As the old Chinese saying goes, "Take a walk every day and you will be ninety-nine times more relaxed."
Nowadays, the concept of health care has penetrated into the hearts of more and more people. Many people also take time to move their bodies, such as walking, even in their busy schedule.
Academician Zhang Boli has been walking for 20 years and takes 7,000-8,000 steps every day.
He believes that the elderly should walk more. Walking faster and letting the body sweat a little is effective. Now Academician Zhang Boli is 74 years old. Not only has he experienced SARS, he has also been on the front line of the new coronavirus epidemic in Wuhan, which shows how "strong" the body is .
Is walking a "longevity medicine" that is good for your health?
A study involving nearly .48 million people in the UK found that people who walk fast live nearly 20 years longer than those who walk slowly . Therefore, Academician Zhang Boli said that walking should not be so slow that it really feels like walking, but should be done at a certain speed to make the body sweat a little.
Although walking is a simple physical activity, it has "accomplishments" in aspects such as weight loss, laxatives, bone strengthening, and lowering blood sugar . Nowadays, the most common disease among the elderly is high blood pressure. A study conducted by my country's Peking University Third Hospital found that if the elderly walk at a slow pace for three months every day, their blood pressure will tend to decrease.
Not only for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, but also for cancer, The National Cancer Institute found that walking briskly for more than 1 hour a day can reduce the incidence of more than a dozen types of cancer.
It can be seen from this that walking is indeed an exercise that is beneficial to health and longevity. This is indeed Academician Zhang Boli’s unique health regimen.
But some people have been admitted to the hospital. The specific reasons are worth remembering to avoid.
Uncle Wang is about the same age as Academician Zhang Boli. He is 71 years old. On weekdays, he likes to study flowers and plants when he has nothing to do. He also often goes for a walk in the park to look for any good-looking stone decorative flower pots.
My wife sees that Uncle Wang often makes these useless things, and he doesn't often take antihypertensive medicine. Recently, he always complains that his hands and feet are numb. He happened to see a TV talk about walking to deliberately lower blood pressure, so he gave Uncle Wang his grandson's step-counting watch, and asked Uncle Wang to walk 10,000 steps at 3 or 4 p.m. every day. He then came back.
Uncle Wang walked 7,000 steps at the beginning, and after a few days he was able to walk 10,000 steps a day. My wife tested Uncle Wang's blood pressure again and found that it had dropped a little. Uncle Wang saw the effect and became more motivated to walk wearing small cloth shoes every day.
Uncle Wang still walked as usual today, but before he walked halfway, he felt a little pain in his feet. He stopped to rest for a while.. The pain still hurt when he walked again, and he felt something was wrong.
His son took Uncle Wang to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor asked Uncle Wang to take off his shoes. At first glance, he found that the instep of Uncle Wang's left instep was red and swollen. When he pressed it, Uncle Wang said it hurt.
The doctor had a general understanding of Uncle Wang’s life. He looked at the checklist in his hand and said, “Uncle, your osteoporosis is so serious, and you still walk so much every day, no wonder you The metatarsal bone is broken. ”
Uncle Wang expressed his confusion as to why he had fractured his bones when he didn’t run or jump.
The doctor said, "I just told you that your osteoporosis is a bit serious . Walking so much will easily lead to fractures. You are lucky to have a foot. If it were a leg, it would probably be disabled." Uncle Wang was speechless after hearing this.
In fact, many elderly people make the mistake of Uncle Wang, thinking that the more they walk, the better. " Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents " recommends walking 6,000 steps a day. Older people walking too much may cause joint and muscle damage or even fractures.
plus Uncle Wang wears cloth shoes when walking. Although these shoes are comfortable, are not non-slip and do not have good shock absorption effect, When walking, the burden on the knee joint is several times that of standing still. It is easy to cause joint damage. However, wearing thick-soled and soft-soled shoes can reduce the buffering.
Fortunately, Uncle Wang walked in a flat park . If he had walked on the side of the road or on an uneven path, he would probably have fallen. Uncle Wang was also smart and did not walk in the morning and evening when the temperature was low, his vision was unclear, and his blood pressure easily fluctuated. Otherwise the consequences would have been even greater.
Plus Uncle Wang stopped to rest as soon as his feet hurt. Fortunately, no serious injuries were caused. The only mistake was walking too much every day and not wearing the right shoes. Everyone should remember to avoid this.
Elderly people are prone to falls, which can bring great or small dangers to the body. But it is inevitable when you are about to fall, so you must learn to take some measures to reduce the damage to your body.
If the elderly accidentally fall while walking, what can be done to reduce the injury?
You must protect your joints and head, so when you fall, you should relax your body, bend the joints of your hands and feet, bend down and lower your head, protect your head with your hands and fall down smoothly.
If you can't protect your head with your palms, try to support the ground with your palms when you fall to prevent arm joint fractures from affecting future activities.
If your back hits the ground, bend your legs and don't move easily. If it's cold, find a way to put some quilts, clothes, etc. on yourself, and wait to be found and rescued.
If you find that your injury is not very serious, you can turn your body first, let yourself lie on your stomach with your hands on the ground, then lift your buttocks, bend your knees, and find a fixed object to stand up with.
After standing up, I find that is just a few scratches If there is no problem with physical activity, there is no need to call an ambulance. Otherwise, it is best to call 120 if there is severe pain.
In short, the elderly are not as flexible, balanced, and athletic as young people. Walking properly is good for health, but excessive walking is not good.
Reference:
1. Academician Zhang Boli has a habit that he has persisted for 20 years: it is best to walk 7,000 steps a day 2022-01-19 09:08 · Guangming.com
