Your Legs Are Dying (And You Don't Even Know It)

[00:00:03]Seniors, you're losing your independence.

[00:00:06]Hi folks, this is Charlie Fuller and it's the 4th of July today and we're celebrating freedom.

[00:00:13]And I want to talk to you today about something that most people don't think about until it's almost too late.

[00:00:20]Your legs.

[00:00:21]Now, I know what you're thinking.

[00:00:22]Charlie, you're already 5 years old and you're cycling 100 miles a week. What do you know about losing your legs? And and fair enough. However, I know exactly what it feels like when your legs start talking back because mine did.

[00:00:40]And for good well, I wasn't sure who was going to win the argument. So, let's start with a number that stopped me cold when I first read it. 40%.

[00:00:52]40% of Americans over 65 have at least one disability.

[00:00:58]And the most common one isn't vision.

[00:01:00]It isn't hearing.

[00:01:02]It's mobility.

[00:01:04]The simple, humbling, terrifying inability to walk where you want to go, to climb a flight of stairs without gripping the railing as if it owed you money, or standing up from a chair without using your hands as a launching pad. And here's the thing. It doesn't happen all at once.

[00:01:24]Nobody wakes up one Tuesday and finds himself unable to walk.

[00:01:28]It's a slow fade. A quiet negotiation between you and gravity. Gravity's patient.

[00:01:35]It starts as a little stiffness in the morning. Then it it avoiding stairs when elevator is really close. Then it's parking close to the grocery store entrance, not because the walk is too far, but because you're not entirely sure your legs will cooperate on the way back with two heavy bags of groceries.

[00:01:56]Now, that's a real warning sign nobody talks about. Not wheelchairs, not walkers, grocery bags.

[00:02:04]Okay, if if you started rationing how far you walk, how many bags you carry, and how many stairs you climb in a day, your body is already sending you a memo.

[00:02:15]The question is whether you're reading it or not.

[00:02:19]Now, I think about that Tim Conway. Most of you remember Tim from The Carol Burnett Show, one of the funniest men who ever drew a breath.

[00:02:28]He had a recurring character called the old man.

[00:02:31]This ancient, shuffling fellow who moved so impossibly slowly that Harvey Korman would literally dissolve into laughter before the sketch was even half over.

[00:02:43]The audience howled every time.

[00:02:45]Conway would inch his way across the stage one glacial shuffle at a time.

[00:02:52]And the joke was that he was so old, he could barely move.

[00:02:56]The whole country laughed. I laughed. It was a brilliant comedy.

[00:03:01]But I'll tell you what I noticed watching those sketches from a different angle now that I'm firmly in that demographic myself. That shuffle is real for millions of people, and it isn't funny to them.

[00:03:15]Okay, so it's Tuesday morning.

[00:03:17]It's a pharmacy parking lot, or it's a church steps on Sunday.

[00:03:23]Tim Conway shuffle isn't just a TV bit.

[00:03:27]It's a thing we're fighting against every single day we lace up our shoes and choose to decide to move.

[00:03:34]Now, why do legs go? Well, the science is frustratingly straightforward.

[00:03:41]Muscle mass.

[00:03:43]And I mean the quads, the glutes, and the calves, the whole engine room of your lower body, peaks in your 30s and your 40s, and then, if you let it, starts its long, slow resignation.

[00:03:58]Sarcopenia, that's what they call it. The medical word for your muscle quietly handing in their notice.

[00:04:06]Now, add to that the slow degreasing of balance receptors, the stiffening of joints from arthritis, and the cumulative effect of years of physical inactivity, and you have a recipe for the kind of dependency that robs people of their dignity long before it robs them of their years.

[00:04:28]Now, the federal guidelines, dry as they are, tell us 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week, plus muscle strengthening exercise at least twice a week. That's the floor. That's the minimum. That's the place to stay in the game.

[00:04:45]Now, here's what I want you to hear, and I mean this with everything that I've got. Your legs respond to training at almost any age. Now, that's not a a motivational poster. That's biology.

[00:04:59]Studies on people in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s consistently show meaningful strength gains from resistant training.

[00:05:08]The muscle is still listening. It's waiting to be asked. The tragedy isn't legs fail. It's that we stop asking them to work before they're actually done.

[00:05:19]Now, I don't get the idea that slowing down is inevitable. I believe slowing down is a default, and defaults can be overridden.

[00:05:29]So, here are reasonable estimates of the global market for these mobile devices, including walkers, crutches, manual wheelchairs, uh power wheelchairs, and mobile scooters. The total industry revenue is 11 to 13 billion dollars.

[00:05:47]The estimated annual profit, 600 million to 2 billion dollars.

[00:05:53]Now, where's the money come from? Well, approximately, if we look at wheelchairs, manual and power, 40% of sales, 40 to 45%.

[00:06:04]Walkers and what they call rollators, 20 to 25%, mobile scooters, 15 to 20%, crutches, canes, and other walking devices, 10 to 15%. So, you can see that if you become immobile, there are a lot of people who are going to be making money on your disability. Now, look, I've had mornings where my knees started talking back the moment I swung my legs over the edge of my bed.

[00:06:30]And I've had weeks on the bike where every every pedal stroke felt like I was crunching gravel inside my joints.

[00:06:38]But, I've also had the experience of pushing through and showing up to the gym when everything in me said, "Maybe tomorrow."

[00:06:46]Now, I You've heard me say this before, but when I don't feel like a full workout, I trick myself and say, "I'll just do a short workout." And almost always I end up doing a full workout once I get started. It's just getting getting going.

[00:07:00]Now, so what does that look like practically? Well, it can start small.

[00:07:06]Stand up from your chair without using your hands.

[00:07:10]Just once.

[00:07:11]And then, every time thereafter, you sit down.

[00:07:15]Take the stairs.

[00:07:17]Walk to the far end of the parking lot.

[00:07:20]And carry your own groceries.

[00:07:22]Now, these aren't dramatic gestures.

[00:07:25]They're daily arguments with gravity that you're choosing to win.

[00:07:29]And if you do more, do more and don't rely on riding your bike solely. Now, let me say that again, don't rely solely on riding your bike. You need to be doing squats, lunges, and step-ups also.

[00:07:43]Use resistance bands if weights feel like it's too much. Start by walking every day, even if it's around the block. Then add a street with an incline so it gets your heart pumping. The goal isn't a number on a gym machine. The goal is to stand up from your chair at 90° without thinking twice.

[00:08:03]Now, the other day I was riding my bike on the road where very few cars were and I saw this older guy with a huge walking stick walking stiff-legged along the road.

[00:08:14]Now, there are two things that I thought as I passed him. And one was, "Hey, good for him. He's trying to make a difference out here." The second thing I thought about was his form. It stunk.

[00:08:27]He was shuffling stiff-legged without bending his knees, his feet, or his ankles. Now, I'm sure he's getting some benefit from from out being out there and and again, good for him. However, what if he concentrated on a more fluid stride working his knees, his heel-to-toe steps so that he was working his whole leg? The strongest predictor of your independence isn't your age, it isn't your bank account, it's not your zip code or your medical history. It's how well your legs still work.

[00:09:05]And that, more than almost anything else in your body, is something you still have a vote on.

[00:09:11]Now, take it from an 85-year-old in Spandex who still has places to be. The road is still open, but you've got to keep your legs under you to travel it.

[00:09:23]Now, let me know in the comments your secret to keeping your legs strong and in play.

[00:09:28]Thanks for watching and I'll see you on the road.