4 ways to strengthen your legs and your independence

Do you find yourself sitting more and more and moving less and less?

Well, if you do, I hope this will be a wake-up call…

According to experts, the single best predictor of whether or not you will end up in a nursing home is your leg strength.

That’s right… The number one determiner of how likely you are to lose your independence is not grip strength, dementia, diabetes, heart disease or even cancer — it’s weak leg muscles.

You see, a sedentary lifestyle can lead to limited range of motion due to adhesion of connective tissue from lack of deep movement. Sitting too long locks our hip joints in place and lack of leg movement and use, over time, leads to osteopenia, osteoporosis, pain and stiffness. You stop moving, and the weakness sets in…

In today’s video, Dr. Luke Jih, director of the Golden Light Institute of Body Mind Advancement, shares a set of four simple yet effective set of exercises for loosening the waist and hips, and improving leg strength and balance. Let’s have a look.

1^st Exercise – Side-to-side shifting

Stand with legs apart, bend your knees and tuck in your tailbone.

Allow your conscious mind to drop all the way down to the bottom of your feet.

While remaining in your position, shift your weight onto the left leg and then onto the right leg.

Repeat 5 times.

2^nd Exercise – Alternate leg raises

Breathe in as you lift your left knee to raise your left foot off the floor, and hold for 5 seconds.

As you slowly place it back down you will feel the shift in body weight from 100% on the right leg to 50/50 on each leg, and then to 100% on the left leg as you raise your right knee.

Breathe in as you lift your right knee to raise your right foot off the floor, and hold for 5 seconds.

As you slowly place it back down you will feel the shift in body weight from 100% on the left leg to 50/50 on each leg, and then to 100% on the right leg as you repeat the sequence.

3^rd Exercise – Forward stepping

Raise your left foot slighting off the ground and place it in front of you as if walking. However, you will keep weight on the rear leg and you place your left heel down first, then slowly lower to your sole, and the feel the weight shift forward as you move forward.

Slowly move all your weight onto the left leg, then raise your right leg and walk it forward. You will again keep the weight on the rear leg as you place your right heel down, then slowly lower to your sole, and the feel the weight shift forward as you move forward and repeat.

Take 5-10 steps forward and then also do the reverse by stepping backward.

4^th Exercise – Waist circles

Next, as your step forward remain in a right leg forward position and rotate your waist.

Watch the video to see Dr. Luke’s details. He rotates both clockwise and counter-clockwise while shifting weight between 70% and 30% on the front and back legs. This helps loosen the joints, and improves bone density and balance.

Now turn your right foot outward and step the left foot to the forward position and repeat the waist turning and weight shifting for a total of 10 times on each leg.