by DAVID BENJAMIN
Do you know what one of the biggest contributors to aging faster and dying earlier are beyond diet, fitness, health, longevity and everything else? It may surprise you but one of the biggest contributors to aging faster and dying earlier is having a weak lower body, specifically legs. Your legs and lower body are very important because your body needs to be able to eat, then move in order to be healthy. Your body begins to age faster and become weaker when you are more sedentary. This is why moving and exercising is so important for your health. In order to continue to build strength and resilience your lower body strength is a huge factor.
Our bodies lose muscle mass, which are protein reserves for repairing the rest of our bodies, every single year. If we are not getting adequate amounts of protein that can be assimilated and used the muscles will continuously become weaker and more frail over time. When this happens, your body loses muscle, which means you become weaker and are more likely to have a serious fall and become injured.
The longer this happens, the weaker you become and the more likely you are to fall and injure yourself. Many elderly people fall and injure themselves and have a hard time walking ever again and this one fall alone (caused by a weak lower body) literally shaves years off their life. Or they fall, become weak and recover somewhat but don’t fully recover and then they injure themselves again with another fall which causes them to live in an elderly home earlier which leads to an even more sedentary lifestyle and premature death.
What’s the difference between a 109 year old man running a marathon and a 75 year old living in an elderly home? One of the biggest and most obvious differences in this scenario is physical activity. The more you move, typically the better off you are, as long as you are not overworking your body and stressing it out. It’s good to get your heart rate up, oxygenate your body by being out of breath and to make your heart work a bit harder to keep the cardiovascular system healthy.
So one way to combat lower body weakness, especially if genetically you have skinnier legs (like myself) is to simply go on walks each day. Walk 2, 3 or 4 miles. I do my very best to walk at least 2 miles a day so that my leg muscles, core and lower body maintain strength and don’t weaken over time. I’m a huge advocate of walking and recommend walking daily for so many reasons beyond lower body strength such:
-Lymphatic movement and drainage
-Circulation
-Detoxification
-Mental health
-And more.
These are just a few of the many reasons you should walk your way to wellness on a daily basis.
This way I am strengthening and preparing my legs for what they need as I grow older. At age 40 you lose 1% of your lean muscle mass each year, so if you are over 40 years old and have not been actively walking then that is something you should start doing right away. If you started using a weighted vest you could maintain your muscle mass instead of lose it. So whereas your neighbor may lose nearly 10% lean muscle mass from the time between 40 and 50 years old, you could have the same muscle mass at 50 that you had at 40 by just putting on the vest and walking past their house each day.
It’s really simple to do, it just takes commitment and action. I have begun to implement this in my own life, and I’m not 40 years old yet. There’s no better age to get started at then the age of ‘RIGHT NOW’ because when you create healthy habits that you are committed to today, they will last with you for years.
You can get a weighted vest with 10 pre-loaded pounds by clicking here. The great thing about this vest is that you can just wear it for walking, sprints and other lower body movement for anti-aging and strength building purposes but you can also use it to improve and increase upper body strength as well which I will be sharing with you in future videos.
Other things you can do are go for more walks, do hindu squats, and walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Anything you can do to use your legs more often, standing, squatting, lifting, walking, jogging or simply adding a vest with 10 pounds on it and making that a part of life will add strength and longevity to your life. Strengthening your legs and lower body prevent premature injury leading to a sedentary life and early death.
David Benjamin is a holistic health blogger, podcaster and publisher. He writes and produces media related to diet, nutrition, health, fitness, green living, spirituality, sustainability and more. He is the best-selling author of “Dirt Cheap Weight Loss
Comments are closed.