Get Strong to Live Long
Physiotherapists are urging older people to ‘get strong’ in order to increase their longevity. A recent poll has found that some older people aren’t doing so much as carrying their shopping each week.
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The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have carried out a survey that has found 24% of people aged 65 and over do no strengthening activities at all each week. This could be putting them in real danger of falls and other serious ill health.
It is recommended that we make sure we’re being active for at least 150 minutes a week. In addition to this, the national activity guidelines suggest that we should be doing at least two strengthening sessions per week. For people up to the age of 64, this can include exercising with weights or lifting and carrying heavy loads such as groceries. For those 65 and over, activities that involve stepping and jumping, like dancing, or chair aerobics have been recommended. In return, this should help reduce the risk of falls and other ill health.
It is estimated that falls cause around 95% of all hip fractures, which is costing the NHS over 1bn a year. The chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Karen Middleton has said: ‘We must move past the idea that becoming weaker and frailer is inevitable as we get older.’