The importance of keeping our legs strong

Among the signs of longevity, as summarized by the US Magazine Prevention, strong leg muscles are listed on the top, as the most important and essential one.

As a matter of fact, the legs together have 50% of the nerves of the human body, 50% of the blood vessels and 50% of the blood flowing through them. It is the large circulatory network that connects the body.Only when the feet are healthy, the convention current of blood flows smoothly. So people who have strong leg muscles will have a strong heart.

Moreover, a new study from the journal Gerontology says meaty, muscular legs are linked to a similarly powerful mind—even later in life. 

The study focused on 324 British twins, ages 43 to 73. The twins, all female, took two neuropsychological tests 10 years apart. They also took a test to measure leg explosive power at the beginning of the 10-year period. 

The results showed that more leg power at the beginning of the study resulted in less cognitive change 10 years later (the more muscular twin actually performed 18% better on memory and cognitive tests than her less-fit sister). Brain imaging also showed differences between the fit and unfit twins, with the buffer sister having significantly more brain volume than the other.

Though researchers did not know why stronger legs result in quicker minds, they believe physical activity's effect on the brain comes from hormones released by working muscles.

However, as a person gets older, the accuracy and speed of transmission of instructions between the brain and the legs decreases. Thus we have to keep exercising the legs. If you do not move your legs for two weeks, your leg strength will decrease. A study from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark found that both old and young, during the two weeks of inactivity, the legs muscle strength got weakened by a third, which is equivalent to 20-30 years of ageing. As our leg muscles weaken, it will take a long time to recover, even if we do rehabilitation exercises later. Therefore, regular exercise like walking, is very important.

In addition, the so-called “Bone Fertilizer Calcium” will sooner or later be lost with the passage of time, making the elderly more prone to bone fractures. And fractures in the elderly easily triggers series of complications, especially fatal diseases such as brain thrombosis. And 15% of elderly patients will die within a year of a thigh-bone fracture.

Exercising the legs, is never too late, even after the age of 60 years. Only by strengthening the legs, we can prevent further aging. Thus we need to walk for at least 30-40 minutes daily to ensure that our legs receive sufficient exercise and to ensure the leg muscles remain healthy.