My Journey With Health And Fitness – A Reminder That We Are All Ageing

Sorry I didn’t post on Thursday. I was actually on a flight to Cancun but thought hey, I have internet and a great new keyboard for my iPad so I should post from 33,000 ft. However, when I went to go into my app it didn’t seem to have the password stored. Unfortunately, I had no idea what the password was. Sigh, the best laid plans as they say. Fortunately I looked up the password on my laptop so going forward I will be able to post using the iPad.

Last weekend was our closing celebration at the resort where we have our trailer. On Sunday I asked my husband if he could clean up the outdoor kitchen area as it was looking really junky (note, we have a lot of stuff at the trailer) and we had guests coming over. He shifted a bunch of stuff around and it looked much better. The problem was there was a lot of lifting and turning and the end result was the next day his back was killing him.

When his back wasn’t better by Tuesday I sent him to the pharmacy to get some pain relief and anti-inflammatory meds. I suggested he speak to the pharmacist who recommended muscle relaxers. He was going to shower Thursday morning but I recommended he hold off until we got to the condo which has step in showers rather than using the tub shower at home. By time we got on the plane Thursday he was still in a lot of pain so I did all the lifting into the overhead bin. He also asked that we switch seats so that he had my aisle seat making it easier to get up to use the facilities (note, I hate the window seat but agreed to make the scrifice). As of yesterday his back was mildly better though I still had to help him dress and put on his shoes.

I decided yesterday that along with the meds it was time to do some active rehab. I told him the best thing to do would be to use the pool to help decompress his spine. He used a sitting floatie for a bit then did some walking and stretching in the pool. I then suggested he use my red light therapy unit to see if that would help. The end result is his back feels much better today though is still sore but he figues it is about 60% of the way to recovery.

The point to this is we are all ageing and should remind ourselves of that when we are doing physical activities. My husband just turned 71 so maybe should have asked for some help before doing all that work on Sunday (yes I could have helped but I was busy with other chores and wasn’t thinking about the work he was doing). Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in the benefits of physical activity while we are ageing but we need to be cognizant that sometimes tasks may be a bit much.

So keep active as you age but remember, sometimes things may be more than our bodies can now tolerate. Doesn’t mean I won’t stop walking and working out, just means I need to recognize what my body can’t do anymore.