If you feel you’re not quite as strong as you once were, you’re probably not imagining it. Strength and muscle mass decline (a process known as sarcopenia) starts from around the time you turn 40, and accelerates after the age of 75. A recent study suggests the reason for declining strength is a leaking of calcium from muscle cells, resulting in our muscle fibres no longer contracting as well as they once did. It’s also estimated, without any muscle-training intervention, the average adult can potentially lose between 1.8 to 2.7kg of muscle a decade!
Loss of muscle strength affects so many areas of our daily life, from enjoyable exercise, cleaning, and daily self care tasks such as dressing and showering. As with so many challenges that come with ageing, it’s about adapting rather than giving in. Around the home, there are so many small changes we can make to compensate for loss of strength, and some are so simple you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of them earlier. Check out our tips below and talk with friends about the one hundred and one ways to ‘carry on and conquer!’
Shopping
When supermarket shopping, we naturally head for bulkier buys because they’re usually cheaper. But lugging kilos of flour and oil to the car is no fun. Switch to shopping from bulk bin stores where prices are lower but you can buy as little as you want. These stores include items such as dish wash and washing machine liquid (don’t forget to take your own containers).
In the kitchen
Gadgets are your secret weapon! Jar openers save struggling with tightly fixed lids, and if you choose the right one, you won’t damage the lid! Minimalists may like to try the rubber gloves approach – kitchen gloves help you grip both the jar and the lid. If tear tab tops are your sticking point, there are tear tab pullers available, too (or shout yourself an electric can opener).
In the pantry, keep heavy, frequently used items such as flour, sugar, and rice on shelves you don’t need to reach up to. Keep light weight items (packets of soups and noodles, for example) on higher shelves.
Reduce the weight of your electric kettle by choosing a compact model. You won’t be tempted to boil more water than you require, either!
Use a food processor to chop your vegetables. Microwave or steam veggies rather than boiling them. That way, you won’t need to drain heavy, hot pots.
Keep your microwave at counter-top height to save reaching up to lift down heavy containers of hot food.
Switch your heavy crockery to light-weight plastic sets – many look every bit as attractive as the real McCoy.
In the bathroom
Keeping the shower caddy at head height is only a tradition. Move it down to a level that means you don’t have to reach up for shampoo and conditioner. To save lifting heavy containers of product, consider a wall mounted dispenser (available from plastics shops). Or decant your shampoo and conditioner into manageable-sized bottles before popping them into the caddy.
Choose light weight towels over heavier ones. They do the job, they’re easier on the arms, and faster to dry.
In the laundry
Ditch the family laundry basket, and grab yourself a lightweight laundry trolley on wheels. While you’re at it, dispense with the hard-to-reach clothes line and use a hip-high laundry rack instead.
In the bedroom
Clear the clutter out of your wardrobe because pushing and shoving hangers of clothes back and forth to find what you’re looking for is hard on the shoulders. Keep items to a minimum so they hang freely.
Swap the heavy bedclothes for light, fluffy, warm duvets. Waffle weave blankets make a light-weight but warm bed spread that is easy to pull up and looks a million dollars!
Dressing
Choose layers, rather than one heavy coat, when going out in the cold. Better still, invest in a feather or lofted synthetic jacket – so cosy and so easy to get on and off.
Reaching up to fasten necklaces is difficult enough for anyone, but as strength declines, it becomes an almost impossible task. Swap the fiddly catches for magnet ones (it doesn’t cost a lot to get this done when you head to a bead shop rather than a jeweller – although a jeweller is the best if dealing with valuable items).
Your strength may decline with age, but your resolve to adapt will soon fill its place!
INTP - 11 months ago
I’m interested that all of the activities talked about, in the declining strength article, that could be changed to make life easier, are also the same activities we should continue to do, change our perspective and see them as strength building exercises in themselves. E.g carrying groceries to the car builds strength, reaching up, bending down, lifting, can all be seen as incidental exercise.