By Tony Robbins, Author of Awaken The Giant Within (From his Foreword to John Little’s Max Contraction Training, McGraw-Hill Publishing)

You can make all kinds of changes to your emotions, your relationships, but if you’re physically unable to follow through on your decisions, its all for naught. Unfortunately, one thing that I have learned, after more than a quarter of a century working with 3 million people from 80 different countries, is that most people don’t truly realize how interconnected physical fitness – including strength training – is to fulfilling your potential at the highest level.

Simply put, the importance of health and physical wellness is integral component in all aspects of not only the quality but the length of our lives. Strength training in particular even helps to stave off the aging process. Each of the 10 bio-markers of aging, and the quality of each in our lives, is affected directly by strength training. Specifically, these bio-markers are:

1. Bone density -- Because calcium tends to be lost from the bones when people age, it makes the skeleton weaker, less dense and more brittle, which typically leads to osteoporosis.

2. Body temperature regulation -- The body is supposed to maintain an internal temperature of 98.6 degrees, but as people grow older they tend to lose muscle and the heat that muscle provides, thus becoming more vulnerable in their body temperature to hot and cold, which often leads to illness.

3. Basal metabolic rate – Our rate of energizing, or determining how many calories our bodies require to sustain their internal processes, declines by 2% per decade after the age of 20.

4. Blood sugar tolerance -- The body’s ability to use glucose in the blood stream declines with age, thereby raising the risk for Type II Diabetes, which is why it’s the third or fourth most common disease in the country.

5. A decline in muscle strength -- Older people are less strong because of the gradual deterioration of the muscles and motor nerves, which begins at the age of 30 for most people.

6. The fat content of the body -- Between the ages of 20 and 65, the average person doubles his ratio of fat to muscle. This process is exasperated by a sedentary lifestyle and overeating. Exercise can often serve to retard appetite and, conversely, when you’re not training, you tend to be more hungry – and to eat more often.

7. Aerobic capacity -- By the age of 65 the body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently declines by 30 – 40%.

8. Cholesterol and HDL ratios -- Around age 50 HDL (or “High Density Lipoproteins, the so-called “good cholesterol” that protects the body against heart disease) loses ground to the LDL (or “Low Density Lipoproteins,” the so-called “bad cholesterol”); a phenomenon that dramatically increases the risk of heart attack.

9. A decline in muscle mass -- The average American loses 6.6 pounds of muscle with each decade after young adulthood and the rate of loss increases after the age of 45 (but only if you don’t do anything to replace it).

10. Blood pressure -- The majority of Americans show a steady increase of blood pressure with each decade of age.

In fact, strength training is so important, it’s the only activity that’s been proven scientifically to affect all ten! No other activity even comes close, not even aerobics! And just imagine how much you could achieve physically if you were to find a way to make your strength-training program even more efficient. John has done just that with Max Contraction Training. In such a short period of time in comparison to conventional workouts, you can increase the quality of your life, look good, feel good, and as John points out, even reduce your stress levels and your overall amount of body fat.

-Tony Robbins