Look After Your Legs

[NoisySnail]

I was in a cafe today and over heard an elderly woman talking to younger friends about getting older. She said the best advice she could give is to look after your legs as they are so important for mobility. But annoyingly she did not explain what she meant by this, and I could hardly ask!

So does anyone know how we can look after our legs?

My gran used to say this, but mainly from the perspective of be careful of knocks and bruises. Varicose veins running in my family, my mum was always scared of banging her legs, having seen Gran and various aunts ending up with varicose ulcers.

Look on YouTube for videos by Will Harlow - HT Physio over 50s Specialist. I use his exercises every day and they have made such a difference. His explanations are clear and he has a realistic appreciation of what people are capable of. He has also written a book. I think it's called "Thriving beyond Fifty".

@NoisySnail have you got or can you get any physio advice for your back? It sounds as though that's your main obstacle to maintaining strength and flexibility into old age

As an 'elderly' person - although I deny that as I am trying to keep going to 90 - it is vitally important to keep mobile and active for as long as you can. At 77 my balance is not the best - can manage about 60 seconds on one leg - but I do have arthritus in hips and knees. Stretching exercises are good

I walk the dog at a reasonably fast pace for an hour a day - live on my own and do gardening and housework - albeit it takes longer. Always keep an eye on feet and avoid weight gain (I am 9 stone and my bmi is fine).

I have seen younger people than me struggle with what I do but I have always walked and kept active and I cannot imagine being immobile or unable to get out of a chair.

Exercises for older people are readily available - it does not need to be overdone which can cause more problems.

Check out the Knees Over Toes Guy on instagram-

www.instagram.com/kneesovertoesguy?igsh=MWJoZnJ6dHhvcmdoZg==

He has a bunch of really accessible strength and mobility exercises.

As a leg ulcer nurse I recommend light 'class 1' support socks (flight socks) as people get older. Compression improves circulation, reduces swelling and helps supports / helps prevent varicose veins. As well as exercise! There's a great website called legs matter with loads of information. There really needs to be a general health campaign for leg care as it's very a overlooked area.

Just going through this with my elderly parent. Here's what the physio has recommended:
Sit to stand (and back) with no hands x 10
Marching, knees high, holding on for balance if needed x 30 seconds
Walking like a pigeon, heel to toe, as straight as possible x 30 seconds

Twice a day, increase reps as it gets easier. Also balancing on one leg.

I came on to recommend Will Harlow on YT, but someone has beaten me to it. His explanations are really clear and thorough. I am currently focusing on knee exercises and building up quad strength and can see an improvement after only a few weeks. Also Caroline Jordan on YT is good (though a bit too enthusiastic and cheesy!).

i work in nursing, another piece of advice is to wear compressions stockings. I look after many people with leg ulcers and I do not want that for myself so as well as all the other advice given here I also wear a compression stocking.

i have had placements on hospital wards and we do no let older people lie in bed, physios are round every day working with people, we encourage them to get up and get moving and dressed, you’d be surprised by the amount of people who really take on the sick patient role and want to stay in bed for the duration of their time with us and this then leads to mobility issues

I mentioned on another thread but a diary of a ceo podcast with dr andy galpin talked about aging and exercise and is worth a listen. Exercise the muscles that will help you get on and off the toilet so you can do this yourself when old ditto the sofa. Not being able to get up means less going out isolation and less socialising higher risk then of cognitive decline. Do new things for the brain, doing a crossword every day is good but your brain gets used to it.

he suggested that the thing that uses a lot of brain power is using a muscle as it takes a lot to say lift your arm even though we do it without, we think ,thinking about it.

No I think she meant quite the opposite, use them as much as you can. Weight bearing exercise is good for you.

I would agree with keeping the legs strong and also the glutes as they are important for mobility. I do a strength after breast cancer exercise classes and the instructor has us doing lots of exercises to strengthen the glutes and I've noticed a difference.
I would also recommend taking care of the skin of your legs, keep them moisture especially post menopause.

I was going to say this as well.

based on this programme i have started doing some floor exercises (sit ups, squats, lunges an d the plank) each morning. I only started about a week ago (and I am currently only doing 10 of each but planning to build up) but have already discovered that my back feels stronger (I have a degenerative disc condition).

I'm 40 and have regularly done Body Pump for the last year, with a strategic eye on being a 60 year old who has done weight bearing exercise for 20 years.
I've always been a runner, walker, hiker, gym goer and cyclist, but the weights is new.
This is because I've watched my mum literally wilt in front of my eyes having sustained a relatively minor foot injury, after a lifetime of no exercise. She sat in a chair for a year and watched TV to recover and now has zero muscle or physical resilience.

Crikey - I can't get up off the floor without using an object eg chair, kitchen bench etc.

I made a right show of myself a little while ago when I squatted down to see the price of something on a supermarket shelf, and the couldn't get up. I had to ask a couple walking past to help me. They each crooked and arm under one of mine and heaved me to my feet.

We all laughed about it, but I did feel a lemon.

I walk 10k steps a day with my dogs, take vitamin D and calcium supplements, and eat a lot of leafy green veg (am vegetarian). We all lead far too sedentary lives these days, and dread what old age will do to a generation of people who sit in front of screens all day.

I worked in elderly care, and muscle wastage occurs very rapidly when someone becomes immobile - hence when I had Covid, I got out of bed every couple of hours and kept walking around even though I felt like death warmed up. I'm 53.

Your back is more important than your legs. Unfortunately, I've had a bad back for the last 8 years and I'm still only 43. It's caused by worn out discs rather than anything muscular. I have hyper mobility though so o think that's made it more vulnerable.

DM moved house in her late 70s. She has a friend who is a retired GP who said to her "whatever you do, have some stairs or you'll get bungalow legs" - meaning, that amongst her older patients, a lot of more minor conditions are aggravated by the reduced mobility opportunities of moving to a bungalow.

I once heard a physio talking on the radio, who had worked with a retired darts player. One of the famous ones, who'd got absolutely massive (physically) and was living downstairs in his house , using a commode and sleeping in his chair. For the first 3 months, his exercises were to get out of his chair 6 times a day. When he could do that, he built up to 12 times a day. When his leg muscules were a but stronger they started on stairs, first with a step aerobic step, then finally, after a year, this bloke could get upstairs again.

Look after your legs! Keep them strong and agile! They are what keep you moving even when you don't want to go very far..

(dm bought a terraced house with three flights of stars and a Labrador. She's pretty fit for her 80s).

Body pump is what finished my back off even though I had a personal trainer at DL who said my form was perfect. In my case I do think it's to do with my hyper mobility but if you're super flexible be careful.

I’m 56, I do Pilates and yoga. I also have a dog so I walk her every day, but at the weekends I get her out on the Cotswold way to walk steep hills.

I have osteoporosis thanks to 8 years of breast cancer drugs. So I’m trying to look after muscles and bones. I could do better though, I need to remember to take my calcium and Vit D - often forget 🙁 And I know I need to eat more protein.

How old are you? Both my mum (68) and my MIL (72) can do this.

maybe something to work on. Never too old to build muscle + increase flexibility!

You need to maintain muscle mass through exercise/activity and sufficient protein. Aim for at least 30g in every meal including breakfast. It gets harder to utilise protein as you get older so you will need to eat more.

Make sure you get at least 8000 steps a day and try to do some step climbing or strength training. Don't sit for more than 1 hour without a break.

Try to maintain 10/10 on the sit/stand test

I'm not sure what this is for. Hope it made you feel better.

It is very hard to not to sit for over an hour though. Most people work and no one watching a film at the cinema or on the sofa is going to be jumping up for a quick jog about. I think people can get a bit obsessed with this rather than thinking maybe put your feet up instead?

I was always told that any job where you are on your feet a lot (hairdressing/nursing) is going to cause you more issues - wearing down joints and varicose veins etc.

Basically exercise. My late mil stopped leaving the house when fil died, hence a lack of mobility and exercise. She went pretty quickly from someone who was very active and fit, to struggling to get herself from her chair to the bedroom. I guess your limbs, with lack of use, just cease up quicker when you’re older.