By: Anthony Campo
At least once per day I hear the phrase “It’s tough getting old.” It is important to understand the principles of Wolf’s Law that states that our body adapts based upon the demands placed on it. Simply put if we do less and less day by day year by year we will decline as a result. Here are some tips so that you do not fall into the “getting old” pitfall, and so you can maintain your current level of health and function for as long as possible.
Sit down and stand up more – Our quality and duration of life has been proven to be directly linked to our ability to get up from lying, seated, or up off the floor. This is something that most people do less and less of as they get older which directly leads to negative body adaptions and the loss of health and function.
Walk/run more – You see it all the time, children are just constantly moving from place to place and they usually are doing it as quickly as possible. As we get older we walk less and less and usually stop running all together. Start walking more and more and at the fastest pace that is safe for you.
Stand more – This goes hand in hand with the previous tip. Very quickly in the aging process (as early as our teenage years) life simply becomes a never ending quest to get to the next sitting location. The chair, the desk, the couch, the car, ect… it seems as if the only time people stand is simply just to wait out the time in order to get to the next place to sit. Not only do our bodies get weaker over time as a result of excessive sitting but it also deforms our posture and increases dysfunction as we get older.
Add resistance to your life – At some point in our lives we forget to lift things, move things, and challenge ourselves. This is necessary in keeping us not only neuro-muscularly strong, but keeping our bones strong as well. Preventing osteoporosis is as simple as continuing to add external resistance to our lives as we get older.
Do things safe, but explosively – Safety should always be prioritized, however one of the big reasons we “age” is that we move slower and slower as times goes by. Start focusing on moving around, and do things crisp and explosive to reverse this process.