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NNadir

(33,368 posts)
Sat Jul 20, 2019, 12:00 PM Jul 2019

My son made me go bicycling this morning with him, with the heat already rising.

It was already well into the 80's Fahrenheit.

I love that young man.

He's so damned good for me.

I feel much better, particularly in my diseased old man hip.

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at140

(6,110 posts)
1. Just came back from the Gym
Sat Jul 20, 2019, 12:07 PM
Jul 2019

30 minutes fast walk on treadmill set 3 degrees up incline.
And 15 minutes lifting 30 lb weights.

But it was air-conditioned inside the Gym, a comfortable 72 deg.
The Gym is literally my lifeline, at age 79 going on 80.
Feels so good after the exercise!

Your son is trying to keep you healthy.
But watch out for excessive hot temps.

NNadir

(33,368 posts)
3. Thanks. Believe me, I'm well aware of the danger of this heat.
Sat Jul 20, 2019, 12:35 PM
Jul 2019

I told him we had to get out early to do it. It would be impossible to do it now. It's already 93F, and I'd suspect it will hit 100.

We only went about 5 miles, round trip, mild hills.

It sounds as if you're aging backwards, by the way. There's certainly a reason you have had the pleasure of living so long.

In my 30's, my wife used to run for an hour, sometimes more, on the beach. Neither my knees nor my hip would take that now, but the bicycle is a different story. It strengthens those parts that hurt now.

I've never really managed to have an exercise routine indoors, with the possible exception of doing push ups and sit ups in my twenties.

I was big into bicycling in my 20's. There was a part of my time in California where I got rid of my car and biked everywhere, between 50 and 100 miles a day.

As you're even older than me, let me share my favorite thought about aging other than the one I tell my wife to the point that she now rolls her eyes, ("the alternative to growing old is dying young):

"Growing old is like climbing a mountain. Your breath gets shorter but your views become more expansive."

I believe it's attributed to Ingmar Bergman.

I feel that very much. I have never before been so aware of how beautiful life is, now that most of it is over.

at140

(6,110 posts)
7. You said "I have never before been so aware of how beautiful life is..."
Sat Jul 20, 2019, 04:33 PM
Jul 2019

Very profound statement, it is so true!

I retired before reaching 58 because of fainting spells at work in the mornings.
It was the best decision ever, giving up a nice fat pay check.
Then took up playing golf 5 days a week at orchard Hills country club in WA state
which is basically a blue collar working man's golf club. It was cheaper than playing
public courses 5 times a week, because members get unlimited play for fixed monthly dues.
That was the turn around, curing chest pains, hip joint pain, and high blood pressure which
was causing fainting spells. 5 rounds a week, I was walking 30 miles/week!

3 years ago I twisted right knee and x-ray showed it was bone on bone.
So I gave up golf and took up walking on treadmill instead. Guess what, still muddling
through without knee pain. It proves my theory that joints ache due to weak muscles
and tendons supporting it. Strengthen those muscles and tendons (only exercise can do that)
and you have best chance to be pain free.

Never imagined at age 58 that I would feel this good nearing 80. Just have to drag my butt
to the Gym every other day for 45-50 minutes.

If you have problem knees and hips, begin very gradual exercise routine, just walk for
10 minutes, then increase to 15...ending with 30 minutes every other day. It might take 3+
months to get to walking briskly 30 minutes. But it could repair your joints, like it did mine.

I am seeing 100 at the end of the light tunnel LOL WITHOUT PAIN!

NNadir

(33,368 posts)
8. Thanks. Even as a young man...
Sun Jul 21, 2019, 07:27 PM
Jul 2019

...I utilized the strategy you suggest, adding a little bit at a time.

My wife, even when young, had a bad ankle, but when she heard I was running with a (female) coworker at lunch, she got her delightful little jealousy muscles up. (My coworker was also married and we both loved our spouses and both believed strongly in fidelity but running was better than eating at lunch time, so we did it.) So my wife decided she wanted to run with me and we did just that, started at 5 minutes, adding one minute every day. Within two months we were running an hour on the beach whenever the tide was low, and, as you suggest, her ankle improved greatly.

You may enjoy this lecture I attended last winter: Science on Saturday: Osteoarthritis of the Hip and Knee: The Science Behind the Pain, and How New Research is Revolutionizing Treatment

The video is at the bottom, you need to click on the web page to get to it.

Unfortunately it is walking - I walk a lot at work between labs and my boss's office - that sets my hip off. The pain begins after about 15 minutes.

Bicycling, by contrast, is pain free. My son took me out again this morning, just before the heat got real bad and we did just that, added an extra stretch. I can feel my hip, as strange as it is, getting better.

I don't think I'll see 100 - I've already outlived both of my parents, although they died young - but I am grateful for every morning when I wake up to yet another wonderful day in a wonderful life. I am not really afraid of dying though. I expect my time will come soon enough. As I often say, and as I will say when I deliver my mother-in-law's eulogy at her memorial service next week, the very nice thing about dying is that you cannot do unless you have lived.

I have lived.

Thank you very much for your comments.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
12. Went to the gym this morning, left without exercising.
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 02:30 PM
Jul 2019

No power. No cooled water, no air conditioning, no lights.

The good part: no Fox News on the television.

Big windstorms Saturday evening, many without power.

at140

(6,110 posts)
13. It frightenss me how much my life depends on power!
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 10:30 PM
Jul 2019

7 years ago, near Everett, WA, power went out due to a snow storm. The roads were iced up
and dangerous to drive, so we were stuck in an all electric condo without power.
Guess what, no heat (not easy for a 72 year old), no hot water (can't shower with ice cold water),
no range (no hot food), and of course no TV. Luckily my cell phone battery was alive and I could
call the electric utility and explain my predicament.

MLAA

(17,165 posts)
6. If you don't move you rust, so says my wonderful 84 year old husband 😉
Sat Jul 20, 2019, 02:05 PM
Jul 2019

Good for you that you have such a caring son.

 

Ron Obvious

(6,261 posts)
10. Cycling is the perfect exercise
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 09:00 AM
Jul 2019

Easy on the joints, fast enough to get somewhere and slow enough to enjoy the journey. Good for you!

NNadir

(33,368 posts)
11. Yes, exactly, all of the above.
Mon Jul 22, 2019, 01:49 PM
Jul 2019

There was a period in my life, when I was young, and living in LA that I chose to have a private revolution against the internal combustion engine, so I sold my car and bought a bicycle which I used for all my transportation. It lasted about two or three years and physical shape and stamina were outrageous.

Eventually, time and circumstance caused me to give in, but I did prove to myself that cars are a luxury as opposed to a necessity.

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