Walking Strong!

It only takes one time to fight your way back from an injury to realize your muscle strength deteriorates very rapidly. According to research done at the University of Copenhagen in 2015, “It takes just two weeks of physical inactivity for those who are physically fit to lose a significant amount of their muscle strength…. In that relatively short period of time, young people lose about 30 percent of their muscle strength, leaving them as strong as someone decades older. Meanwhile, active older people who become sedentary for a couple weeks lose about 25 percent of their strength.”

So many of us have sedentary jobs, sitting at a computer all day! I found a fun video on sitting too much produced by Mitchell Moffit Gregory Brown at asap science

This lack of muscle usage is not only a challenge that causes weight gain, but it also makes it harder to walk and climb stairs! Weak leg and core muscles can cause balance and stability problems that put us at a higher risk of falling or injuring a knee or ankle! Lack of strength can affect people at any age!

I have experienced both injury recovery and the “desk job” and have found myself very weak and totally lacking in core strength! This situation is really playing havoc with my Camera Walking and I hate it! Presently, I am working with an excellent physical therapist who has made it very clear to me that, if I don’t strengthen my core, I will continue to suffer in my walking and certainly risk additional injuries to my body! I share this because our focus of “taking a daily walk with a camera for better health, fitness, and creativity” relies on walking strong to achieve our goals!

Enough on me! I share my situation with you to help you understand, we all in this together!!!

I went in search for some good information on core strength and really want to share it with you. Harvard Health Publications, in their article, “The real-world benefits of strengthening your core”, has a really good summary of how your core affects everything you do. Yes, we have all heard this before, but, if you are struggling with body weakness, it is a really good primer to get you to focus! They also have a publication on Core Exercises that you can get through their site.

The other site that spells out core strength very well is an article written by Elizabeth Nolan and shared through Huffington Post. If you want to work towards core strength and want a program to help you, both Yoga and Pilates are programs that you can join in your local communities. You can Google “Pilates” or “Yoga” to checkout where you can find a studio with classes or individual coaching. In researching all this, I have learned that there are truly classes for beginners!

I hope I have given you some helpful information to work towards a stronger body! Every step you take will make you healthier! Now, I need to get up from this computer to head out for my daily walk with my camera…sitting here is not making me stronger!