Do These To Walk Stronger And Live Longer Photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash As we age, falling is one of the major causes of reduced lifespan, because of the terrible consequences of broken bones and broken spirits.
You may have had the distressing experience of witnessing a healthy older relative who fell, became inactive, and quickly deteriorated. That is why exercising - for all of strength, endurance and balance - is a key to living longer better. The question is this: if you wish to focus specifically on more competent walking, which exercises and muscle groups should you give most attention? I have an answer, based upon several related research studies. Brief outside moderate to vigorous activity is best - take the childrenIn the midst of widespread working-from-home, COVID-related stress is on the rise. This is partly because of a general decrease in physical activity. For example, I'm currently in Stage 4 lock-down and we are only allowed out once per day for exercise, we need a permit to leave home for work, and cannot travel more than 5km from our home address.
We doing less exercise generally but we are also not getting any exercise associated with commuting, such as walking from the train station to the office. This is bad news since there is a well-established association between lower levels of total physical activity and lower levels of positive mental health. Do the opposite of what you've read elsewhere Photo by Eternal Seconds on Unsplash For many years, after my gym sessions and before stretching, performed ab wheel (exercise wheel) exercises. I did them with good form and in full control. I added progressions and felt myself getting stronger and even more stable.
But I was puzzled why, no matter how strong my core muscles became, the dull ache in my lower back never disappeared. The mother you save may be your own Photo by Marcin Jozwiak on Unsplash Governments can't cover every loophole when they are enacting novel rules in rapid time. They're doing a great job getting things done, and they rely on cooperation instead of exploitation by we public.
However, some people love loopholes more than they love their mother, even though exercising without a mask might kill their mother - or someone else's mother. Acknowledge your energy battle, and let your partner know Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash The stress of coping with Covid has caused a surge of calls to mental health support lines and strained many relationships to breaking point. That's not dissimilar to what happens case by case when one of a couple has cancer.
Fear and anxiety burn people out, and how they respond to their burn-out can be misinterpreted by those who would like to help them. The fact is that not everyone wants help, at least not the kind of help that well-meaning others may want to give. The difference in needs creates tension which adds to the stress and ultimately makes things worse. Nutritional timing and choice for a good night's sleep Photo by Daniel o'dowd on Unsplash In this time of the pandemic increased stress levels are interfering with the quality of our sleep. Poor sleep often leads to a poor day, and we enter a cycle of stress which is hard to break.
A good diet can go a long way to restoring better sleep and breaking the COVID stress cycle. Improving your sleep improves your life, try these Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash In order to continually perform at their best, elite soccer players use strategies to improve their sleep hygiene. We can apply some of these strategies to our own recovery from exercise, and generally to improve the quality of our sleep.
Our sleep quality generally declines as we age. We don’t have the late-night matches, the travelling, nor the intensity of the training of pro players. However chronic insomnia affects 57% of the elderly in the United States, with impairment of quality of life, function, and health. In fact, some medical researchers call insomnia "a neglected epidemic". It is one of the most common complaints in patients with mental health problems. Furthermore, a recent (2018) study found that older people who took more than 30 minutes to fully fall asleep had lower bone mineral density than those who fell asleep faster. Improving our sleep quality not only makes our life more healthy and more enjoyable but very likely will mean that we live longer. Chronic stress triggers free radical storms Photo by Amie Dawson on Unsplash Our brain is negatively affected by chronic inflammation which is the metabolic imbalance caused by stress, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, or metabolic diseases. The bad news is that as we age our immune defence system becomes weaker, and we are more likely to develop chronic inflammation.
As we age we also exercise less, eat less variety of foods, go outside less often, and socialise less, which all contributes to accelerating chronic stress. The good news is that scientists have recently come to the view (2016) that a nutritional approach to controlling chronic inflammation "opens a new window for healthy brain aging". I'm doing these daily Photo by Eric Froehling on Unsplash We're about the enter our 3rd week of Stage 4 lockdown during the second wave of the coronavirus, and the level of anxiety is noticeably higher than in the first wave.
It is perfectly natural that we should feel more anxious, but often this kind of cold logic doesn't help reset our thinking. On the other hand, following these three recommendations will help you reset your thinking and reduce your stress. |
ChoicesSince I was diagnosed at 50 with Type 2 diabetes I've been learning how to do bone-building fitness training which lowers my age. You can too. It's your choice. Walter Categories
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