4 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Don't sit 12 hours a day.

The body responds to movement and light load, low level intensity throughout the day.

Take up gardening?

True- and walk a lot too if you can

Luck is also a factor- 20 years ago I fell off a ladder and broke my hip and thigh

I only fell about 4 feet - and asked the surgeon after the operation why I suffered so much from I felt was a modest fall

I was then 50

He told me he had seen worse injuries in men aged 20 who tripped on a curbstone crossing the road!

On 3/6/2026 at 10:11 AM, TedG said:

Once my grandmother broke her hip jogging it was all down hill after that.

Jogging is a terrible activity, for several reasons.

This study is showing that joggers develop high levels of calcification in the arteries.

The only thing I have to be careful with here in Thailand are the "Thai steps" . I can only get 1/2 of my foot (size 14) on most of these steps.

21 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I know a guy 70s who broke a hip recently cycling, back up and cycling within a few weeks, fitness helps

Fitness helps, yes. Also, motivation. My mother broke her hip in her 80s. At that time she was fit for her age but Dad was using a walker, partly due to polio as a child and one leg weaker. Mom motivated herself to walk again so she could help Dad, as she had done before. And, she did. She was able to walk until her late 90s, when she finally had to use a wheelchair.

22 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Squats are also good to do at least 3 times a week

I try and do a squat every morning after I get out of bed

On 3/6/2026 at 11:11 AM, TedG said:

Once my grandmother broke her hip jogging it was all down hill after that.

I've always said that jogging isn't good for you. Screws up your joints, etc.

39 minutes ago, flexomike said:

I try and do a squat every morning after I get out of bed

Yeah, me too. On the toilet.

23 hours ago, BritManToo said:

What if I can't reach my feet?

Of course you can. As a poster, your foot is in your mouth more often than not.

4 hours ago, Presnock said:

why surprised, I am not sure of statistics in other countries but I regular see that in the US today, 70% of adults are listed as obese and/or have diabetes. 70%! Need to lock up the food producers there as they have led the public astray IMHO. I an American adult am nowhere near fat or obese, but lived most of my adult life in foreign countries obviously with a healthier diet. That too is MHO

There is absolutely no need for most people to be overweight or obese. All they have to do is eat the right foods. Plenty of protein, low carbohydrate vegetables, no processed muck. Banish sugar.

21 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

There is absolutely no need for most people to be overweight or obese. All they have to do is eat the right foods. Plenty of protein, low carbohydrate vegetables, no processed muck. Banish sugar.

Obviously you must not have lived in the US. If healthy food had been available the past 40-60 years, then there would not be over 180+ million obese or way too fat adults! IMHO - I read the books about eating healthy foods by Dr. William Li and he talks about processes and ultra-processed foods being so bd for us.

4 minutes ago, Presnock said:

Obviously you must not have lived in the US. If healthy food had been available the past 40-60 years, then there would not be over 180+ million obese or way too fat adults! IMHO - I read the books about eating healthy foods by Dr. William Li and he talks about processes and ultra-processed foods being so bd for us.

I have visited the USA many times, and have always been flabbergasted by both the type of foods Americans regard as as staples, and the sheer quantity.

I remember in Pittsburgh opting for roast beef at a restaurant. Not a few slices on a plate, it was the size of a loaf of bread.

Then there was a restaurant chain in Los Angeles called Claimjumpers. For dessert, there was a cream sponge cake the size of a 20 litre drum.

If anyone met the challenge of eating the whole cake, they got it free.

I can't recall any other country - and I have been to quite a few - where the food portions were so large.

49 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I have visited the USA many times, and have always been flabbergasted by both the type of foods Americans regard as as staples, and the sheer quantity.

I remember in Pittsburgh opting for roast beef at a restaurant. Not a few slices on a plate, it was the size of a loaf of bread.

Then there was a restaurant chain in Los Angeles called Claimjumpers. For dessert, there was a cream sponge cake the size of a 20 litre drum.

If anyone met the challenge of eating the whole cake, they got it free.

I can't recall any other country - and I have been to quite a few - where the food portions were so large.

In DC the capital, there is a restaurant called Armand's I think that was the name and their specialties were submarine sandwiches but they advertise one 4 feet in length but i forget all the weights of meats, cheeses, veggies sauces etc but any 4 people that could eat that 4 footer in a sitting got it for free - it was done by 4 professional foodball players. Lyeah, like I said if I had not spent most of my adult life away from the US then I too might have ended up obese instead of just under 150 pounds but I also have always since high school exercised regularly. My friends and family that did and do live full time in the US of course fit into that obese category. There might be some particular areas that preach healthy eating but more than most are ultra-processed foods and humongous servings of those too. Too many "all you eat" restaurants of all types, pizza parlors, smorgasbord, steaks, whatever in every city.

54 minutes ago, Presnock said:

In DC the capital, there is a restaurant called Armand's I think that was the name and their specialties were submarine sandwiches but they advertise one 4 feet in length but i forget all the weights of meats, cheeses, veggies sauces etc but any 4 people that could eat that 4 footer in a sitting got it for free - it was done by 4 professional foodball players. Lyeah, like I said if I had not spent most of my adult life away from the US then I too might have ended up obese instead of just under 150 pounds but I also have always since high school exercised regularly. My friends and family that did and do live full time in the US of course fit into that obese category. There might be some particular areas that preach healthy eating but more than most are ultra-processed foods and humongous servings of those too. Too many "all you eat" restaurants of all types, pizza parlors, smorgasbord, steaks, whatever in every city.

At 5%, Japan has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world. Reason? All their food portions are modest.

IIRC Japan's density of Macca's per 100,000 people is also one-tenth of the USA.

6 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

At 5%, Japan has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world. Reason? All their food portions are modest.

IIRC Japan's density of Macca's per 100,000 people is also one-tenth of the USA.

not only portions, usually healthy plus even oldsters exercise regularly but now the cease to have babies so the retirees have to go back to work...can only survive a short time on that type of sked...but loved living there too.

8 minutes ago, Presnock said:

not only portions, usually healthy plus even oldsters exercise regularly but now the cease to have babies so the retirees have to go back to work...can only survive a short time on that type of sked...but loved living there too.

I would say in terms of personal safety, Japan is at the top of my list.

On 3/6/2026 at 12:49 PM, BritManToo said:

If you were healthy, your hip wouldn't have broken.

@BritManToo Luckily, I haven't had a 'spill', yet. I have fallen down a few time, though. Luckily I was successful to land sort of correctly and didn't break anything. I tripped over a bag at the end of my bed that did severely affect me. The tendons in my shoulders required almost 2 months to heal.

I have a friend who fell at a golf course about 1-1/2 years ago and broke his leg in the femur just below the femoral head. He's 83 and was 82 when it happened. The Doctor was impressed by is bone density for his age, yet, the first procedure to insert a pin and allow the bone to rebuild in the break and around the pin was not successful. The next step was to remove the pin and some external wrap to assist the femur at the break to build bone mass in the area of the break. At this point the Doctor is not happy with the healing progress (more than 5 months)

The next set may be to remove the femoral head and do a complete hip replacement. This friend use to play golf 2-3 times a week and would walk more than 50% of the course and during the rainy season, more like 65-75% of the course.

Ya just don't know how a broken leg or hip can affect you in your later years. Look after yourself, use the hand rails and be carefull.

On 3/6/2026 at 12:49 PM, BritManToo said:

I think the ability to easily break your hip is a sign of your impeding doom, rather than the cause of it. If you were healthy, your hip wouldn't have broken.

Yup.

Likewise when I chip a nail.🙃🙃

But what is linked to balance? Confidence! They are connected in old age...lose confidence and balance will follow and vice-versa. One way to slow down the process is flexibility. Ankle rotation, knee circles, Hip rotation. waist twists, shoulder rotations, various form of arm swings, (gentle) neck rotation (circle,up-down, left-right), Splits (all three) and body folds (both standing and floor). All done daily in roughly half an hour. Don't rush it, easy does it and let gravity do the work where appropriate.

Wife and I are both around 60 and no concern whatsoever. If I looked like most 60 year olds I know and see here, I would be scared to walk on uneven paved parking lots. Some are literally walking death and I doubt a zombie would touch them. People just give up and hope for the best and depend on meds and docs to keep them upright as they age. So many of the posts here in the health section start with see your doctor when you should be able get much sounder advice internally in 90% of the cases. Sad existence IMO.

90% of the hip breaks for the >60, are tiny falls. E.g, waking up at three AM after a fun night out and tripping over a shoe. This actually happened to someone I'm close to and now this person has struggled for years now to have a normal life.

Benefits of staying trim and fit are huge. Great sex among countless other benefits.

On 3/7/2026 at 5:53 PM, Lacessit said:

At 5%, Japan has one of the lowest obesity rates in the world. Reason? All their food portions are modest.

IIRC Japan's density of Macca's per 100,000 people is also one-tenth of the USA.

Americans would be just as fat if they lived in Japan. We aren't stupid - we would just order three portions. I order two or three portion here in Thailand. I need the extra portion but most don't.

On 3/7/2026 at 10:44 AM, save the frogs said:

Jogging is a terrible activity, for several reasons.

This study is showing that joggers develop high levels of calcification in the arteries.

You didn't watch the video?

Start at 6:00 minutes and you will come to the opposite conclusion. Clickbait title but states at the end the high calcivication did not increase heart attacks in high volume runners and lowers all cause mortality. Also the study was comparing healthy individual to a sub segment of health individuals ( high volume runners ). Nothing new here and these types of studies have been debated endlessly with the usual shrug - increasing exercise volume lowers all cause mortality and "greatly" increases the quality of life.

58 minutes ago, atpeace said:

You didn't watch the video?

Start at 6:00 minutes and you will come to the opposite conclusion. Clickbait title but states at the end the high calcivication did not increase heart attacks in high volume runners and lowers all cause mortality.

Yeah, I did watch it all.

But the high calcification makes me nervous anyway.

And anyway, there are also joint issues to worry about when jogging.

2 hours ago, save the frogs said:

Yeah, I did watch it all.

But the high calcification makes me nervous anyway.

And anyway, there are also joint issues to worry about when jogging.

I get that concern and the calcification was unexpected and maybe with time and more research we will have more answers. The calcification is a more rigid type that is less dangerous than the normal non-runner calcification but still a concern. The joints can be a real issue with taking up jogging when your joints are already damaged or weak. The research shows that life long runners have much better joint health than non-runners.

Just now, atpeace said:

The research shows that life long runners have much better joint health than non-runners.

Nah, sorry dont believe it.

Every 2-3 months there's a guy with banged up knees from jogging on here starting a thread.

2 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Nah, sorry dont believe it.

Every 2-3 months there's a guy with banged up knees from jogging on here starting a thread.

Anedotal and what about all the non-runners here with banged up knees. Actually rare to find a non-runner here in Thailand over 65 that could even run a mile/1.8k in under 8 minutes without their joints quitting on them. Of all the over 65 runners I know here, all could do that and have a few beers after.

I will say this - eventually father time wreaks havoc on us all and running becomes an impossibility. Hasn't happened to even one runner I know over 65 ( about 10 runners - some nearly 80). They are definitely much slower than 20-30 years ago but look great! A couple of them are HEAVY drinkers but the running keeps their metabolic system in check.

You're still hanging around so not running has not killed you :)

4 minutes ago, atpeace said:

You're still hanging around so not running has not killed you :)

Ok, keep running.

And I will continue not running.

I am not in perfect shape at all. I recently started doing farmer's carries (ie walking with weights). With very heavy weights, my knees were hurting, so I lowered the weights.

2 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

Ok, keep running.

And I will continue not running.

I am not in perfect shape at all. I recently started doing farmer's carries (ie walking with weights). With very heavy weights, my knees were hurting, so I lowered the weights.

cool and enjoyed your calm responses. I too had to lower the weight I was lifting after not lifting for 5 years ( Covid gyms closures and I never returned ). My shoulders and knees need time to get stronger. I'm amazed how quickly though the strength is coming back. I've been consistent though and don't make excuses not to lift. I hate it!!!!

I now run mostly very slow on my tiny home treadmill at 15% ( at 15% you can buy a cheap treadmill because it uses 1/3 the wattage of running at 0% ). Inclines are joint friendly and the slower pace allows me to watch Netflix and not feel like I'm on a roller coaster. Trying to age well IMO takes a well designed exercise plan that doesn't leave you trashed.