6 steps you should take TODAY to make deposits into your health for later.
I recently had lunch with my 80yr old cousin. She’s technically my mom’s cousin or my second cousin, but we affectionately call each other cousins. She stays as active as possible with walks almost daily, a weekly Pilates class and the occasional senior ballet class. Ballet is an issue for her now because she’s lost some of her mobility due to old age. Her husband, another cousin and a spry 82yr old, is still out on the tennis courts even after surgeries on his knee, shoulder, foot and eye. In some ways they are incredibly inspirational. They’re active, they have their wits about them and they seem very happy. However, an enormous amount of time is spent either traveling to and from doctors visits, or doing rehabilitation exercises, or planning their next procedure.
I wonder if their case would be different if they had taken care of their bodies differently beginning 60 years ago. Think for a moment about the 50’s. You know, the Mad Men era. Were those guys thinking about fitness? Health? With all the cigarettes, booze and grocery stores for convenience, I think not. Not as much as we are, that’s for sure.
Pat recently had a back issue that left her bedridden for days. Nothing seemed to help. She started taking ibuprofen and even upgraded to Motrin. Still, she had this excruciating pain in her back that ran down her leg. You probably guessed, Sciatica. It can be incredibly painful not to mention exhausting and annoying. On her most recent trip she had to use a wheelchair in the airport. While she said it was incredibly convenient to skip the TSA lines, it was something she never thought would be the case. She wound up getting a Cortazone shot for her back problem which has give her temporary relief, but now she doesn’t know when it’s going to come back or what she can expect in the future.
The truth is sadly, that she is old. And she’s getting older, we all are yet it seems none of us want to deal with this fact. At least none of us in our 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and some of us in our 50’s. But if we don’t plan now, just like we do for our financial life in retirement, our body will breakdown much sooner than we want it to. We will not be able to enjoy our hard earned capital because we’ll be spending it on rehabilitation and hospital bills.
B.K.S. Iyengar, one of the luminaries of the yoga world and one of the earliest people to bring yoga to this country, died last week at 95. That’s a long life and he was mostly healthy and active to the end. He was doing full back bends into his early 90’s. We haven’t come up with a way to escape death, but we are living longer and if we don’t plan ahead those final 10-30 years are going to be miserable. It’s never too early to start thinking about your quality of life in your Golden Years. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the inevitable decline of your body will encroach sooner than you want if you don’t start now.
Here is what you can do now to help yourself when you’re 80, 90 or even 100+:
Stretch:
Mobility is one of the things we loose first. Mobility and proprioception or the ability to know where you are in space. This is the reason that falls and hip surgeries are common in older people. I’ve been practicing yoga for almost 20 years, I compete in marathons, endurance runs and bike rides and triathlons. I still keep my flexibility because I work on it consistently. 15-30 minutes is all you need, but stretch your hamstrings, calves, spine, shoulders, back and neck.
Foam Roll:
Foam rolling is like a self-massage. If you can afford to get a daily massage, then do it. If you’re like most of us you can do once a month or even once a week, which is great. But foam rolling at night will not only help you sleep better, but will also allow your muscles to recover more quickly. Again as often as possible.
Stay Active:
Yes, I know, some of us are so lazy and we don’t want to be active everyday, but the bottom line is, if we don’t use it we lose it. This is exactly what’s happening to my cousin and what I don’t want to happen to you! Get outside, go for a walk, hike, run, bike ride. Get out and explore the world or go to your gym. You must make yourself sweat. Make the hard days out weigh the easy days and you’ll soon love how you feel and will want to workout more and more. This is your consistent deposit for your long term health.
Eat Right:
By now you’re all aware of our obesity epidemic on the bad side and the vegan/paleo/atkins/blah blah blah diet on the good side. I know, there are loads of crazy diets out there, but the basics remain true. Eat mostly veggies with moderate meat, fish, sugar consumption and you’ll be okay. Experiment with how you feel when you eat certain things and then decide if you like that. Do you like how you feel when you drink too much? I would guess not. Maybe you shouldn’t drink so much. How do you feel when you have too much of anything? Treat your body right and it will reward you, I promise.
Stay Social:
Yes, you can do it on your own, but there are studies that show people stay in shape longer when they do it with friends. Get your spouse or your kids or your co-workers to be active. It will not only contribute to a better physical being, but will boost morale as well.
Set Goals:
Setting fitness goals helps keep us motivated. I’m not saying you need to be like my friend Wayne who is 79yrs old and still competing in Olympic Distance triathlons. Yes, he’s awesome! His secret, “Just don’t stop doing it.” You will get slower, but winning was never the point. Just being in the game makes us a winner.
Photo Credit: Flickr.com/MoyanBrenn
And floss your teeth! Your overall health is improved by having good dental health.
Aging is inevitable. Staying healthy should be a priority for every boomer. Be physically active, stay mentally sharp, remain socially engaged and follow a good diet. Staying healthy can help reduce illness and injury and also reduce medical costs. I just read several good pages and posts on the site Retirement And Good Living about health, aging, fitness and nutrition.