I’m BAAACK! Yep, I have hit this subject before, but it is so important that I absolutely must go back to it a few times a year, at least!!
Why is it important to me? Maybe a looming birthday prompted the timing.
Or maybe because I just went through months of a nagging hip-area pain that was causing me to give into it (limping) and got depressed about whether or not I would ever get relief. Did I just have to learn to live with it? That happens as we age, right?
Long story short, I had an amazing massage from a Thai massage therapist who is a most therapeutic masseuse. He addressed my hip issue as I requested and gave me some “reverse engineering” exercises. What he thought was happening was that a major muscle had fallen into laziness and 2 opposing muscles had taken over. Not a good balance.
First, I realized I had gotten lazy, too. I had not been doing my daily Callanetics for weeks – too busy, right? I shared the Callanetics in a prior blog here if you want a refresher — Move It – or Lose It – Candy McCune
As I shared in that blog, I had slacked on my Callanetics and a D.O. gave me a stretch to help, but I needed to also get back to my consistency with the daily exercise.
So, back to a 6 days a week routine after that massage – Callanetics + one of the masseuse’s exercises woven into the routine + doing the 2nd exercise the masseuse gave me twice a day. Consistently – oh, how I dislike that word.
And it was not instantly happening. It took 2 months of that darn consistency and I realized one day as I was walking outside that I was not giving in to that hip-area weakness feeling and there was no pain. Wow. It had slowly disappeared.
OK, so to keep this blog short, I will refer you back to another blog I did on this very subject — Aging: The Ultimate Endurance Sport – Candy McCune
So here I was, provoked again that I had not been deliberate about how I train for and “play” this aging game. I know – we are all looking for things that will help us physically, but what are we actually implementing? Consistently?
And that is the key that I shared in the “Endurance Sport” blog – worth repeating here. And yes, I am doing this for myself. Hope you don’t need it. But just for fun – answer these questions along with me.
- What physical routine(s) did you do every single day toward improving your health/aging game?
- OK – 6 days Callanetics and 7 days the extra exercise (which is just one movement to the count of 20)
- What is the most strenuous, muscle-building activity you did –and how many days of the week did you repeat that activity?
- Pickleball, twice a week for at least 1.5 hours – besides, it’s FUN!
- What foods/drinks did you consume that were healthy or good for your body (yes, you know which ones these are, and are not)?
- Daily Youngevity foundational minerals & vitamins, eating gluten-free & mostly dairy-free – and pretending sugar is a major food supplement (aaarrrggghhh)
- How many times over the week did you “cheat” ? (i.e. consume non-healthy foods/drinks)
- Ooops! Already gave it away with the sugar comment, right?
- What did you consume in the vitamins/minerals/supplements category – daily?
- Yep, shared it above – supplements I drink and capsules I consume with meals – daily.
- Can you identify a daily activity that improved your outlook, spiritual mindset or journey?
- Finally, an easy one that I love to do first thing in the morning — my quiet time with the Lord and His Word
For sure – my answers were different a few months ago – slacked off on the exercise part. And just that one piece was disastrous for me.
That is the lesson I am taking away. At this age and stage of the game, I don’t have the resiliency and ability to “slack off” without consequences. Got by with it in my younger days.
In the research I have done on this topic, you might like to know this one piece coming from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: adults aged 65 and older need at least 150 minutes a week (i.e., 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week) of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity plus 2 days a week of activities that strengthen muscles plus activities to improve balance.
They failed to mention it is a continuing need – no slacking. I get it – it is assumed. But that perhaps is needing to be said out loud, and often.
So if you will keep reminding me, I will keep reminding you. We need to keep “Movin’ and Groovin’” in order to play this Aging game the best we can. Movin’ that body and getting our spiritual mindset Groovin’ in a positive direction.
I’m cheering us on!
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