Age Well: Build Movement Habits That Make You Fitter Than You Were 20 Years Ago

This is a topic close to my heart. Whether you're an ex-professional athlete, a nurse, a builder, office worker, artist, gardener or a recreational cyclist you're going to age and it would be nice to do it well. This may mean pain-free to you, with minimal surgical intervention and loving your hobbies and sport. I was 35 when I experienced back pain for the first time. Pain prevention is worth considering at any age. I have many fit 60-80 year olds in my classes who enjoy walking, cycling, and running. Some have no complaints, others do. What you do day-to-day matters.

There’s a common belief that getting older automatically means becoming stiff, slower, weaker, and more limited. But for many people, the opposite can be true. With the right movement habits, mindset, and consistency, it’s possible to feel stronger and more capable of walking longer distances in your 60s-70s than you could 20 years previously.

Language Matters

Exercise improves health but so too does the positive or negative language we use when doing it. In a study to measure this, researchers found that walking speed and time spent in the balance phase of walking increased after only 30mins of intervention (Hausdorff, Levy & Wei 1999). During a 30min video game, subliminal terms were flashed on the screen: "senile, dependent, diseased" for one group and "wise, astute, accomplished" for the other. The positively reinforced group were able to make walking speed improvements more commonly found after weeks of exercise training. No exercise intervention at all, just the power of words and positive reinforcement.

Poor Movement Habits

What's important is not the inevitability of decline of the body with age, but that the loss of function is perhaps more to do with weakness created by poor movement habits.

Sitting for long periods - hardly a movement issue, more a lack of movement causing stiff hips, weak glutes and stiffness in your spine

Limited Movement -pain in your joints reducing the amount you exercise

Poor Breathing & Posture - shallow breathing and a collapsed posture increases tension in the neck, shoulders, hips and low back

Daily Movement Repetition - driving, at a desk for hours, the same sport can overload joints and muscles

Good Movement Habits

This begins with your feet.These amazing parts of your body have 33 joints and over a 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments and they pretty much assist you with every day-to-day task you do. This explains why stiff, painful and under-moved feet are the starting point for better movement in your knees and hips.

The good news is that your feet only feel weak and stiff because you have kept them in "good shoes" - stiff, supported, sometimes elevated in heels for decades. This alongside too much sitting and lack of walking on natural terrain can cause foot ailments (bunions, bone spurs, plantar fasciitis, osteoarthritis & neuropathy.) and back ache.

Practical Exercises for Better Habits

Move Your Feet More - to strengthen and mobilise them, for balance and walking

Ex 1: (pic 1) Stretch the top of your foot to improve toe, foot and ankle mobility. Seated without shoes or socks, reach back with one foot, tucking your toes under. Heel centred, ankle still. No force. Let gravity work its magic. Progress to standing - maintaining a tall posture

Ex 2: (pic 2)Sit or stand and place a tennis ball beneath a foot and roll backwards/forwards. Explore every part of your foot. This is mimicking bumpy terrain to exercise the smaller muscles in your feet. More pressure/foot joint movement is applied when standing.

Ex 3: (no pic) Stretch your toes for a wider base -the larger the base, the more balanced you will be. Tight shoes worn for decades create narrow bases with toes squeezed together. Use toe separating socks or separators. Your toes like your fingers should be able to spread out. Sit down & cross your right ankle over your left & hold your right foot with your left hand. Insert the fingers of your left hand between your toes & hold for 60 secs. Stand up & try to make space between each toe, keeping the toes flat on the ground.

Ex 4:(pic 3) Toe lifts -the ability to lift each toe individually means you're in better control of your feet. Start with your big toe on your left foot. Lift it straight up and don't let it veer sideways. Hold the other toes down to help. Then the right big toe. Next lift the big toe, second and so on to your little toe. Balls of feet stay down. Put them back down again one at a time from the little toe this time. Finish with Ex 1.

Read my Blog "Just 5 Minutes of Daily Foot Exercises" for useful info on footwear.

Release Your Calves - tight and restricted ankle movement in walking is often caused by tight calves

Ex 1: In standing, with a wall/chair support closeby, step onto a thick folded/rolled towel with the ball of the foot on top of the towel, heel on the floor. Foot facing forwards & gently straighten the leg. Keeping upright,step forwards with your other foot. Small distance. Hold x 20 secs

Ex 2: for the deeper calf muscle, the back knee stays bent. Hold x 20 secs

Strengthen Hips - this begins with your feet too. By standing correctly with a good posture (ideal alignment), your weight should be towards your heels and not your toes. This allows you to use your bottom (glutes) muscles when you walk. Imagine your pelvis over your ankles, your ribs above your pelvis and your head in the centre. These three "ball bearings" need to align for better movement. Try this in your day-to-day life, especially when you're walking.

Walking Challenge - once your walking technique has improved with the exercises above:

Increase your mileage by a little every time you walk

Increase the frequency you walk, up to 2/3 times a day

Change your route to stimulate your brain

Add hills

Walk on uneven terrain

Habit Making Tips

We are more accustomed to setting time to exercise rather than incorporating these good movements throughout our day. Here are some ways to get started:

Pop a post it note on your bathroom mirror, by your kitchen table or desk with foot exercises on

Keep your tennis ball by your desk or bed so you use it the moment you get up or sit down

Find a walking buddy or walk your neighbours dog

Take your book club to the woods for a meeting for a change or scenery

Join a Birdwatching group

To Summarise

Ageing is something we all have in common. It doesn't indicate anything other than the fact that our time and experience are constantly accumulating. This is a gift. By using positive language to refer to this process we're more likely to get fitter and be self-motivated. By tweaking our daily habits to include more movement, strengthen our bodies from our feet upwards, challenge ourselves that little bit more every day, there is no reason we cannot be fitter than we were two decades ago. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

If getting started is the issue, join my next pilates classes for low back pain prevention this coming June/July here. I'll be uploading these classes online here the beginning of June if you prefer to follow from home.