There comes a point in life when you realise that if you don’t do something about your physical fitness then it will be only a few short years before you are officially frail, prone to having a fall as opposed to falling over. Falling over is something we all do occasionally throughout our lives but there comes a time when it mysteriously becomes having a fall, which is, apparently, quite a different thing.
It’s surprising how much muscle mass you can lose over the years if you become less active. It’s also surprising how less active you have become when you still feel like you are on the go all the time. You may not be aware of how much extra padding you have acquired while you were distracted with the pressing issues of midlife or, more likely, you have blanked out the thought of it. So it was a moment of shocked realisation for me when, one day at a family gathering, I went to pour the tea and found I couldn’t lift the teapot!
To be honest, this wasn’t my first moment of shocked realisation. That had hit me a year earlier at another family gathering. I got down on the floor to get a rather clever photo of one of the grandchildren and found I couldn’t get up. I had to be helped up by my son [and it wasn’t easy], very embarrassing and probably why I didn’t want to face up to reality. I was on the way to frailty…
Then I found out that frailty is not inevitable just because of getting older. Well, who knew that? Of course you do hear about those amazing people in their nineties who run marathons and swim the channel [OK, I’m exaggerating, but you know what I mean]. I thought it was down to luck or good genes or something, but apparently it isn’t, at least not as much as you’d think.
I found out it was no use thinking that various physical issues like arthritis lets you off the hook. ‘What you need is exercise’ say the implacable physios. But it hurts, you think. They are right though, of course, at least in my case. So anyway, long story short, I decided that something had to be done. Not for me the gym membership for several reasons which I won’t list here. Walking was a good start, but not enough on its own. It doesn’t do anything for your upper body strength and won’t help you to lift teapots or grandchildren.
While I was still wondering what to do for the best [read that as burying my head in the sand], I found out I’m pre diabetic. Clearly it was time for some sort of decisive action. After a comprehensive overhaul of diet, I decided to comprehensively overhaul my exercise regime, which was easily done as it was non-existent. I thought that if I paid for an exercise program it would give me a structure, be tailored to my age group and I’d be more likely to stick to it. So that’s what I did. After a nine week program of exercises and workouts, all carefully designed to gradually build fitness, I’m feeling much better already and can lift teapots and get up off the floor with the best of them. My energy levels have gone up, I can get more done in a day, my balance is much better and I’ve lost 8 pounds [3.6kg]. And, much to my surprise, I’ve really enjoyed it.
The only thing is, you can’t just stop at the end of the program because if you don’t keep on ‘using it’ you will lose it again. So I intend to keep moving one way or another, and if I stumble and end up on the ground it will be because I’ve fallen over, not because I’ve had a fall.
