My wife, Edie, was at her gym class this morning and told me that after class, a few of the “ladies” got together to chat. Their topic was injuries, aches and pains. My wife said that one of the women was rubbing her hip to help with an ache, another was complaining about her knees, and my wife mentioned that she was headed to an appointment with a Physical Therapist to work on her injured shoulder.
All of the women are in their seventies and had just finished a fairly intense twice a week, one hour class. All these women are generally healthy and fit.
I have breakfast once a month with an old High School friend. We both exercise regularly, me at a local Health Club and he at the “Y” where he is a board member.
Our breakfast conversations often begin with a recitation of our respective aches and pains and our most recent adventures with our doctors. We are both in our eighties and are generally healthy and fit.
The point is that exercise will not relieve you of all the aches and pains that come with getting older. No matter how healthy and fit you are, aging will still take it’s toll in aches and pains.
Injuries too, are easier to come by as one gets older. Have you ever reached for something on a high shelf and felt a sharp twinge in your back or shoulder? Maybe it stayed with you for a while?
Or have you ever been walking and suddenly twisted your ankle on an unseen rock or tree root that shouldn’t have been there? It takes a while for the pain and discomfort to go away, doesn’t it?
Even a very fit, strong, flexible and mobile person is more susceptible to injury as they get older. Our bodies are built that way. All Seniors, no matter how fit, are highly susceptible to falling, with a broken bone or other serious strain or sprain as a result. Injuries from falling are the most frequent reasons for Seniors to visit Hospital Emergency Rooms.
But here’s the good part. Fit people recover faster. Fit people heal faster. And fit people don’t get injured quite as often or as seriously from the same incident that might be disastrous to an unfit or sedentary person.
Our exercise patterns will change as we age, but the overall benefits of exercise are still there. We have more energy and enthusiasm and tend to enjoy life more vibrantly than the unfit. We tend to live a little longer and a lot better. While the cigar smoking, bourbon drinking, passive centenarian will always be around, the old expression “the survival of the fittest” still rules.
So, to stay fit, to recover from injury faster, and to tolerate your aches and pains more easily — KEEP YOUR BODY MOVING! It will continue to pay off for as long as you live and you will most likely enjoy your life a little better.
Thank you for reading.