The ancients once said: Walking like the wind and being as strong as an ox is to describe a person who is strong and neat. However, now studies have found that not only that, but also the speed of walking and the size of the grip hide the code of longevity.
The length of life is hidden in the "hands and feet", what is going on?
The faster you walk, the longer you live
Researchers from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom followed 475,000 people for 7 years and found that the average life expectancy of people who walk fast is expected to be more than 80 years old, 15~20 years longer than those who walk slowly.
The study found an association between walking speed and telomere length (LTL) of white blood cells, and telomeres are considered a biomarker of aging, and the longer the telomeres, the slower the rate of aging.
What's more, the LTL of fast walkers is significantly longer than that of slow walkers, and the difference in LTL between the two is as high as 16 years.
This means that brisk walking has a direct impact on telomere length, which can help you live longer.
Therefore, if you usually walk slowly, you can arrange a brisk walk after tea and dinner, which will help increase LTL and delay aging.
So how do you measure how fast you walk?
It's actually quite simple, focusing on two things: heart rate and subjective feelings.
To use heart rate to evaluate our exercise load, we must first know our maximum heart rate, maximum heart rate, refers to the fastest heart rate that can be reached during human exercise, the current general formula is: maximum heart rate (times / min) = 220 - age (years).
The heart rate must reach more than 60% of the maximum value to be considered "fast walking". The subjective feeling is that the heart rate is significantly faster, the body sweats slightly, and the breathing is slightly wheezing, but it can still speak fluently.
At the same time, there are two points to pay attention to when walking briskly:
It's the warm-up and the pose.
5~10 minutes before brisk walking, you can walk a little slower to give the body a certain amount of time to adapt. Do not stop exercising abruptly for 5~10 minutes after the end, but gradually slow down the speed to allow the heartbeat to gradually return to a calm state.
When walking briskly, you need to maintain a correct posture, pay attention to keep your head and chest up, keep your back straight, relax your shoulders and neck, slightly adduct your jaw angle, look straight ahead, and pay attention to the body should be in a straight line, not hunched over with your chest.
The greater the hand strength, the lower the risk of dementia
Researchers from Fudan University found that the mean values of absolute and relative grip strength were lower in the dementia group compared to the non-dementia group.
Preliminary analyses showed that grip strength, as a continuous variable, was inversely associated with all dementia types. After further adjustment, the results showed that greater grip strength was associated with a lower risk of dementia, meaning that improving grip strength could help prevent dementia.
The researchers further explored the effects of age and sex, exploring the relationship between grip strength and the incidence of dementia.
In terms of age, for people aged 56-65 and > 65 years old, it was found that the improvement of grip strength was effective in protecting against all types of dementia.
Therefore, for older people, it is important to pay special attention to improving their grip strength.
In terms of gender, in both men and women, improved grip strength reduces the risk of all other dementia types except vascular dementia.
So, the ultimate question is: how can you improve your grip strength?
Practice calligraphy
Practicing calligraphy is a good way to improve grip strength, holding the barrel of the pen in your hand and kneading it back and forth can not only improve the flexibility of your fingers, but also improve your grip strength.
It can also increase the muscle strength of the wrist, the flexibility of the ligaments and the flexibility of the joints in the elderly, and promote blood circulation.
Heavy Objects
Many people go to the supermarket to shop and choose a trolley for shopping, in fact, if it is not beyond our affordability, we can choose to buy in a basket. It seems like a simple action, but in fact, when carrying heavy objects, our fingers are exercised, and at the same time, the arm strength is enhanced, which will improve the grip strength unconsciously.
push-up
Push-ups are a great way to build strength, and studies have found that push-ups work grip strength, as well as hand strength and waist strength.
It is important to note that when doing this exercise, there is a need for a standard of movement, that is, to keep the head, back, as well as the hips and legs on the same level.
Grip device
If possible, you can also use tools such as grip strength and dumbbells to exercise grip strength. The grip device is small in size, easy to carry, and can be practiced at any time, and it can be practiced for 20~30 minutes every day until it can not be held.