Want to Age Well? Don’t Forget Your Legs.
🦵 When Walking Across the Room Became a Victory Lap
Laurence Gayao MD | For the Good Life
If you ever want a crash course in humility, try having quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery and then discovering that walking across your living room now qualifies as an Olympic event.
On August 31, 2023, I had my bypass. I expected recovery to be tough — but I didn’t expect my muscles to file for early retirement. Between complications, medications, and multiple hospitalizations, I spent six weeks mostly in bed. My legs apparently interpreted that as: “Sir, we’re clocking out. Permanently.”
I watched my thighs shrink, my balance wobble, and my endurance evaporate. Getting out of a chair became a strategic operation. Taking a shower felt like climbing Mt. Apo. And during my first week of cardiac rehab, I had to use a wheelchair just to get inside the building.
For someone who spent decades telling patients to “stay active,” that was a humbling moment. Life has a funny way of making you eat your own advice.
But slowly — and I mean slowly — things changed. The wheelchair gave way to walking. Walking became easier. My balance improved. My endurance returned. And I was reminded of something I had told thousands of patients over the years:
“The human body responds to what we ask it to do.”
If we don’t use our muscles, we lose them. If we challenge them, they rise to the occasion — even in our 60s, 70s, and beyond.
🧘♂️ Why Being Sick Requires a PhD in Patience
Being dependent on others for basic tasks was harder than the surgery itself. Bathing, dressing, moving from one room to another — everything required planning, assistance, and patience.
And suddenly the word patient made perfect sense. We call sick people “patients” because recovery demands patience with your body, your doctors, your therapists, and especially yourself.
Your body heals on its own timetable — not yours.
🦵 Why Leg Strength Is Your Best Anti‑Aging Strategy
As we age, strong legs become the foundation of independence. They help us walk confidently, climb stairs, get out of chairs, maintain balance, and recover quickly when we stumble.
Weak legs, on the other hand, start a downward spiral:
less activity → less muscle → less strength → poorer balance → higher fall risk → even less activity
Breaking that cycle is one of the secrets to aging well.
🧬 Meet Sarcopenia: The Sneaky Muscle Thief
Sarcopenia is age‑related muscle loss. It can begin in our 30s and accelerate over time. It shows up quietly:
- Walking slower
- Struggling with groceries
- Avoiding stairs
- Difficulty rising from low chairs
One day you realize something that used to be easy now feels like a CrossFit challenge.
And here’s the kicker: when muscle goes, bone often goes with it. Sarcopenia and osteoporosis are like unwelcome siblings who show up at the same family reunion.
Muscles stress bones — and that stress keeps bones strong. Stop moving, and both weaken.
🧠 Strong Legs, Stronger Brain?
Research shows that older adults with stronger legs often perform better on cognitive tests. It doesn’t prove that squats make you smarter — but it does suggest that what’s good for your legs is good for your brain.
Your thighs aren’t just for walking. They’re metabolic engines that help regulate glucose and improve insulin sensitivity. They’re multitaskers — like OFWs who work abroad, send money home, and still manage to run a sari‑sari store on the side.
🏋️♂️ How to Fight Sarcopenia (Without Becoming a Gym Bro)
The best weapon against muscle loss is progressive resistance training — gradually challenging your muscles with:
- Body‑weight exercises
- Resistance bands
- Machines
- Free weights
You don’t need heavy weights. You don’t need a fancy gym. You just need consistency.
A good goal: 2–3 strength sessions per week. Start slowly. Build the habit. Give yourself 6–8 weeks. Your strength, balance, and confidence will grow.
And remember: Nobody gives trophies for grunting louder.
❤️ My Cardiac Rehab Lesson
Six weeks of inactivity nearly erased my leg strength. But with rehab, patience, and persistence, I rebuilt it.
That experience changed how I think about exercise:
- It’s not about looking good in a mirror.
- It’s insurance against frailty.
- It’s preparation for the years ahead.
- It preserves the simple joys — walking with your spouse, playing with grandchildren, traveling, gardening, shopping, or getting up from the couch without needing a battle plan.
🏁 The Bottom Line: Strong Legs = Freedom
Strong legs aren’t just about fitness. They’re about independence.
Move.
Challenge your muscles.
Build strength.
Maintain balance.
Stay active.
And start where you are.
If you haven’t exercised in years, don’t worry about where you should be. Start where you are.
I read your article regarding your CABG. Mine caught me unaware when I was 58 years old in 1999 and was packing a container from the Waterman Filipino church parking lot to send to MVC/Valencia Sanitarium now known as Adventist Medical Center Valencia. It was a Wednesday, The container was to be picked up on Friday to go to the port. I still had some items to pick up around the Los Angeles area. I was extremely tired but determined to finish packing. Thursday morning, after climbing stairs to brush my teeth, I felt some chest pain but ignored it and that day, I drove a stick-shift pickup without AC and without power anything around the LA area picking up more supplies to ship. Friday morning, I again felt that chest pain as I climbed the stairs. I lay down on the bed and prayed that if this was not serious the pain would subside. It stayed. I then told my wife. (I learned later that denial is one of the symptoms). We had to finish packing the container but my wife told me I would not help pack. She and her 87 year-old mother finished the packing.
Meanwhile, a Filipino man, who had been a physician in the Philippines but a med tech in the San Bernadino area dropped by, After explaining the situation, he helped finish packing and then invited me to his office for an EKG. He told me to see my primary care physician before returning to the Philippines.
Friday, I drove that old pickup with wooden racks on the back down Wilshire Blvd. in LA to obtain the proper documentation from the Philippine consulate. (Yes, we even had Granny but she was inside the cab, not siting on a rocking chair in the back). I had difficulty climbing the stains in the consulate.
After spending Sabbath with our daughter in Loma Linda, I drove that pickup back to Modesto on Sunday. Monday, I called my doctor in Sonora and got an appointment for Tuesday. After a short consultation, I was scheduled for an appointment with a cardiologist at 12 noon. He she checked me out and scheduled an angiogram for the next morning. At the end of the angiogram, I was told I would be having a CABG. My response was How soon can we do that. It was scheduled for 6 the next morning.
I woke up with tubes coming out from my body. Two days later, I went home and recovered well without complications. I was told the by pass would be good for 10 years. It was 18 years later when I had a similar experience and they put in some several stents.
I developed AFIB and had a pacemaker installed.
My local cardiologist told me that since I was now an old man there was nothing more they could do for me. I took that as go home and die. I then went to Stanford Cardiac facilities in Palo Alto where they did more balancing of medications and kept me going with some hope for survival.
I do get very tired and cannot do much physical activity without feeling very weak with a foggy brain. I live one day at a time.
I think God must still have a work for me to do so He is keeping me alive until that work is done. Then He will let me rest. I am currently the head elder in our church that has not had a pastor since COVID. Therefore, I am functioning as a lay pastor. I am also the chair of the finance committee for the operating board of our local TK-12 Academy.
My life is in the hands of our loving Lord.
Fred, thank you for sharing your coronary heart disease journey. Life really does have its surprises, doesn’t it? You had your CABG at 58 — I was already 78 and still working, thinking I was the picture of health. Shows how much we think we know as physicians… until our own bodies decide to give us a “refresher course.”
I truly admire that you’re 18 years past your bypass. If the Lord grants me the same, I’ll be 95 — still posting, still writing, still trying to behave. Like you, I’m doing my best to stay active: managing three alumni groups, an Adventist church Facebook page, and running my blog. Retirement turned out to be busier than my ER days — but at least now nobody calls me at 3 AM.
The freedom to serve in ways we enjoy is a blessing. As long as God gives us breath, we keep working for Him by being a positive influence to others. And yes, you said it perfectly: our lives are in the hands of our loving Lord.
Thank you again, Fred. Your story encourages me more than you know.