Three Ways to Maximize Your Physical Well-Being through the Years

Blog post by Dr. Elizabeth Dalrymple, Physical Therapist

Longevity. What does that word mean to you? This buzzword is all over the place these days- from social media to doctor’s offices to fitness centers. Maybe you think of the aesthetics of aging gracefully, maybe you think of staying cancer-free, perhaps you simply hope to live as many years as possible, or maybe you think of maximizing your physical abilities over the years.

It may mean any of these things, but we know that in your journey toward a vibrant and fulfilling life, maintaining your physical health is an essential pillar. It becomes increasingly important over the years to invest in your physical and mental well-being…and we know by now that improving one is going to help the other. Yet our busy and demanding schedules tend to spread us thin and, if you’re at all like me, taking care of yourself may fall to the bottom of the priority list at times. 

 So here is your nudge to put yourself first! Here are three tips for how to find and keep your best self through the years:

1. Prioritize functional strength and mobility

 A family member recently asked me, “If someone told you they’re having more trouble getting in and out of a chair, what exercise would you tell them to do?” and my first answer was “get in and out of a chair more!” I know the answer isn’t always that simple, but I do think understanding the things we need and want to do in everyday life should directly influence our exercise regimen to be as functional as possible. If you’re in the garden all spring, your strength routine better include squats, lunges and deadlifts. If you’re playing pickleball on the weekends, your routine needs to include rotational core work and lateral movements. If you are playing the flute daily, your routine should include breathwork and postural endurance.

 Going back to the question I was asked, I truly think if I could pick one strength exercise for everyone to do every day for the rest of their lives to maximize their longevity it would be sit to standing from a chair with your arms crossed across your chest as quickly but safely as possible. If you just read that and thought “well that’s too easy for me,” you could certainly make it more challenging by adding weight (a barbell, dumbbells, weight vest, or springs on a reformer!), lowering the height of the chair or doing a single leg version. If you read that and thought “oh I don’t know if I can do that,” then start with a raised chair height, or place your arms straight out in front of you instead of crossed. This one simple exercise can be scaled to meet whatever challenge point is appropriate for you.

There are a lot of fun and unique exercise ideas out there but some of the simple stuff, the “meat and potatoes” stuff, should really be our staples to set us up for success through the years.

2. Think holistically and preventatively

 Although we think about physical health and wellness as strength, endurance, mobility and balance, many other factors in our lives affect our ability to work toward these physical goals. Our diet impacts our energy levels. Our sleep impacts our capacity for healing. Our emotional stress impacts our physical being. One of my personal struggles for a long time was prioritizing sleep. I just never wanted the day to end. But at some point, I had the realization that I just wasn’t as happy at work the next day if I didn’t get at least 7 hours of sleep. And that trade off felt less and less worth it over the years. I LOVE my job and I love many different forms of movement…why not make a change to ensure I actually feel that way when I get up to go to work or to the gym? All of these kinds of supporting habits and decisions are just as important as the actual physical work you’re willing to put in.

In addition, thinking preventatively helps to catch potential health issues before they arise. Trust me, I know how hard it is to prioritize prevention- it is much easier to push something off until it becomes a real issue. But the reality is, if we don’t deal with it now, we’ll be dealing with it later when it is much harder to address it.

Catching hip weakness may prevent knee pain down the line. Finding stiffness in your upper back can prevent rotator cuff irritation in future years. Noticing a decline in balance can prevent a life changing fall. By identifying potential areas of concern early on, we can create a roadmap to ward off future issues. And those areas of concern aren’t always what you would think- we always look above and below an area of concern to determine how those areas are impacting the potential problem area.

3. Pursue balance

When speaking about balance, I mean this in a multifaceted way. First, there is literal balance- how well you can stay upright in life. A recent study showed that successfully standing on one leg for over 10 seconds predicts survival in middle-aged and older adults. So one simple way to optimize your longevity potential could be to simply practice standing on each leg for 10 seconds every day. If you don’t use it you lose it- so let’s use it. There are many other ways to challenge your balance systems- including visual, vestibular and proprioceptive components- but this is a simple one you can implement today.

 And in another sense, balance to me means balancing right versus left, balancing the work of deep stabilizing muscles versus superficial mover muscles, finding the balance of flexibility and strength, mobility and stability. There are so many forms of balance in the body. And realistically, we are never going to achieve perfect balance and nor should we strive to- we are asymmetrical beings. That being said, keeping these things in a range of normal can help prevent imbalances from leading to pain or dysfunction. Our bodies are really smart and therefore really good at compensating to get the job done- whatever it is that we are asking of it. It can be helpful to take a step back and evaluate our symmetries and asymmetries to prevent the downstream effects of being out of balance for too long.

I hope these three principles help guide you in your journey toward longevity and vitality. Many different healthcare providers, fitness and nutrition experts may contribute to different parts of this journey. It is a holistic and multifactorial one. There is no right answer. This life is yours and yours alone. So do what you need to do in order to be able to do what you want to do.

If you need help knowing where to begin, click here to request a free 15 minute phone consultation with Dr. Elizabeth.

Resources:

Araujo CG, de Souza e Silva CG, Laukkanen JA, et al. Successful 10-second one-legged stance performance predicts survival in middle-aged and older individuals British Journal of Sports Medicine 2022; 56:975-980.

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