It is said that “the legs are the first thing to go” as you get older. Why? Because you don’t use them enough. Start using them!
A while ago, I took a friend to the Physical Therapist for her recovery from Hip Surgery. I commented on how well she was able to get in and out of the car using her legs so soon after the surgery.
She said that the Physical Therapist had instructed her in sitting down and standing up from a regular straight backed chair, but that she was not to let her butt touch the chair. She said that the therapist told her that when she used her arms to push off, or to help her sit down, she was using the weaker muscles to do the “heavy lifting”. She was not using the stronger muscles of her legs and butt to stand up with. She said she did quite a few of them during the session.
Of course it was easier for her to use her arms to push up with and to let herself down into the chair. She had just had major surgery on her hip. But the goal was to strengthen her legs so they become fully useful and “if you don’t, the leg muscles will atrophy” and you will develop the dreaded “sarcopenia” (muscular deterioration) that accompanies aging. For some this deterioration becomes noticeable in your late fifties or early sixties. For others it sneaks up on you in your seventies. It will happen so start to thwart it now.
Here’s the lesson. Too many of us use our arms to push us out of our chairs even though we haven’t had surgery. It’s seems easy when it is actually harder. That’s because there is already a great deal of muscular deterioration in your legs. You can’t let that happen. Lose it or use it.
Don’t believe me? Watch others. Watch others when they get of a chair — a straight backed chair that is. Yes, there are exceptions. If you are getting up from a low couch or chair, it is usually necessary to use your arms to help. But in most cases your are doing that for support and for momentum to get you moving forward and upward.
Try getting up without using your arms as much. Yes you can use your body to shift momentum forward to get into a position where you need only use your legs to stand up. It’s not easy at first, but you will be doing yourself a huge favor. It’s a bit awkward but you will perpetuate your lack of leg strength if you don’t.
Start easy. Unlike the physical therapist with my friend, go ahead and let your butt hit the chair af first. Stand up and sit down without using your hands. Lean forward and let the momentum from your bodyweight shifting put you into the position where you can simply push up with your legs only, to a standing position. Then slowly, sit back down. Do this five or six times a row, increasing until you can do ten or twelve in a row. Then rest. After a while, stop letting your butt hit the chair and just go up and down without the rest. You’ll find that once you build some strength in your legs, it will be easier than when you sat down.
Don’t let your legs weaken. Leg strength is critical to your movement, your posture, your balance, your blood circulation, your physical endurance, your personal energy, and so much else.
So practice on your dining room chair or a bench or “something”. Leg strength is critical. Use it or lose it. When you let your legs weaken, then you know you are deteriorating. Don’t let it happen to you.
This has been a SeniorFlow Moment. Thank you for reading.
