Energy Bite 268 – Comments About My “Leg Strength” Article.
Last week’s article was about the importance of leg strength and the ability to get up and down from a chair using only your legs,drew an email comment from a Clinical Psychologist who deals with health issues, and whose practice brings him into contact with Seniors. I’m quoting with permission and with a tiny bit of selective editing to make it totally relevant. He wrote:
“I have a number of Medicare patients; I have each one get up and every one of my patients use their arms; I then ask them to stand on one foot and, invariably,they immediately fall back on the couch. With years of pleading, I’ve got exactly TWO people to go to PT (Ed. Physical Therapy); that’s it. So,with all the information out there, it often goes on deaf ears. But the same is true with nutrition (i.e. weight), smoking, alcohol, etc.
“My conclusion is that the methods we use to motivate/educate people are not working. The weight programs are often counterproductive . . . . However, I am generally optimistic!”
He’s right, particularly about the latter part. I will offer a possible solution to that in a future article.
Sometimes I seem to discount the difficulties in getting up and down, and need an occasional self-inflicted lesson to pound into my own head that it’snot always easy. Last week I injured my back slightly, doing something that was probably foolish, and I discovered first hand just how difficult it can be sometimes to use just your legs to get up and down when significant pain is involved. But, because I had just published the article and my own ego and identity were at risk, I continued to practice what I had just preached. I’m glad I did. The pain in my back is disappearing slowly and I am nearly back to normal. Lesson learned.
So while I try not to be sanctimonious about things like that, I stand by my contention that your ability to stand up and sit down unassisted using only your legs is critical to maintaining your physical strength, and to your independence as you get older.
Thank you for reading.