5 Daily Habits That Make You Age Faster (And What to Do Instead!)

Dr. Alyssa Kuhn, arthritis specialist, gives advice that goes for us all, with or without arthritis:

Keep it moving

Fun fact: the phrase “the quick and the dead” might seem like a strange comparison (what about all those who are neither quick nor dead?), but the word “quick” is originally from the Proto-Germanic “kwikwaz”, and simply meant “alive”.

However: there is something to be said for keeping things moving if we do not want to be stilled forever!

To this end, Dr. Kuhn recommends being mindful of the following 5 bad habits, and doing their healthier (more lively!) counterparts instead:

• Treating pain with pills rather than movement: this makes your body weaker and less mobile. So…
  • Gentle, consistent movement helps joints and muscles stay younger. In other words, take the pills as well if you must, but don’t let it delay you also moving your body. As we say, gentle movements are fine! But do move.
• Skipping strength training: after 40, muscle loss accelerates (sarcopenia). So…
  • Strength-focused exercises like sit-to-stand, step-ups, and wall push-ups are needed, since walking alone isn’t enough.
• Only moving in straight lines: avoiding sideways or backwards movement reduces mobility. So…
  • Practicing side steps, taps, or backwards walking keeps the body adaptable.
• Ignoring balance: poor balance often doesn’t get noticed as a problem until some disaster occurs. So…
  • Daily practice like tandem stance, single-leg stance, or single-leg deadlifts improves stability and reduces fall risk.
• Avoiding the floor: not practicing getting down and up makes the skill harder to maintain and more dangerous to lose.
  • Safe, regular practice maintains independence and mobility; find a way to build it into your daily routine 🙂

For more on each of these plus visual demonstrations of some exercises where appropriate, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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The Most Important Mobility Moves Everyone Needs

Take care!