Sunday 14 April 2013

K is for Keep Moving!

K is for Keep Moving!

I have recently spent some time with an elderly lady who fell and sprained her wrist a few days ago. It was badly swollen and bruised, and obviously hurt her a lot. This made her daily tasks incredibly difficult, as she now has one hand out of use (which is difficult enough in itself), and has to somehow manage to steady herself with her other hand. She has a walker, but pushing it along with just one hand is pretty difficult.
I feel terrible for her. If you know anything about growing old, you will know that a fall for an older person hits then harder than it would for a younger person. Growing old can mean loss of muscle, loss of balance, and brittle bones. Put these together and you get falls with broken bones.
When you are young and you have your whole life ahead of you, probably the last thing you are thinking of is your life into old age. But if you don't take time in your younger years to care for yourself, then the later ones just may be a lot more difficult.
Apparently, at around 40, people can lose around 8% of their muscle mass each decade. But, if people exercise through their 40's and continue on in later years, then this doesn't have to happen. You can remain strong, fit, and active.
How's your balance? How long can you stand on one foot? Balance deteriorates over the years, so practising activities which require balance strengthens your balance, reducing your risk of falling later in life.
I read recently that resistance training (using weights) also helps strengthen bones, as you put more tension on your muscles, it puts more pressure on your bones, which responds by creating new bone. So, resistance training not only strengthens muscles, but your bones too!! 
Then there are all the benefits of cardio exercise, which obviously has so many more benefits.
When you see the effects a sedentary lifestyle can have on a person's body, when you watch them become weaker, losing the balance and tiring easily, then it hits home that whether you exercise in your younger years will greatly affect your health and your daily life in your later years.
Getting up and doing it to me is like getting out of bed; it may take a bout of motivation to get to the gym, but once I'm there, I'm glad I did it. Just like getting up; once I'm up, I'm raring to go.
Sometimes all we need is a little push start.
Take a look at this lady's achievements:
http://soniamarsh.com/2011/11/skydiving-at-80-and-rowing-3107-miles.html
I'm sure there are more like this fabulous lady. Including you and me!








3 comments:

  1. i knew i was falling apart!
    i started taking a piyo class, hopefully i will fall apart slower now...
    great advice!

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  2. I would exercise more if it didn't take so much time. Seriously, I would. I do try to get in what I can, though. It's too bad I don't watch TV, because that would be a great time to exercise.

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  3. My knees are getting cranky. But if I get up and *keep moving*, they loosen up and feel fine. :)

    #atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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