Feeling Better
In my morning review of my normal news feeds, I happened upon an article in Apple News about a 77-year-old bodybuilder named Joan. It seems that she has become somewhat of an Instagram influencer under the heading “trainwithjoan”. Apparently, back when she was 70 or so, she was a bit of a physical mess, declining rapidly into old age and decrepitude…like us all. That was when her daughter, who is a fitness buff, told her that she would not be there to help her when she inevitably fell of the cliff for good, but that she would be there to help her here and now if she would commit to a regimen of physical fitness that would rejuvenate her body before it was too late. Whatever she said to poor little lumpy Joan seems to have worked and now Joan looks like the female version of Charles Atlas in her vibrant, and not so advancing, older age. In fact, since the article pictures Joan at the gym with dumbbells and Nautilus machines, I think it is fair to say that Joan looks pretty ripped and certainly pretty happy about it all.
As I have mentioned in previous stories, after my daughter and her family left here in late July, she told me about Stretch-U as an alternative to yoga to help me with my mobility issues (not severe, but growing). At the time, I was telling myself that I got plenty of exercise of an aerobic and weight training nature from my hillside yard work and that what I really needed was more flexibility work to improve my mobility. That was not an incorrect assessment altogether, but it was literally the tip of the fitness iceberg. Once I went to my first stretch session and determined that it was helpful, I had to admit to myself that I needed to do more. For a long time now, when I get a massage and now do a stretch session, I really don’t do it for the contemporaneous feel-good that the actual muscle manipulation provides. While it sometimes does, indeed, feel good, the real reason for doing it is to loosen up muscular and tendon/ligament tightness so that its easier to function in terms of movement and use of those muscles. I’m not really an athlete any longer (some, like my youngest son, Thomas, question whether I could EVER run), so I can’t say its for my athletic performance, but it is for my ability to do yard work of all sorts and to engage in what I would call minor mobility challenges like walking around attractions and performances or even something as simple and mundane as getting through an airport comfortably.
Those needs caused me to decide to try swimming. I’ve heard over and over from friends and family about how much they enjoy their aquatic activities. The low impact nature of aquatic activity is less about the temporary discomfort of the activity than about the sustainability of it. By now, I know myself well enough to know that I can put up with short term discomfort (as I did for several months with the Perfect Workout 20-minute regime), but to stay with a program, I have to enjoy the activity. I was unclear about aqua aerobics, but I tried it a few times and was not impressed by the workout value. It seems way too easy to have much benefit. I like swimming and always have. The reasons swimming works is very straightforward, my weight is far less a burden in the water than it is otherwise on land. Someone of lesser stature might have a harder time getting this point, so I often simply ask how they would feel doing what they are doing (running, walking, biking) with an extra 150 -200 pounds on their back. Add to that the fact that the water is cooling and I am usually running hot at whatever I am doing, and you have a solid basis for my liking swimming.
The first issue is where would I swim? I thought there must be swim clubs that would not require me to return to LA Fitness (I was a member when COVID hit). Nope, nothing made sense except a $30/month LA Fitness membership. I have to hand it to the sales guy there since he convinced me to try a training session with a new kinesiologist on staff. I had been thinking about going for Physical Therapy and that training suddenly felt like a good alternative. So, I signed up for twice a week training for an hour each. I suddenly decided that I would train in the gym on Tuesday and Thursday and that I would swim on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and one weekend day. I went out and bought neoprene hand paddles and swim goggles with attached ear plugs. I sorted out those needs one after another as I got the hang of spending a half hour at a time in the pool. That would mean that I would be doing some formal form of exercise six out of seven days a week for a total of 4 hours. That would be complimented by two Stretch-U sessions and one deep tissue massage with my regular guy, so 3.5 hours of flexibility work. That felt like a lot from a full-stop start, but I did it and have done it with only minor absences for over two months now.
The results have been noteworthy by my standards. I have not targeted weight loss as a primary goal, but I have lost about 10 pounds and my muscle tone is greatly improved (according to massage and stretch guys). I started with aching shoulders and a right hip that kept me up every other night. The shoulder issues are completely gone, as I’m sure all the swimming has had a good effect. As for the right hip, it too is greatly improved but not completely gone. The important thing is that I find that I have more and more energy every day that allows me not just to do more around the yard, but to want to do more around the yard. Waking up without all the old aches and pains is an admittedly wonderful feeling. Feeling better is a good thing and at this age it may be one of the best things.
Something has changed in my head. Because I didn’t undertake this program at anyone else’s urging or to solve an urgent or specific problem, but rather with the general objective of feeling better, I see this as a long term program that I will do forever, whatever that may mean when one is 70. My point is that I have already settled into this as my routine. To some this may seem like a silly commentary. I’m sure that those who have always understood the need for such a program wonder what took me so long, but all I can say is that everyone comes to their understandings in different ways and at different times and this seems to be my moment of realization. I don’t know that this has solved all my problems or that it will allow me to go try for a triathlon, but what it does do is allow me to do my hillside yard work comfortably almost every day.
About two weeks ago after Joventino came to do his garden work, I made a list on my phone of all the things I needed him to do when he returned in three weeks. I even walked around the property with Kim to help me identify other things that needed doing. I’ve also added to it as I go since, as they say, there is always something. That list has 28 items on it and I originally figured I might do one or two of the items myself. At this moment, I have already done 19 of those items and prepared to do one more. Of the 8-9 that are left, I expect that I will do all but three or four that are pretty big tasks. As you can tell, I am thinking of this task list as my personal badge of honor. I think of it as my testament to feeling better. Take that, Joan of Arc!