Weak Legs Linked to Weight

Yet another reason to get your weight under control; avoiding weak legs in your senior years. If you're an older woman, and overweight, you have almost the same strength and power in your legs as a normal weight woman your age does. But, when assessed in comparison to the weight you're actually carrying, older overweight female did much worse in terms of leg strength than normal weight women according to new research.This finding challenges the assumption that thin older people are more likely to be disabled due to lack of muscle mass. It's what you've been told for the last 20 years.
Instead, it's carrying all the added weight over time that makes it harder to walk... to do the activities involved with daily living.
And this is what experts fear we'll see, especially since two thirds of us are now overweight (or obese), coupled with an aging population that is predicted to double in the next twenty years.
This would mean that a large segment of the population would have an increased chance of suffering disability.
What the team did was measure the impact of extra weight on the participants' leg strength, power and walking speed; all factors that impact daily living.
When matched up against normal weight older subjects, overweight women in the research had an average 24% decreased leg strength in comparison to their weight, the strength to weight ratio of the legs was at 38%. They walked at a speed that was 20% slower as well.
The extra weight these women carried was truly impacting their mobility. Being at a normal weight allows you keep doing the activities needed for successful daily living, and remain independent for longer. If that isn't motivation to get your weight under control, nothing is.
Researchers have been looking into the effects of strength and exercise in the elderly population for a while now, but this is the first time obesity in this population has made it into the mix. While they didn't start out looking at weight at all, it soon become obvious that being overweight is a major concern.
If you're overweight, you can help improve that strength to weight ration in one of two ways. Boosting muscle strength or dropping some weight.
The surprise comes from the researchers belief that gaining strength is the easier route for older adults. True that most of us aren't all that good at losing weight, but even the most aged and frail among us can have dramatic improvements in strength.
The Growing Stronger program, a joint effort of the CDC and experts from Tufts University is a solid starting point in terms of getting more active. The program is based on scientific studies of strengthening exercises, so you're doing something that will actually make a difference... build the strength of your muscles, keep your bones strong as well as help your balance, coordination and ability to move about.
Strength training can even help reduce some of the symptoms of chronic diseases, even arthritis. Even if you're not so active right now, this program can help you get started, slowly and safely, with strengthening weak legs.
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