Getting daily exercise is one of the most important things you can do to maintain your independence as you get older.
You want to be able to get around the house, keep up with your chores, and stay active, so no one has to “worry” about you living at home.
But when it comes to exercise — it isn’t just about “if” you workout. It’s about “what” you workout — what MUSCLE you workout, that is…
And quite possibly, the most important muscle of them all is your hip flexors.
Hip flexors are the group of muscles that surround the ball and socket joint where your hips meet the top of your legs.
You use them every time you walk, run, swim, dance, even to get in and out of a chair.
What’s strange is that as often as we use these muscles, you’d think they’d get more attention in exercise programs…
But they don’t.
Yet in a brand new 2021 study published in Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, researchers discovered just how vital hip flexors are when predicting health outcomes in older adults…
Researchers tested 433 participants’ handgrip strength, hip flexion, hip extension, hip abduction, knee extension, and toe flexion… by having the subjects perform three basic mobility tests.
In these mobility tests, the subjects got up from a chair without using their arms, stood on one leg for balance, and walked up a set of stairs quickly.
One year later, scientists took the same measurements from all participants and compared the data.
They found that the weaker a person’s hip flexors were after that year-long time period, the higher their risk of falls and chronic pain.
They were also less independent, and needed more assistance getting around than they did the year before. In fact…
Hip flexor strength was the greatest indicator of an older person’s mobility and functional capacity…
So keeping your hip flexors strong is critical to staying happy and healthy as the years pass by.
The good news is you don’t need to do strenuous exercise to keep your hip flexors strong.
Just perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions of lunges and bodyweight squats a few times a week.
You can also do bridges or butterfly stretches while you’re still in bed to keep your hip flexors strong!
Whichever exercises you decide, try to do some form of hip flexor exercise daily to keep them strong and maintain your independence no matter how many candles are on the birthday cake!