Use it or lose it, is a saying that is being used more often these days. I believe it is trying to tell people they need to be active, especially for the body. When you use your brain, the stimulation helps keep you up to date with what is going on around you. But with your body, that’s an option, that many people don’t take.
As I have said before, my mother was blind, which meant the only way she could keep up with friends and functions was to remember them. She knew the telephone numbers of all those who helped her, as well as her friends. She remembered everyone’s birthdays, and she amazed people at what she knew. I know she also exercised. Not anything very energetic, but she would lie on the bed and use her legs as if she was riding a bicycle, along with other movements that kept her body supple.
Would you say my mother was fit? Well for her age, Yes. She lived to 93 and although her final days were in a nursing home, she could still get herself around and hold interesting conversations. Is this what we should be aiming for if we say we are fit?
Where I work there are several people over 80. Some have to use walking frames, but they manage to turn up weekly to present a radio program, which they have worked out themselves. They really enjoy being on air broadcasting. Are they fit? Probably not as much as some people, but they are keeping themselves active, and the enjoyment they get out of presenting a weekly radio program is giving them some reason to get up in the mornings and keeping them alive.
Most people believe that exercising is what keeps us fit. But it is more than that. Being active is the necessary function. Getting up and out of a chair helps keep the muscles working. Walking regularly gets the blood pumping, especially if you have to walk up a slope. Keeping active, is the answer to being fit, and keeping alive.
Now of course, there are some people who cannot stand, and others who have difficulty in moving. But using what you have and making sure you move it regularly will help keep that part supple and improve the circulation.
What I have been talking about is how older people can keep themselves fit, but what about younger people?
Most children get involved with sport in some way when they are young. They play team games, or swim. Some ride horses and others gymnastics. All these are great exercises. But as they get older many people drop the sport and become couch potatoes. This is where the problems of being unfit arises.
Gyms have become very popular, and because people are mixing with others the motivation is there. And that is one of the main factors that cause people to give up exercising. As one reaches a certain age, they get complacent, don’t see the necessity to walk regularly or still play a sport. Computers have also made a difference to how we see our lives. We’ve become more sedentary. We sit a lot, and because we don’t move much, when we do stand, we want to sit down again.
All this has an adverse effect on our bodies. Then when we get to around 40, we all of a sudden realise we have let ourselves go: put on a bit of weight and start to find it difficult to walk up sets of stairs. They find they are always taking the lift at work and try to park the car as close as possible to the building they are going to. What happened to that active person in their late 20s?
This is the time in life when many people decide they have to get fit, and off they go to a gym and hit the machines hard. Or they decide they were once good at a sport so join a team and put all their effort into showing how good they once were. Bad move. Why? Because for so many years the muscles have not had to work hard, and suddenly they are expected to return to teenage activity. What happens? Muscles get strained, other areas of the body show a reluctance to what is happening, and the person who wants to return to being 20 again, can do themselves great damage.
This doesn’t mean the body can’t return to the 20-year old’s ability, but not overnight. It is a case of building up slowly. Taking to walking again, short distances at first, and then longer. The body will love getting fit again, but it needs time to get used to the big decision its owner has made.
During Covid many people needed to find an excuse to get outside. Being shut up in doors all day, every day, was too much for the population. If you had dog, you could take it for a walk. And that is what happened. All the RSPCA pounds were inundated with people wanting dogs. Everyone then had an excuse to take a walk. In some ways COVID was good for the population. They started to become fit. Those couch potatoes that had been happy to sit and watch TV or work on their computers all day, suddenly found the joy of walking, and meeting other dog owners. As I always say, out of something bad, comes something good. And COVID gave us a new joy in walking and meeting other dog owners.
Is there any age when you should stop being active? No. Part of being alive, is being active. No matter how small the activity. If it means you are moving parts of your body, that helps you and keeps the blood flowing, then keep doing it. Like my Mum who used to exercise on the bed each day, just because she couldn’t see didn’t stop her from keeping active. We can all do it. You just have to make the decision.
So now you have finished reading this blog and listening to the Podcast, it is time for you to move and get active. Your body needs it. So do you.
Julie Finch-Scally ©
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