More Life Health Blog - Discussing Seniors' Exercise, Health, Fitness, & More!
🥩🥚 Healthy Eating Tip #3: Eat More Protein
Protein is important for every cell in our body. It’s main job is to build and repair tissues.
It’s the building block for muscles, cartilage, skin, bones and blood. It is used to make enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals.
Protein will increase our metabolism. Make us feel more full after eating. It will help us lose weight, build muscle and give us the fitter/more toned appearance (by helping lose weight and build muscle).
Read this article to find out more about protein and how to easily get more protein in your diet.
HEALTHY EATING TIP # 3: EAT SUFFICIENT PROTEIN DAILY!
Before we get into protein in a little detail, we need to take a look at what our food in more depth.
All the food we eat is made up of both macronutrients and micronutrients.
The macronutrients are the nutrients that supply us with energy. There are three macronutrients: Protein, carbohydrates and fats. Macronutrients make up the majority of the food, whatever it is (hence macro).
The micronutrients, on the other hand, are the nutrients only needed in small amounts yet are vital for the proper functioning of our body to maintain health. (These are the vitamins and minerals).
To maintain good health, we must ensure we are getting adequate energy from protein, carbohydrates AND fats, each day, from healthy foods.
These foods should also contain plenty of micronutrients to ensure our body is functioning optimally and are in good health. Some foods are more nutrient-dense than others.
We also want to stay properly hydrated. Our body is 70% water, after all.
These foods should also contain plenty of micronutrients to ensure our body is functioning optimally and are in good health. Some foods are more nutrient-dense than others.
I'll save carbohydrates and fats for later articles. But for now, our thoughts should be shifting towards eating more healthy protein each day.
SO WHAT IS PROTEIN?
When thinking of protein, think of meats, fish, cheese, eggs, milk, beans, nuts and seeds.
Protein is vital for every cell in our body. Its main job is to build and repair tissues.
It's the building block for muscles, cartilage, skin, bones and blood. It is used to make enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals.
Protein will increase our metabolism. Make us feel fuller after eating. It will help us lose weight, build muscle and give us the fitter/more toned appearance (by helping lose weight and build muscle).
Protein is an essential nutrient, especially when exercising and one we must ensure we are getting adequate of amounts daily.
HOW MUCH PROTEIN SHOULD WE BE GETTING?
The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommends that 15-25% of our total energy intake should come from protein, with a daily intake of the following:
The RDI of protein for women aged 19–70 years is 46 grams per day.
The RDI of protein for men aged 19-70 years is 64 grams per day.
Women over 70 should have at least 57g per day.
Men over 70 should have over 81g per day.
However, recent literature has argued that protein intake higher than this may be required to help older adults sustain muscle strength and function into older age.
The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) gives the following recommendations, based on research gathered are made:
1 - For healthy seniors - at least 1.0 to 1.2 g protein/kg body weight/day is recommended.
2- For seniors who are at risk of malnutrition because they have acute or chronic illness, the diet should provide 1.2 to 1.5 g protein/kg body weight/day.
3 - For seniors with sever illness or injury - even higher intake of 1.2 to 1.5 g protein/kg body weight/day may be required.
ESPEN also recommend daily exercise and resistance training to maintain health and muscle strength and function.
Do you feel you are getting enough protein?
HOW TO GET MORE PROTEIN
To make it easier to get the daily requirements of protein. It's a good idea to understand how much of it is in your food.
Using Google's protein calculator, we get the following:
Chicken - 80-gram serve = 22 grams of protein
Lean Minced beef - 80-gram serve = 21 grams of protein
Tuna - 80-gram serve - 24g of protein
Milk - 1 cup = 9 grams of protein
Egg - 1 egg = 6 grams of protein
Nuts - 30 gram serve = 6 grams of protein
MIKE'S HOT TIP: To get your recommended daily intake of protein, aim to get at least one serving of protein at each meal.
The piece of toast, Vegemite and glass of orange juice, is going to need a little protein boost from now on.
If you don't like the sources above, there are plenty more sources of protein including Seafood, turkey, pumpkin seeds, lentils, chickpeas, cottage cheese, other cheeses, quinoa, yoghurt and even oats.
Eating more foods higher in protein will make a big difference in your health and your appearance.
The difficulty with eating more protein, however, is it's much harder to get high protein foods into our diet. They are way less accessible than other foods. But with a little thought and preparation, we can start getting more protein with ease.
Here are some ways to get some extra protein into your day.
IDEAS OF GETTING MORE PROTEIN INTO YOUR DAY:
Eat meat and different cuts of meat to increase your collagen intake.
Eat bone broth. (Click for a healthy bone broth recipe).
Try this protein filled lettuce cup ginger beef recipe. Or this chocolate protein ball recipe.
Have a hard-boiled egg or two as a snack or eat eggs for breakfast- Most of have been known to eat cereal with our milk. Why not switch that cereal for a two-egg omelette, and a side of some fruit! Eggs are nature's multivitamin.
Eat cottage cheese - I love eating cottage cheese as a way to get more protein. Check your health food store for better quality brands.
Swap regular yoghurt for Greek yoghurt - Many yoghurts are full of sugar and additives, switch the cheaper kind of yoghurt for greek yoghurt
Add cheese to your salads or eat them on healthy crackers- I like parmesan, feta, halloumi.
Eat a handful of nuts - My favourite nuts are macadamias. Be careful not to go too crazy.
Add peas to your meals - A serving of green peas can have up to 8g of protein.
Make hummus as a dip or put it on a sandwich- chickpeas are full of protein.
By adding a few of these simple tips to your day, you'll find it much easier to get your daily intake of protein and improve your health.
Sleep Is Great Medicine: How To Get A Good Night's Sleep Over 60
Lack of sleep should NOT be accepted as a symptom of ageing.
Just because you are older, does not mean you should be tired all the time.
High quality, restful sleep is very important to our physical and emotional health and actually one of the most under-appreciated steps we can do to improve it.
FIRST PUBLISHED: 05/1/2018. LAST UPDATED: 11/7/2022
SLEEP TIPS FOR SENIORS
Not Getting a good night's sleep shouldn’t be accepted as a normal symptom of ageing.
Just because you are older does not mean you should be tired all the time.
High-quality, restful sleep is essential to our physical and emotional health and one of the most under-appreciated steps we can take to improve it.
Sleep is essential medicine, and most of us are all guilty, myself included, of neglecting it in some way or another.
There is no change in the amount of sleep you require at any age! We should all aim to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep every night. And doing whatever we can to make sure this happens.
When we get less sleep, we are more forgetful, our mood is down, and we are more irritable (no one wants to hang around a cranky person!). And the risk of falling increases [1, 2].
If that's not enough, it has also been shown that not getting enough sleep is one of the most significant lifestyle factors determining whether or not you will develop Alzheimer's disease.
When we get a good night's sleep, we are happier, healthier, and more alert, any work we do is easier, life is easier, we have much more energy, and we enjoy life much more.
You can make some changes to ensure you get a restful sleep every night.
In this article, I will detail how you can get a good night's sleep each night.
Do your best to implement these strategies below, and you will get into much deeper sleep each night AND sleep for longer.
1. SPEAK TO YOUR DOCTOR TO RULE OUT ANY UNDERLYING ISSUES
Health conditions include frequent urination, chronic or acute pain, arthritis, asthma, breathing disorders (sleep apnoea and snoring), diabetes, osteoporosis, night-time heartburn, or restless leg syndrome (RLS) can interfere with your sleep.
If you feel health ailments are causing sleep issues, speak to your doctor about this and work with your doctor on natural solutions to help you sleep.
2. CREATE THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT FOR SLEEP
Here are some tips to make your bedroom EXTRA comfortable:
Have a nice comfortable bed.
Keep your room or bed temperature just right – not too hot or not too cold. The ideal temperature for a good night's sleep is around 18 degrees Celsius. For me, this is too cold. Find the temperature which works best for you.
TIP: If you don't have air-conditioning, there are blankets available that can not only cool but also heat your bed. If your partner prefers a different temperature than you, these products can be set to different temperatures on each side.
Ensure your room is as quiet and dark as possible. Cut out any noise best you can and eliminate bright lights.
Keep your room for just bedtime activities. Sleep and .. cuddles!
3. GET THE RIGHT LIGHT
When we think of getting a good night's sleep, we don't usually think of getting adequate sunlight. However, getting outside in the sun, experiencing daylight is very important for health and to get a good night's sleep.
Sunlight helps regulate our sleep and wake cycles, increases our vitamin D levels and lifts our mood.
Sunlight also directly inhibits a vital hormone (melatonin) during the day, allowing it to be produced at night when required.
Melatonin is much needed for good health and the onset of a healthy sleep cycle at night time.
To optimise your melatonin production, spend time outdoors or near sunlight daily. Don't overdo it by getting sunburnt.
Avoid artificial light (those from televisions, mobile phones, tablets, or bright alarm clocks) at least two hours before bed. These items trick our body into thinking it's daytime, suppressing our body's production of melatonin.
Switch off all screens two hours before bed. Read a paperback book or a tablet with no backlight and move that bright alarm clock out of view.
4. OPTIMISE YOUR SLEEP PATTERNS
The best time to sleep is as close to sundown as possible. The best time to wake up is as close to sunrise as possible. Why? Because as the sun goes down, our melatonin levels start to rise.
In today's day and age, getting to bed around this time is very difficult to do. But if you're extra keen to improve your sleep, try to get into a similar sleep pattern each night and go to sleep as close to sundown as possible.
If you're struggling to improve your sleep pattern and are tired during the day. Take naps. I love naps!
Don't ever feel guilty for taking naps or for sleeping, for that matter. Sleep is a natural doctor you go to help restore you. See this doctor more often and for longer.
5. GET ACTIVE AND SPEND MORE TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Getting active and getting social can improve sleep.
Exercise releases chemicals that will help you get a more restful sleep.
And spending time with people you enjoy hanging around can improve your energy levels and mood and is also a great way to keep your activity levels up.
On the other hand, being less social may make you drowsy and feel bored, lonely and lethargic - which affects sleeping patterns.
Getting and staying active and hanging around people that make you feel good will improve your mood, helping you get a good night's sleep.
So get moving more and start seeing those people you enjoy time with more often.
6. EAT HEALTHIER
The healthier you eat, the better you will feel, and your body's systems will work. The better you feel, the better your body works, and the better you will sleep.
I know you don't need any more reminders about the importance of eating healthy but always do your best to eat those foods high in the healthy stuff (more nutrients).
Some nutrition tips to help you get a great night's sleep:
Stay away from too much caffeine, especially later in the day. Caffeine is in coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate.
Minimise, or avoid alcohol – higher amounts of alcohol in your system does not allow deep, restful sleep.
Avoid large meals close to bedtime. Your body should be resting, not digesting.
Minimise liquids 60 minutes before bed. This will decrease or negate the need to get up to go to the toilet during the night.
6. REDUCE STRESS AND RELAX MORE OFTEN
Getting your stress levels under control is very important.
If you find yourself worried, anxious or depressed during the day, having difficulty relaxing or continuously thinking about something, you may be under high stress.
Many events in life can cause stress.
Later in life, significant events like retirement, missing someone or moving locations can cause high stress.
Daily worries or stresses can also interfere with sleep at night.
Learn how to let go of your thoughts and worries; by doing this, you will improve your sleep.
You may know I'm big on mindfulness for decreasing stress, and I think everyone should find a technique that will help bring on relaxation. This should be done daily.
When we are more relaxed, it's easier to let new stresses go and look at certain situations differently.
Some ways to decrease stress are:
Listen to soothing music.
Read a book that makes you feel relaxed.
Take the time to relax before going to bed.
Use a relaxation technique (meditation, mindfulness, hot bath - whatever you know works for you) to prepare your body for sleep.
Speak to a counsellor, good friend or family member about what's troubling you.
Set goals to work towards to move your focus to something productive, rather than keeping your focus on your worries.
7. MEDICATIONS
Finally, some medications can affect your sleep. If you've noticed a pattern of sleep issues since starting a new medication, chat with your doctor about this and see what changes can be made.
Medication for sleep should not be taken every night.
Sleeping medication is helpful in some instances, but it is not a long-term solution for helping you sleep.
The long-term solution is finding the cause of why you are having trouble sleeping and eliminating it.
There you have seven strategies to help you improve your sleep. Start making the changes above from today and you'll find your sleep improving ten-fold. Here’s to a good night’s sleep.. Every night!
SOURCES
TO VIEW ALL SOURCES USED IN THIS ARTICLE AND FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, CLICK HERE.
Using Body Weight Scales: Why You Shouldn't Get Caught Up
The bathroom scale, is a quick, easy and accessible way to measure our total body weight.
We kick out the scale from under our bathroom cabinet, press the button on, wait for it to zero, step on them and voila! We’ve got our measurement.
They are a great tool to let us know how much we weigh and give us an idea of any changes in our body weight over time.
But the benefits of the scale stop here! …
Body weight scales, are a quick, easy and accessible way to measure your total body weight.
You move the scale from under your bathroom cabinet, turn it on, wait for it to zero, step on it and voila! You’ve got your measurement.
They are a great tool to let you know how much you weigh and give an idea of any changes in your body weight over time.
But the benefits of these scales stop here!
Body weight scales will give you an accurate measure of our total body weight, but this is all it will give you.
Body weight scales are not a good tracking tool to determine if you are losing or gaining fat!
There are many factors, besides fat gain or loss, that can alter the reading.
From certain foods causing you to retain more, or less, water in your body and muscle building exercises causing you to gain more muscle! (We all know that muscle weighs more than fat).
Let’s look at an example of how a body weight scale reading can misguide us:
Betty is unhappy with the extra fat that has slowly accumulated around her waist. She also hasn’t been very active over the past 6 months, which means her legs are getting weaker.
She finds herself having a little more difficulty moving around and has noticed carrying shopping bags is harder than what it used to be.
Betty dusts off her scales, steps on them and is mortified with what she sees.
She is 4 kgs heavier than she has ever been in her life. She knew she had gained some weight, but 4kgs heavier than she has ever been? Where did this increase in weight come from?
Unhappy Betty decides to do something about her situation.
Betty has made the decision that she wants to get stronger and lose fat.
She begins exercises and increases her activity level.
She cuts out all the junk food she is eating, starts eating a little less and has added some healthier foods into her day.
Betty feels she is doing everything right. (And she is!)
Betty stays consistent and is starting to actually like exercising and weeks have now passed.
Betty is now feeling better. She feels she is moving about much easier and the shopping bags seem lighter again. Betty also feels she looks better.
Betty is happy!
Happy Betty decides to jump on the scales just to confirm what she is thinking is correct!
Uh oh! Betty was thinking the scale numbers were going to be down, but Betty weighs exactly the same. 😟How quickly Betty's mood can change!
How can this be?? All that hard work that Betty has put in over the past weeks and no weight loss to show for it.
Believe it or not, this is not an uncommon scenario! And this is where our motivation may decrease if we don't know better.
Little does Betty know she has lost fat and has re-gained that muscle in her body she once had.
When we start exercising more and eating healthy we lose fat and get stronger. Our muscles grow. Our body composition changes.
Yet the scale can shown no difference. It can even show that we have put on weight, when our goal is to lose it and we are doing the right things.
I see over and over again people getting too caught up in the number.
The scales only show our TOTAL weight. They do not indicate if you are actually losing fat. They do not indicate if you are gaining muscle.
Which is why the scale should NOT be used as the only indicator of results when attempting to lose fat.
Getting your body fat percentage tested by a Health Professional (using body calipers or technology) is a better guide of progress when attempting to lose weight. Even a tape measure can be a better guide of fat lost.
When not having the guidance of a Health Professional to accurately measure our body composition, we can also use other indicators, that usually can't be quantified, to help determine the effectiveness of our fat loss plan.
Other Indicators to Use:
Determine how much better you feel.
Determine how much easier you move around.
Determine if your clothes aren’t hugging your body as much as they used to.
Determine if you look better in your own eyes.
Notice the comments you are getting from other people.
Use these indicators with confidence. Don't let yourself slip into a negative headspace.
Feel good and continue that good feeling. Take a light hearted approach!
Don’t think you have to work really, really hard, doing exercises you don’t like.
Find exercises and physical activity you enjoy doing. When we enjoy the exercises/activity it's never a chore.
Combine this with healthy eating and you’ll start noticing the differences.
You'll start getting all those indicators mentioned above and your weekly body weight measurements will eventually reflect this.
Don’t get caught up in the scale readings!
Be happy, keep active, do the activities you enjoy, stay consistent and eat well.
And the rest will take care of itself.
🍫 Mike's Nutrition Tip #2: Is Chocolate Healthy For Seniors?
The Health Benefits of Chocolate
Chocolate is full of healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. It is an antioxidant rich superfood. Cocoa actually beats other “superfoods”, which you’ve probably seen highly praised in articles or around your health food stores and supermarkets, for antioxidant capacity. Like acai, pomegranate, cranberry and blueberry.
I believe chocolate, (the right kind), is a great addition to any healthy eating plan. 🍫
Me, a Health Professional, telling people it's actually good for health. Sounds a little crazy right?
You're probably thinking: "Isn’t this meant to be a big ‘no, no’ from a health perspective"
Well, in my opinion, it’s not!
Although many other Health Professionals and Exercise Trainers would disagree with me and tell you to stay away from chocolate for your health, I have to say I disagree with this. :)
Unless you tell me you wanted to get an extra skinny bikini body (which I'm yet to hear this in my line of work) I'm not going to tell you to stop eating chocolate!
I’m 100% FOR eating a little chocolate for it’s health benefits... And because it tastes good!
Now, I’m not saying to go crazy on all chocolate you can get your hands on!
Chocolate IS still high in fat and sugar and therefore calories. And eating an excess of calories WILL cause you to put on weight. (It only takes a small amount of chocolate to get a whole lot of calories).
And we want to make sure we are eating the RIGHT type of chocolate.
However…
Chocolate is not the devil of foods which so commonly gets a bad rap, and I could think of hundreds of foods to cut out of your diet for good health. A block of good quality dark chocolate, is not one of them. (See my article on health eating here).
The Health Benefits of Chocolate
Chocolate contains healthy fats, vitamins and minerals (including magnesium, iron, zinc and manganese).
It is also an antioxidant rich superfood. Cocoa actually beats other “superfoods”, which you’ve probably seen highly praised in articles or around your health food stores and supermarkets, for antioxidant capacity. Like acai, pomegranate, cranberry and blueberry.
Being full of healthy nutrients, chocolate has been shown that it can:
Decrease stress and inflammation
Protect against UV damage
Protect from disease fighting free radicals
Potentially prevent cancer
Improve heart health
Improve blood pressure and blood sugar
Improve overall cholesterol profile
Improve cognitive function
And most importantly.. It tastes good and makes us happy! Happiness is health!
So you see there any many health benefits to eating chocolate, which is why I sometimes eat a little every day!
Now as I said, we don’t want to be eating the junk filled chocolate bars, we want to be eating the good quality stuff.
The Chocolate Bar I Recommend:
Dark chocolate is a healthier option over milk chocolate. This is due to the higher cocoa, which means more nutrients and less sugar. The higher the percentage of cocoa the higher the nutrients and the less amount of sugar.
However, this still doesn't mean a good quality milk chocolate is necessarily bad for us!
A great chocolate bar is the Lindt dark chocolate block (70% and up). You can find the one with the right amount of sweetness for you, without being too bitter. Some people like their chocolate very dark!
If you don't eat dark chocolate because you prefer milk chocolate, it may take some time to adjust to it.
I recommend this chocolate because there are no added chemicals or other unhealthy ingredients which don't need to be in our chocolate. It is simply cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla. All natural ingredients. (This may be different in other countries, so check this if not in Australia).
Lindt 78% Chocolate Bar Ingredients.
There are other great bars out there also, but why I recommend the Lindt bar is because it is very easy to get hold of. I think every supermarket sells it.
These bars are a little more expensive than other chocolate bars, because cheaper ingredients aren't used, but it's worth the little extra price for your health.
I am one to crave chocolate and I eat two pieces usually a day.
So in summary, it’s ok to eat good quality chocolate, don’t go overboard and enjoy life! :)
🐄 🐮 Mike's Nutrition Tip #1: Butter or Margarine?
Butter has been a staple for centuries, with Margarine coming into popularity in recent times.
It was once thought that saturated fat was a bad choice for heart health. With butter being mainly saturated fat, this food was seen as the devil with margarine being seen as a "healthy alternative."
Butter or margarine? - Seniors nutrition tips
Something I love just as much as exercise..... food.
Studying different ways of healthy eating is something that interests me. I like studying it, I love helping people eat healthily, and I like eating healthy myself.
By making the right food choices, you can improve your health, lose weight, increase your energy levels as well as look and feel better!
To kick off my nutrition tips, I'm going to speak about which of the yellow spreads, butter or margarine, that we love to spread thick over our toast, we should choose.
This idea came a week ago when I opened a staffroom fridge and saw this:
Now you may be thinking, "what is the big deal with this margarine spread, and why did Mike write an email about it?"
Using butter or margarine can be quite a confusing topic. Especially when you see the healthy hype spread (pun intended) all over the labels of each.
Which leads me to:
Mike’s Nutrition Tip #1:
Choose butter over margarine (or similar spreads).
Let me explain why I wanted to write this email to you and why I'd choose butter over margarine...
Always.
Here's why:
Butter has been a staple for centuries.
In recent years, it was thought that saturated fat was a bad choice for heart health. With butter being mainly saturated fat, this food was seen as the devil with margarine being seen as a "healthy alternative."
Many people and professionals will still support this.
However, this has been debunked many times and it has been shown that saturated fat is protective. We need saturated fat for good health!
The Difference Between Margarine and Butter:
Margarine was created to replace butter and is a highly processed food.
The main ingredient in margarine is vegetable oil (something I recommend to stay well clear of), along with many artificial ingredients such as emulsifiers, colours (margarine is actually an off grey colour before the colours are added) and flavours. (To learn more about this click here)
Let’s look closer at the ingredients on the margarine in the staffroom fridge and another I found at the supermarket.
Margarine #1: Ingredients
Margarine #2: Natural Butter Flavour 🤢
Notice the amount of ingredients and all the numbers. This is the case with almost any margarine you pick up.
Why I Don't Like Vegetable Oil Based Spreads:
Vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature and because of this, margarine is often hydrogenated to make it harder and to extend the shelf life. Hydrogenation turns some of the vegetable oils into trans fats (THE BAD STUFF).
Why I Like Butter:
Butter on the other hand isn’t processed. It is made by churning the fatty part of a cow’s milk until it turns into butter. It is FULL of vitamins and minerals and then usually some salt and water is added.
It's also tastes a whole lot better.
Let’s take a look at the ingredients of some butters:
Butter A: Ingredients: Organic cream, sea salt, water
Butter B: Ingredients: Cow's milk, Salt
As you can see only 2-3 ingredients compared to the long list of ingredients in the margarine.
Remember: The fewer ingredients in your food and the more natural the ingredients are, the better the food is going to be for you.
The ONLY Advantage of Vegetable Oil-Based Spread:
There is one and only one (minor) advantage of the primary ingredient being vegetable oil and a reason why some people prefer margarine: it is easier to spread.
For this reason, some of the labelled “easy spreadable" butters have vegetable oil added to them to make it softer. Some vegetable oils you may see added to your butter could be canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil or just "vegetable oil.
Keep a lookout for this and stick to the butters without vegetable oils.
The butter I eat: any GRASS-FED BUTTER (butter from cows who eat grass).
Choose grass-fed because the cows are eating what they should be eating.
Healthy Cow 🐮. Healthy Butter. Healthy You. 😊
To learn more about healthy eating - click here.
The Guide to Stronger Legs For Seniors
(INCLUDES : THE BEST LEG STRENGTHENING EXERCISES AND STRONGER LEGS WORKOUT VIDEO)
With stronger legs comes many benefits; we move well and effortlessly, we can decrease or prevent pain in our knees and our hips and we can help prevent falls.
In this article, we will cover why it's possible to increase leg strength regardless of age, how all of us should be moving to keep our knees healthy and how you can strengthen your legs to keep yourself moving as you should and by doing this decreasing or preventing knee pain!
(Includes: The Best Leg Strengthening Exercises and STRONGER Legs Workout Video)
With stronger legs comes many benefits; we move well and effortlessly, we can decrease or prevent pain in our knees and our hips, and we can help prevent falls.
Regardless of your current physical capabilities, keeping your legs strong and moving as well as you can is essential.
When our legs start getting weaker, life is much, much harder.
Whether you feel your legs are fine with no strength loss and are doing everything you have always done but want to keep it that way or improve your strength even further. Or, you're in the opposite situation, can feel yourself getting weaker, and even the simplest of tasks are causing you trouble. Either way, this article will be of great help to you.
In this article, we will cover why it's possible to increase leg strength regardless of age, how all of us should be moving to keep our knees healthy and how you can strengthen your legs to keep yourself moving as you should and by doing this decreasing or preventing knee pain!
CONTENTS
WHY IT'S POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE LEG STRENGTH AT ANY AGE & DECREASE PAIN
Most of the changes (losing muscle bulk and/or reduced strength) are NOT caused just by our bodies undergoing the natural ageing process. The majority of change occurs due to lack of use.
We do less physical activity, and we stop using the muscles in the way we used to. The activities that keep our muscles strong. Leading to smaller and weaker muscles.
2) Pain in the knees, with or without osteoarthritis, can be helped and prevented by changing the way we move and by strengthening our legs.
If you are feeling down because you have been told you have osteoarthritis, I want you to put this diagnosis aside for a while.
Although osteoarthritis and pain usually come together. Osteoarthritis is NOT the cause of pain. You can have osteoarthritis and be pain-free, many, many people are.
So, let’s not focus on what we can’t change (the arthritis diagnosis) and focus and correct what we can change (the way we move and our leg strength).
Changing these factors has been proven to decrease strain on the knees, preventing the worsening of joint wear and tear and helping and/or reducing pain symptoms. [1]
So, what if we focused on correcting your movement patterns, allowing the body to move as it should? And, what if we also strengthened weak muscles in our legs?
We'd decrease the strain on our knees, preventing any further pain or preventing pain altogether! We would also find knee exercises much easier and less painful! We'd also strengthen our legs, decreasing the strain on our knees and making everything we do in life much easier.
There are other factors we can change to decrease knee pain symptoms, such as: losing weight, choosing softer surfaces over harder surfaces when walking (to decrease shock absorption through the knees), wearing better shoes (with shock-absorbing soles) and wearing knee supports (to provide warmth and give confidence).
But to make real, lasting changes, we must move correctly and strengthen our legs! This goes for everyone. Even if you have no pain, by learning the techniques in this article, you will learn how to improve your movement and increase your leg strength, preventing any pain that could occur.
The first step:
MOVING CORRECTLY TO DECREASE OR PREVENT PAIN
In our day-to-day lives, we perform certain movements but give little to no thought to how we perform them. This is fine. This is how movement should be.
But when we perform the movements incorrectly, over time problems can arise.
Bad postures, awkward, repetitive, and incorrect movements put a strain on our muscles and joints, the knee being a joint which can take on the brunt of the excess strain.
Common incorrectly performed movements that place excess strain through the knees are kneeling, squatting or even the simple task of standing up!
We can improve these movements by making a few changes. By doing this, you'll be minimising the strain placed through the knees each day which will relieve pain or prevent pain and allow you to perform exercises as they should to strengthen the legs.
AVOID THESE MISTAKES WHEN STANDING UP
We stand up and sit down many, many times during the day and therefore throughout our life. From the couch, from a chair, from the toilet, and so on.
Standing seems like such a simple task, and it should be. However, it's commonly performed in a way that puts a lot of stress through the knees.
The most common mistake seen when standing is incorrect knee alignment (knees moving in). Like this:
Incorrect Standing 1: Sitting with knees facing in.
Incorrect Standing 2 - Knees coming inward when standing, not inline with toes.
What we see above is usually the result of weak hips and glutes (buttocks).
Knees coming in is more common in women. Women have a wider pelvis and are usually told from an early age to sit with their knees together, "sit like a lady". This sitting pattern is repeated day in, and day out for life, to the point it becomes the normal way to sit and stand.
With these factors combined, we see an imbalance in our inner and outer thigh muscles. Our inner thigh muscles become overactive with weaker outer thigh muscles (hip and buttocks).
The above way of standing puts a whole lot of strain on our knees because we are not moving our bodies in their natural alignment.
This is not only the case when standing up, because of these muscle imbalances, we are putting excess strain on our knees repetitively in different amounts when we walk upstairs, jog, kneel and even walk on the flat.
There is less force through our knees when walking on the flat over jogging or walking upstairs, but small repetitive forces over a lifetime add up!
CHECK YOUR STAND
Before we check if we stand with our knees coming in, let’s see what normal standing looks like. Knees should be in line with toes and remain like this throughout the stand. (See pictures below).
Correct Standing 1: Knees inline with toes.
Correct Standing 2: Correct knee alignment. Knees in line with toes.
STAND TEST
Let’s take the stand test and see if we have a natural tendency for our knees to come together when standing. Do not try to perform it correctly, just sit down and stand as you usually would. Yep, it’s that simple! :)
Do you find your knees come in when you are just sitting there and/or do you find they move in when you stand up?
If your knees are moving together, then you are not utilising your lower body muscles correctly and putting excess strain on the knees.
Now we are aware, We must correct this.
HOW TO STAND UP CORRECTLY (VIDEO)
The first step is bringing awareness to this issue when sitting. Do your best to avoid sitting with your knees together. Sit with your knees in line with your toes and your feet flat on the floor. This will be uncomfortable at first but stick to it. To continue to "sit like a lady" without your knees together, you can use a towel or blanket to cover up.
The next step is the awareness of keeping the knees in line with the toes when we stand up. When they start to come in, correct it.
When you continue to stand correctly, you can decrease the strain you put through your knees and then work on strengthening your muscles correctly.
We must strengthen the muscles NOT ONLY surrounding the knee, which is what most people only do to improve their knees but by strengthening ALL MUSCLES in our legs, especially our hips and buttocks.
When we strengthen all muscles in our legs, we can start and keep moving as we should.
AVOID THESE SQUAT MISTAKES
Another important movement is the squat.
It is good to be able to squat correctly so we can place less strain on our backs when we do specific tasks like lifting objects off the floor. However, squatting is also an important exercise to perform to strengthen our legs.
I love the squat for seniors because it works every muscle in the lower body and activates the core.
However, like the sit-to-stand, it is usually performed incorrectly and when performed incorrectly, can INCREASE knee strain.
The two most common mistakes I see when people squat putting added strain on the knees are:
1) Knees coming inwards (as below) - just like what happens when we stand up.
and
2) Coming forward from the knees (as below) making our knees come forward over the toes. (This isn’t an issue when sitting from standing because people know to hinge at the hips and stick their bottom out when having to find the chair).
Incorrect Squat:
Lady in Yellow Shirt: Squatting from knees, although this would be passable for a partial squat, if this lady was to squat down further, her knees would come past the line of her toes. I would like to see this lady sitting back more into the squat.
Lady in White Shirt: Again, coming forward from the knees, knees moving inward.
HOW TO SQUAT CORRECTLY (VIDEO)
To perform the squat with correct technique, watch these videos:
By squatting correctly, you will be moving as you should and when for exercise, you will be targeting and strengthening the muscles effectively without putting strain on the knees.
STRENGTHENING THE LEGS FOR SENIORS
HOW TO MAKE LEG EXERCISES EASIER OR PERFORM THEM WITH PAIN
If having difficulty with the sit-to-stand or the squat, there are many things you can do to make it easier until you are performing these exercises with ease.
For the Sit to Stand:
1) Use Arm Rests:
Using the armrests to help assist with your standing is fine. By doing this, you are still getting the benefits of the exercise for the stage you are at, but just using your arms to provide a little assistance to help you perform the exercise correctly.
As you start to get stronger, you can decrease the amount of assistance you are using over time. (i.e. move from two hands to one hand, to no hands).
Concentrate on using your legs more than your arms for each stand.
2) Change Seat Height:
Standing from a higher seat height or taller chair will make it easier for you to stand and, again, still give the benefits of the exercise, challenging your strength for the stage you are at.
Find a chair that is taller, or place a phone book or cushion on the chair to raise the height. As you start to get stronger, you can lower the height to continue challenging yourself and improving your strength.
When you slowly decrease the chair height as you get stronger, you'll continue to improve your strength and eventually be strong enough to stand in those times when you're seated at a low height (e.g. deep, low or soft couch)
For the Squat:
1) Hold Onto A Chair, Rail or Bench:
Use your arms to assist with the squat, and use your arms to assist as required. (Make sure your bench is sturdy and your chair does not have wheels).
2) Perform a Partial Squat:
By only squatting down a partial distance (picture 2 of squat exercise below) will still challenge your strength, making you stronger for the stage you are at. As you get stronger, you can go a little deeper into the squat, but never deeper than parallel
We all have different capabilities and strength, and this is fine. With time, practice and consistency, what was once considered hard will become a whole lot easier.
Be patient, don't compare yourself to anyone else; only compare you to you.
The 10 Best leg Strengthening Exercises For Seniors
So now we’ve established the sit to stand and the squat are important movements to do each day and when performed correctly are very important to get stronger legs so we move better and decrease pain.
Here are additional exercises, which are best for seniors to improve leg strength.
CLICK HERE FOR THE 10 BEST STRENGTHENING EXERCISES FOR SENIORS
Once performed and performed consistently you'll notice big differences in your leg strength, many of your everyday activities feeling a whole lot easier with your newly strengthened legs.
SENIORS LEG STRENTHENING WORKOUT VIDEO
To make it easier here is a leg exercises workout video you can follow along to whenever you want to help get your legs stronger. It includes a warm up, all exercises above and a stretch.
Video: The Best Leg Strengthening Exercises for Seniors
CLICK HERE FOR MORE LEG STRENGTHENING EXERCISE VIDEOS
So there you have it. The best way to improve your leg strength so you can decrease and prevent pain, prevent falls, move better, feel better and even improve the way you look.
With stronger legs we are more confident and we can continue to do the things we love that keep us happy.
To keep your legs strong and yourself in physical shape and healthy, I send regular workouts and tips to mailing list subscribers and for those on my Facebook. Make sure you follow along to both!
THE 10 BEST BALANCE EXERCISES FOR SENIORS
THE BEST BALANCE EXERCISES TO IMPROVE BALANCE IN LESS TIME
Balance CAN be trained.. You can become a whole lot steadier on your feet by incorporating some simple balance exercises into your life. The exercises that will give us the greatest improvements with less time spent working out.
In this article we go through the 1o best balance exercises that will give you GREAT RESULTS in less time.
BALANCE EXERCISES ALL SENIORS SHOULD BE DOING!
Becoming unsteady on your feet is NOT a normal part of ageing. Balance CAN be kept and improved at any age.
I recently wrote an article, The Complete Guide To Great Balance For Seniors, which is an in-depth guide to improving balance. This guide gives you everything required to learn, test and improve your balance. So check it out for more.
For now, however, we will go through the best balance exercises that will give you GREAT RESULTS in less time.
Spending 5-10 minutes at least three times a week doing these exercises and you WILL see improvements over time. BIG improvements!
Incorporating some short, simple sessions of great balance exercises into your life each week is all you need for improvement.
Don't get caught up in the hype that more is better. Do these exercises, give it ALL your focus, progress slowly as you improve and aim to keep consistent.
This is the key to improving your balance. Short sessions take away any exercise burden, making them easier to stick to. All your focus each session to ensure you are getting the most out of yourself and slowly progressing the exercises over time to keep challenging yourself, leading to continued results.
Now, let's get into it.
How To Get The Most out of Your Balance Sessions:
Safety First. Always!
Get the all-clear from your doctor before undertaking any of these balance exercises.
Ensure you have something sturdy to hold on to — a chair (without wheels), a rail, a kitchen bench or something similar. To improve our balance, we have to challenge ourselves by practising more challenging positions. When we challenge ourselves, we may lose our balance; this is why the chair (or something sturdy) is very, very important.
Do Not Over Do It!
Take it slow and steady and always perform the exercises safely, utilising proper exercise technique at all times.
Ensure you give your body adequate rest between exercises and after each workout. If you feel tired, rest. Remember, as we age, our bodies do not recover like they used to, so give it time.
Warm Up!
Always perform a warm-up.
Perform a warm-up before the exercises below. Or I like marching on the spot or a brisk walk. Or you can do one of my warm-up videos. This is to wake up our joints and muscles and get everything ready for the exercises. By warming up, you'll get more out of each workout and decrease your chances of injury.
Get Started. Stay Focused and Give It Your All!
Once warmed up, perform 4-5 of the ten exercises below and perform the amount I recommend as listed below.
Stay focused throughout the exercises, and don't become distracted. Give it your all for the short time you are performing the exercises.
Continue to Challenge Yourself and Keep Notes!
Try and hold positions for longer, do extra repetitions or sets, and perform another workout if you're feeling good.
Change up exercises every couple of weeks to make it different and to be challenging yourself.
Take notes of the progress you are making to track progress. It's also good for motivation to look back and see how far you have come.
To follow videos of me doing exercises similar to these, make sure you're signed up to the mailing list (enter your email below) and subscribe to the More Life Health YouTube channel.
TOP TEN BALANCE EXERCISES FOR OLDER ADULTS
1) STANDING FEET TOGETHER
Standing with your feet together.
Have a chair by your side or in front for safety reasons.
Hold this position for the set time.
How Long To Perform: Perform for 2 minutes
Mike’s added note: This exercise is relatively easy. However, there are many ways to challenge your balance by making this exercise, and all the others, more challenging, to find out how to do this, click HERE.
2) TANDEM STANCE
How To:
Standing tall with an upright posture.
Have a chair by your side or in front for safety reasons.
Keep your big toe of one foot touching the heel of your other foot. Keep your feet straight and not splayed.
Perform for the desired time.
Alternate legs.
How Long To Perform: Hold for 1 minute on each leg. Perform 2-3 times.
3) SINGLE-LEG STANCE
How To:
Standing tall with an upright posture.
Chair by your side or in front for safety reasons.
Shift your weight on to your right foot and lift your left knee up, bringing your left foot off the ground. Hold this position for the time specified.
Return to the start position.
Now shift your weight on to your left foot and lift your right knee up, bringing your right foot off the ground. Hold this position for the time specified.
How Long To Perform: Hold for 1 minute on each leg. Perform 2-3 times.
4) HIP EXTENSIONS (LEG LIFTS BACKWARDS)
How To:
Standing with your feet together, with a chair by your side or in front for safety reasons.
Raise one foot off the floor slightly behind you or with your toes touching the floor. Keep your knee straight throughout.
Return to start position. Repeat for the set repetitions.
Alternate legs
How Many To Perform: Perform 10-15 repetitions on each leg.
5) HIP ABDUCTIONS (LEG LIFTS SIDEWAYS)
How To:
Standing with your feet together, with a chair by your side or in front for safety reasons.
Raise one foot off the floor and lift it out, away from the body, 20-30cm off floor.
Keep your toes facing forward throughout lifting your leg (not out to the side).
Aim for 10-15cm off floor.
Return to start position. Repeat and alternate legs.
How Many To Perform: Perform 10-15 repetitions on each leg.
6) CALF RAISES
How To:
Standing tall with your feet together and knees straight.
Have a chair in front for safety reasons.
Lift straight up onto your toes, bringing your heels off the floor.
Hold for 1 second, then lower back to start position.
Repeat for the set repetitions.
How Many To Perform: Perform 10-15 repetitions.
7) SIT TO STAND
How To:
Siting in a chair in an upright position.
Place your hands on opposite shoulders and keep your feet flat on the floor.
Keep your back straight and your stomach tight.
Rise to full standing, ensuring the back of your legs are not touching the chair.
Sit down in a slow and controlled motion.
Use the armrests of the chair to assist standing if required.
How Many To Perform: Perform 10-15 repetitions.
Mike’s added note: If you cannot stand with your arms across your chest, attempt using one arm on the chair or use both if required.
8) SQUATS
How To:
Standing with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart.
Have a chair in front for safety reasons.
Hold your stomach tight and ensure your back is straight.
Bend your knees and sit back as if pretending to sit on a chair.
Ensure your knees are in line with your toes, and do not let your knees push forward in front of your toes.
Return to the start position (standing).
Repeat for the set repetitions.
How Many To Perform: Perform 10-15 repetitions.
9) TANDEM WALKING
How To:
Standing perpendicular to a kitchen bench, a rail (if available), or the back of a lounge, or place 3- 4 chairs in a line.
You can apply masking tape on the floor for a line to follow (see diagram), but this is not required.
Walk heel to toe for the length of the bench/rail/lounge/tape (2 - 5 metres).
Ensure your toes are facing forward.
Repeat.
How Many To Perform: Perform 6 - 12 lengths.
10) GRAPEVINES
How To:
Standing perpendicular to a kitchen bench, a rail (if available), or the back of a lounge, or place 3- 4 chairs in a line.
You can apply masking tape on the floor for a line to follow (see diagram), but this is not required.
Walk sideways with your opposite leg crossing in front of your leading leg for the length of the bench/rail/tape (2-5 metres).
Ensure your toes are facing forward.
Return back to the start position.
Repeat.
How Many to Perform: 6 - 12 lengths.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD TO PERFORM BALANCE EXERCISES FOR IMPROVED BALANCE
And there we have it! Ten balance exercises every senior should be doing.
Choose 4-5 exercises after a warm-up and perform as above at least 3 x a week.
Example Balance Program:
Monday (Warm-Up - Exercise 1, 2, 5, 6, 7),
Wednesday (Warm-Up - Exercise 2, 3, 4, 9)
Friday (Warm-Up - 2, 3, 5, 8, 10)
Stay consistent, and enjoy it.
The results will come.
If you would rather follow along to a balance exercise video to help improve your balance. Here is an exercise video for good balance and leg strength. Both are important in preventing falls. Follow along by clicking below.
BALANCE EXERCISES FOR SENIORS VIDEO
SIMPLE BALANCE EXERCISES FOR OLDER ADULTS: Follow along to this balance exercise video to improve your balance, and get stronger legs.
For more balance exercise videos, click HERE:
Leave the workouts up to me, by signing up to the More Life Health Mailing List here (click to join). You'll receive a FREE exercise eBook and all your seniors' health and fitness tips and extra workouts covering balance, posture, strength, fitness and flexibility, and much more.
How did you go with these exercises? I’d love to know! You can let me know in the comments below.