Maintaining Mobility- How to Stay Out of a Wheelchair

 Who wants to spend their retirement confined to a wheelchair? I’ll tell you one person who doesn’t, ME! The thought of not being able to get around on my own, being dependent on someone to get me in and out of the bathtub and not being able to take a walk in the park makes me shudder. Granted I am still a ways away from white hairs and achy bones, but every time I visit my grandma, who is in a wheelchair, I think about me sitting in that chair.

So what can I do today to help keep me out of that wheelchair?

Lower Body Strength Training

That wasn’t the answer I was expecting, but it is true. If I, at age 23, start doing lower body strength training today then when I am 85 I am less likely to be in a wheelchair. Strength training doesn’t just make you look better in a swimsuit, it also improves bone density and strengthens connective tissue. Stronger bones means they are less likely to break and that I will be less likely to suffer from maladies like osteoporosis.

Here are three amazing lower body strength training exercises that will help you stay fit and mobile today and 40 years from now. These are all things you can do from home or vamp up the volume and use some weights at the gym.

1. Jumping Squats

This is a hard exercise, but it is great for several reasons. Squats are going to strengthen the muscles from your butt down to your calves. The jumping will help improve your ankle strength and balance.

2. Lunges

Next time you are walking across the living room, just make the simple switch to lunging across the living room. It can help you stay away from that walker years down the road.

3.Calf Raises

You can do this one anywhere, even when you’re brushing your teeth. Just stand flat footed and then go to your tippy-toes. It is easy to do, you won’t even realize that you are exercising.

If you want more information about the benefits of resistance training, visit this website: https://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/rtandip.pdf

3 Painless Language Learning Tricks

1. Put a Movie in Another Language and Add English Subtitles

The best way to learn a language is immersion, everyone will tell you that. Spend a summer in Spain or vacation in Venice to learn the language. Well for us mortals who don’t have that kind of time (or cash) this is the next best thing. Movies let you immerse yourself in the language without leaving your couch. Not only that, but you will also hear how the language is supposed to sound. You will be much better off listening to a dubbed Brad Pitt speak Russian than that high school teacher down the street.

After watching a few movies it is amazing how much you will learn about vocabulary, sentence structure and grammar. So put your feet up, make yourself a bowl of popcorn and cuddle up to your favorite movie.

2. Buy a Children’s Book (i.e. Green Eggs and Ham) in Another Language

Before you jump into reading “Crime and Punishment” in its original Russian, start with One Fish Two Fish. While you may be an adult in age, you have to learn a language just as a child does by starting with the basics. Children’s books are great because they have simple grammar and words to help you on your language learning journey. Once you have mastered the basic children’s books, move up to something a little more challenging, like a simple chapter book. Not only will this help you master your language of choice, but it will also take you on a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

3. Pick a Room and Label Everything

This is the best way to build your vocabulary. Start with one room and label everything. Not only that, but make your labels specific. Write them out in the language you are learning and then below that write it our phonetically. Start with one room and go label crazy! I mean crazy, floor, ceiling, chair, table, window, wall… EVERYTHING! Every time you go in that room, say the some of the words aloud to yourself. You can even narrate what you are doing. “I am standing on the piso (floor in Spanish). I am looking out the ventana (window in Spanish). Your mind will start to draw connections. Before long whenever you see a window you will think ventana. One you have mastered one room, remove the labels and test yourself. You will be amazed how quickly your vocabulary will expand. Then move on to the next room until you have worked through your whole house.