[One Thousand Characters a Day] Jeong Hui-won's 'The Secret to Aging Slowly' <3>

Editor's NoteProfessor Jeong Heewon of Seoul Asan Medical Center, author of ＜You Too Can Age Slowly＞, realized that most people who come to see her lack 'intrinsic capacity.' Intrinsic capacity is a concept proposed by the World Health Organization in 2015, representing a measure of how healthily one is aging by considering physical, mental, and social functional elements. It requires considering not only visible health indicators such as the presence of disease, blood pressure, and exercise time but also invisible variables like adequate rest, mindfulness, and life goals. Failure to properly manage intrinsic capacity leads to a vicious cycle that accelerates biological aging. Word count: 939 characters.

Strength training is greatly underestimated. It is relatively less emphasized in various media, and many people avoid it because it seems boring and painful. After middle age, people tend to develop a prejudice that improper exercise can damage the body, often hearing stories of injuries around them. Young women, on the other hand, often fear muscle gain because they mistakenly believe their legs will become thicker, even though a muscle-based body composition actually makes the lower body look better. Since many studies and conventional exercise guidelines come from the obesity-prevalent United States, exercise is often recommended with a focus on 'weight loss' tailored to the American context, which also influences perceptions.

These misconceptions, combined with accelerated aging lifestyle habits, are driving the entire population toward sarcopenia. Koreans tend to have a body weight and shape close to the standard even if they are obese. Among them, especially young women often have normal or below-normal weight but suffer from an overwhelming lack of muscle, causing all energy to be stored as subcutaneous and visceral fat, fatty liver, and intramuscular fat. Therefore, strength training must be emphasized in Korea.

Even if the intensity is not very high, repeating strength training daily reduces delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which is temporary muscle pain following intense exercise. After just one month of consistent training, good habits form, allowing exercise to start reflexively without much effort. Continuing for about 2 to 3 months corrects the body's metabolic system, reduces intramuscular fat, and directs consumed energy toward muscle growth. This is all the power of habit.

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In the early stages of forming a strength training habit, it is beneficial to exercise daily because most neuromuscular junctions that have been resting are activated to efficiently correct muscles. While the body can handle skipping meals for a couple of days without major issues, there is no need to eat only one meal every two days. Similarly, frequent exercise at first helps muscles develop overall, and once sufficiently developed, exercising once or twice a week is enough to maintain that state.

- Jeong Heewon, ＜You Too Can Age Slowly＞, The Quest, 17,800 KRW