My family celebrated my 76 year-old birthday alongside with my youngest 31 year-old son, Fariz Azmir together with my grandchildren at home. According to my cardiologist, Dr. Siow Yoon Kee of Hospital Sultan Idris Shah, Serdang, that “At this stage of your life at 76, muscle loss (sarcopenia) accelerates, especially affecting the muscle groups responsible for basic mobility like standing up, climbing stairs and staying upright. Regular physical activity acts as a powerful intervention to maintain personal independence, significantly reduce the risk of life-altering falls & protect cognitive health. Multi-component exercises like a tai chi, yoga, or simple single-leg stands actively train the nervous system, reducing the risk of fall. Standing on one leg for just 10 seconds is heavily linked to better longevity outcomes for you.” So, I targeted lower-body fitness ensures that I can stand-up from chair without using my hands & walk faster, and step confidently on uneven ground.
I found my cardiovascular movement boosts blood flow to the brain, helping me to reduce the risk or slow the progression of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. As a 76 year-old man, I performed moderate-intensity of stretching activity at least 15 minutes daily, combined with balance exercises to maintain independence and lower the risk of falls. Whenever possible I also do brisk walking.
Above all, for mental exercise, I found engaging in targeted reading and writing activities is an excellent way to stimulate brain plasticity, preserve cognitive reserve & sharpen memory. I'm grateful with Newswav, Malaysia's leading trilingual news and content aggregator for giving me the opportunity as a citizen journalist reaching out with an audience of millions of active users worldwide. I participated in the Newswav Creator Program and able to get my stories published daily in newswav.com My mental benefits multiply for submitting stories and engaging with integrated readers.
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Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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