Live Longer Better
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    • Stamina can be improved by brisk walking
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    • Activity Therapy is of vital importance

Even if you can't walk briskly outside, walking safely in the house is very very important

WHAT IF YOU CANNOT WALK OUTSIDE 

Many people do not find it possible to walk briskly outside due to a few factors.  Usually to more than one disease.
As we have said walking briskly for even two minutes is beneficial but if you cannot do that you need to think of ways in which you can strengthen your legs and stimulate your system for pumping blood around the body, getting it to the muscles and extracting the oxygen when it gets there. 
People who have difficulty in walking may also have difficulty in recovering from a trip or stumble, so it is very important to think of ways not only to walk around the house as much as possible but also to find other ways to reduce your risk  of tripping and falling.

If you can stand up from a chair, try this simple exercise.  
  • Let your hands rest beside your body, look straight ahead and stand up now sit down again (some people find it easier to cross their arms in front of their chest). 
  • Now repeat this and see how many times you can repeat it in a minute. Remember if you are unsteady on standing get your chair near somewhere that you can hold onto if you do feel unsteady, a sideboard for example.
 
The key thing is to build this into daily life.  For example every time the adverts come on the television stand up at least ten times. Every time your clock strikes the hour stand up ten times. If you are accustomed to go upstairs to bed or to the bathroom get into the way of going upstairs, turning around and coming down again and going up a second time.  Try to focus on the muscles in the leg that is driving you upwards to get a sense that the muscle is really working.

Finally see if you can find a music and movement programme on your television or the internet join it . If you go to a club for Bingo or bridge or lunch suggest to the other members of the club that as well as sitting doing what you enjoy there should be at least ten minutes of the session should be taken up with music and movement. (this is particularly important for bridge club members because people who sit North or South do not move tables the whole evening!)

Try the amazing Wizdish, a type of treadmill that the army have used for years to train people for difficult terrains. it doesn't move in the way a gym treadmill moves 

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