'I'm a doctor and kick myself for not starting one anti-ageing exercise sooner'

A renowned Harvard professor has shared his regret for overlooking a crucial type of exercise earlier in his life.

Dr Daniel Lieberman, who focuses on Human Evolutionary Biology, admits that despite enjoying walking and running, he slighted weights until his own studies highlighted their importance.

On an episode of the Diary of CEO podcast, hosted by ex-Dragons' Den mogul Steven Bartlett, Dr Lieberman emphasised the role of regular resistance training in combating physical decline as we age, reports Bristol Live.

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He said: "I've become more serious about doing some strength training. I've always loved walking and running and endurance activities and I've always hated doing weights, I just don't like it – I'm not a very strong person.

"People tend to do what they like, you get reinforcement from it. The more I studied the importance of resistance training, the more I realised the importance of doing weights, especially as you age, I've started kicking myself for being lazy about that."

He now commits himself to two 'good strength' workouts every week, understanding that muscle mass loss can have severe repercussions.

"Especially as you age, the loss of muscle mass can be really debilitating," Dr Lieberman explained to Bartlett. "As people get older they tend to lose muscle, and as people do that, they become frail and you lose functional capacity and that starts off a vicious cycle.

"Once that happens, you're less likely to be physically active, then your muscles waste away more, it's very debilitating."

Dr Lieberman said: "Ageing is just a clock ticking on, nothing we can do about age, but senescence the way the body degrades as we get old. What physical activity does, is that it slows senescence, especially for certain organs."

"The most important myth is that as you get older it's normal to be less active and that is just not true."

The doctor explained that when people feel tired, they tend to become less active, which can have a significant impact on both their mental and physical health. He also noted that a lack of exercise can make individuals more susceptible to various diseases.

He has dedicated decades to studying diverse communities worldwide, as most research on diseases has primarily focused on American and European populations.