possibly can. Now we can have it and we only have to choose an active lifestyle which is something you must decide you want and something you must decide to do.