Top 5 Reasons Older Adults Stop Walking & How To Avoid This
- chelsie462
- 4 days ago
- 11 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July of 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/SwOv8zUzUpg
Mike: Most doctors will never discourage an older adult from walking unless they have a heart condition or severe arthritis.
Brad: That's right. This reminds me of a case where I knew two people personally. They were both over 90 years old, very alert, very mobile, very healthy, and they had one thing in common.
Mike: What was that?
Brad: They both walked on a daily basis.
Mike: So, whether you're an avid walker or you want to get into walking to become healthier, this will have the detailed plan for you.
Brad: That's right, we're going to help you out, get back out there, and walk away. Let's clarify some of the benefits that walking offers. Number one, it's great for your heart and for your lungs.
Mike: Number two is that it helps increase leg circulation.
Brad: And as we age, we know our balance starts to deteriorate. Walking is a good functional way to exercise your balance.
Mike: And number four, it's just good to get outside and be a little social.
Brad: That's right. Walk with someone else. Maybe not every day, but at least twice a week. Keep each other in check, so you keep doing it week after week after week, it becomes a habit. Something you enjoy if you don't enjoy it now. Alright, now we've got five very common problems that actually stop people from walking. And then we're going to go through five solutions on how to avoid them or work around them so you can continue your walking habit.
Mike: The first reason people commonly stop walking is due to foot pain. This can be caused by plantar fascitis, bunions, or hammer toes. The list can go on and on. And a common cause for most of these issues is your shoes. So, if you look at this shoe on the right, this is a standard shoe. If you look at the shoe on the left, this is a wide toe box and zero drop shoe.
Mike: You could see we actually cut apart the bottom of the shoes here. You could see how squished your toes actually get, which can cause bunions and hammer toes and a whole array of issues, whereas, if you have a wide toe box, it allows your toes to actually separate and be in their natural positioning. The zero drop, you don't need to get minimalist ones like these.
Brad: What's minimalist?
Mike: There is not much cushioning underneath your foot between you and the ground; you can buy more cushioning. Just make sure from the forefoot to the heel, it's the same height off the ground.
Brad: That's right, now I personally have had great luck with getting the wide toe shoebox in my late 50s. I realize how much more comfortable they are, the minimalist shoes, where they're really thin, can be good for your feet. But for myself, it's too uncomfortable. I have Morton's neuroma, and that irritates it. But the wide toe box is a great benefit. This is an example of a nice cushioned shoe. This one is not zero drop, but it's not too far off from that.
Brad: Anyways, let's go on to point number three. So good footwear, make sure you're wearing a wide toe box.
Mike: We're going on to point number two.
Brad: Oh yeah.
Mike: Okay. The next thing is joint pain. A lot of people develop knee pain, hip pain, and even ankle and foot pain. A lot of times, from arthritis, whatever it's from, it can be irritated and oftentimes is by how you walk. Typically, people strike with their heel first. Mike's going to explain it and tell you how to avoid this and change your walking pattern so it becomes pain-free.
Brad: Go ahead, Mike.
Mike: So with the common day shoes, we have an elevated heel. This has caused us to heel strike a lot while we are walking.
Mike: So, if you actually walk barefoot in your house, heel striking is very uncomfortable. You feel the shot going through your leg in through all your joints. It's much more obvious. Try walking around in your house barefoot. You're naturally going to start walking with a soft knee.
Mike: This'll take the pressure off the joints and put them more on the muscles where they should be going. Also, when you're walking, some people really put the foot way out in front of them. This is going to put more force through the leg. You're just going to be taking those nice short steps with the soft bent knee, land more on your forefoot or with the flat foot, and this'll help engage your muscles more, taking pressure off all the joints.
Brad: Right, I just want to clarify one thing in case some people didn't catch that. Typically, people heel strike and look at the knee is locked out straight. All that force from the heel strike goes directly through the joints. The muscles are not taking up or absorbing the shock like when he goes on his forefoot.
Brad: And actually sometimes you can have the heel come off a little bit. The knee is flexed. So that has a little give there. The ankle has worked so that the muscles take the shock, and then you have your leg actually becomes a shock absorber as opposed to a shock creator.
Mike: This walking pattern also engages your glute max a lot more, which is appropriate for walking, which will really help take pressure off the joints.
Brad: Right. I like to practice this on a hard floor or actually concrete at home. Go barefoot and you can really feel the difference when you walk on your forefeet versus that hard, direct heel strike. Okay, the next thing is people start to have a gait disturbance, in other words, a Trendelenberg gait or a waddle walk, where you go like this.
Brad: There could be other problems that are created by pain and compensation, leading to pain and the weirdness of walking, where it's not attractive to other people, and it becomes a personal thing. We need to get rid of that. We're going to talk about how to do it. Mike.
Mike: So what you want to do is actually the first two steps we talked about, looking at your footwear and walking with the bent knee will really help this as well. However, most people, when they're in this predicament, have weak hip abductor muscles, so the side hip muscles as well as a weak glute max muscle. So your buttock muscle. So we're going to show you two strengthening exercises you can do.
Brad: We're getting this information from an expert in the field. He has written a number of books and taught people this with great success.
Mike: His name is Rick Olderman. He is a physical therapist, and he wrote a book with Bob called "Top 3 Fix."
Brad: That's right, so let's go through and talk about the two exercises to address these weaknesses. Okay, we're going to show you a couple of ways to strengthen the hip abductors, which really helps with that Trendelenberg or the waddling. If I'm doing the right side, I'm going to bring my feet a few inches apart, good posture, and keep my trunk vertical throughout the whole exercise. Bring the leg out to the side here and back in. Two things that are critical. Again, don't lean to the side; that's not going to work that muscle. And also look at my toes. If I point my toes out like this, which is really kind of a compensation, that's a no-no. Keep the toes straight ahead and just go out to the side. We're not going really high. Good control and then back down, and do that going slowly in and slowly out.
Brad: I'm using a Booyah Stik for balance. You can hold onto the wall or a cupboard. If you want a little resistance, Mike, what can they do?
Mike: You can use a band. It's also important that the leg that is stationary isn't locked out. Try to have a slight bend in the knee. You're actually going to work both hip abductors, because to stand up on this side, your hip abductor has to engage. So you can use a band if that seems easy for you. Typically, if you can do three sets of 15, it's time to get some resistance. You can start with yellow. So all you do is place it between your heels here, in front of your heels a little bit, and you're just going to kick out to the side. Preferably have your shoes tied, unlike me right now, so I'm going to pull up, the higher up the bands, the more resistance I'm going to feel. Again, I'm not going to rest this right leg, it's going to make it work a little bit harder. Try to work up to 15 reps on one side and switch again. If you start to notice you're swaying a lot during this, it's not time for bands yet.
Brad: Good job. The next one is the glute maximus muscle. Oftentimes, that muscle does not work as well as it should. So we need to do an exercise that focuses on it and makes that muscle turn on. We're going to show you one of the standing options that Rick Olderman does, and that's using cupboard space or something you can lean on. You're going to lean forward, you're going to put a 90-degree bend in this knee, and then we're going to go from this position up to this position. We're not trying to kick up really high. We're just doing a mid-range oscillation, and then we're going to do that for 15 to 30 seconds. And one thing you can do to isolate that glute max is actually to turn your foot in and then work it. You'll just work that, and you'll feel that muscle start to fatigue and burn in the muscle fibers of that glute max. I'm starting to feel it now.
Brad: Again, 15 to 30 seconds. Do both legs. You can do two to three sets once you get used to it. Another really common thing that happens as we age is that we get unstable. Sometimes there's joint pain, sometimes we just start to lose our balance a little bit, and you feel like you're going to fall. Good reason to stop walking, but just take your pride down a little bit and use either a cane or a walker. Mike's going to talk a little bit about how to use a cane. They work well. They show dignity in that person.
Mike: So what you want to do is make sure to get a cane that is either set up for your height when you buy it, or it's adjustable. Typically, when you stand up, your arm is relaxed at your side. It is roughly at the crease of your wrist. Now, the side depends upon your dominant hand or your weaker leg. So, say my right leg was weak and bothering me, and I had balance issues, I'm going to actually use it in the opposite hand in that case. If you have no weakness or issues in the legs, just use whatever hand you prefer and make sure to sequence it with the opposite leg. When you walk, your arm swings opposite. So, make sure to put the cane on the opposite side when you're using it
Brad: Yeah, just walk normally with it. It can make a tremendous amount of difference. Just having that extra stability. If you do need more, which is not uncommon, then I recommend going to a walker with four wheels and make sure the wheels are larger in diameter. That's going to make it more stable on uneven surfaces, on sidewalks, gravel, et cetera. And it's nice to have a seat there, and they're just as stable as can be. You can walk as far as you want, and a nice added benefit. If you get tired, you lock the brakes, turn around, sit down, and take a break. When you're ready, get back up and keep walking. There are a lot of people who take advantage of these, and don't be shy. It can make a big difference.
Mike: When purchasing a walker. Just make sure you look at the height options on it as well as the weight, because depending on your height, they might not be able to get tall or short enough.
Brad: Right, they come in different widths and weights. Some are rated at like, I think, 300, and then there are other ones at 450 pounds, and just, you know, find out what you like. It'll all work into place. Wel,l we also, one more thing
Mike: We do.
Brad: One of the problems that happens with people who start an exercise program, doesn't matter if it's walking or not, is that they lose motivation.
Mike: So, sometimes just finding someone to walk with can help. Oftentimes, if you have to get up early in the morning and go for your walk to beat the heat during summer, you don't always want to do it. So sometimes having a partner to keep you reliable or you don't want to let down, can help.
Brad: That's right. Make sure you do that or find a group. Oftentimes, there's a group in the local area, walk with them. Maybe not every time, maybe just once a week. And then when you talk to them, when you do get together with them, you can talk about, oh my walk Wednesday morning, I saw an Oriel right in a tree, six inches from me.
Mike: A cookie?
Brad: Something like that. Yeah, socialization. A cookie. My god. Yeah, and that's what happens. You laugh a little bit, you talk about silly things or personal things, whatever. It's all part of the activity. Alright, so keep up your walking, or if you want to start a walking program, make sure you look through these. We really wanna walk. Not every day necessarily, but at least three times a week. Three to five times a week is a really good number. Don't walk too far if you're just starting. You don't want to overdo it. Good judgment. Enjoy the walking, and Mike, you've got some other relative information.
Mike: Yeah, so if you'd like to check out more videos on walking, check out "One Incredible Trick To Improve Your Walking." This one looks at more if you have trouble tripping over your feet, which muscle you should strengthen.
Brad: Ah, yes, there is one muscle that really makes a big difference, but I'm not telling you, you'll have to watch the video. We're not telling.
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