Adventure Physio’s Guide to Not Getting Old

As you may know, I worked in aged care for a few years while building and growing Adventure Physio.

There are some common issues I see in most people who live in nursing homes, which have inspired me to take control earlier in my life and prevent these issues in myself.

These problems directly contribute to falls and immobility and HUGELY lower their quality of life and length of life.

They’re what make people fragile and elderly.

-          Leg strength

-          Fitness

-          Isolation and loneliness

-          Anxiety and mental health

-          Foot health and comfort

-          Diet

While this is my personal experience, it is also backed by research.

So what can we do NOW to minimise this later in life?

Commit to a lifelong relationship with strength training

Older woman squatting with a barbell outside

This doesn’t mean lifting as heavy as you can all the time. This means that 2-3 times a week, you do something that directly works on improving or maintaining your strength.

This could be as simple as a short bodyweight squat, lunge, push up and row routine a few times a week or it could mean more heavy strength training in a gym. You do you boo.

Life happens in cycles or seasons and this might not be a heavy-lifting season for you but you still need to be consistent with some form of strength exercise.

Commit to a lifelong relationship with your heart and lungs.

Adventure Physio Stephanie Lock runs in the Perth Trail Series, running up a hill and jumping with a big smile on her face

One of the easiest and most significant forms of exercise for this is walking. Simply go for a half an hour’s walk 3-5 times a week.

You need to ALSO get your heart rate up through higher-intensity cardiovascular exercise at least 3 times a week through jogging, swimming, cycling etc.

Commit to creating, engaging with and maintaining your social networks, family connections, and friends for life.

Mountain bikers and adaptive mountain bikers at Linga Longa for the Trail Bliss mountain biking festival in Perth

This doesn’t have to stay the same for the rest of your life but it does need to exist in your life for you to be a happy, healthy person.

Deal with your baggage by talking to friends, family, mental health professionals, life coaches- whatever.

This is integral both for your own health and for the relationships you have with the people you care about.

Take care of your feet

Someone weating toe socks, sitting on their bottom with the bottom of their feet facing the camera

Let your toes spread wide. Don’t cram them into pointy shoes every day. Let them touch the grass from time to time (this is great for your brain too) and challenge your balance often. Do some of the strength work I talked about in bare feet.

Eat lots of fruit and veggies, enough protein, and not too much food.

You could take a very deep dive into the science and research about this. An anti-aging scientist Dr. David Sinclair thinks there is someone alive at this moment who will live to be 150 years old.

Personally, I don’t care how long I live as long as I live well, feel good and stay happy and this will be my pathway to success.