The morning we hit the road heading south, I had a steroid injection in my left piriformis (buttock) muscle and have been pain free for over a month. For this I am grateful given the six week relapse prior and all the treatments and procedures that followed. As such, I feel like I am starting over with physical rehab that I liken to the “hardening off” we do with young fragile plants prior to and after we actually plant them in the ground. I am reminded that lots of things can still go wrong without proper care and feeding on the road to hardiness.
In an effort to keep shaking it up, Paul & I joined/rejoined a popular local gym. It’s a strange feeling to continually revisit a place for over 40 years. I’m sure there are hundreds of people who frequent the facility throughout the day but we are attending classes during the middle of the day, after the morning rush and before the evening work crowd, when it is less crowded. The first challenge was a steep hike up the stairs entering the facility which quickly reinforced our need to be there.
Among the dozens of fitness classes offered, we discovered a Silver Sneakers classattended by 25 some people of similar age and disposition; in other words…seniors! How it’s come to this I don’t know but our main props are a chair, a small ball and light weights. It all looks so pathetically easy but, suffice it to say, it is not. In addition to keeping us mobile, the program is oriented toward building strength, flexibility and balance all of which are necessary to lower our “trip and fall” risk status at this life stage. Many folks are in their 70’s & 80’s and don’t look like the 70 & 80 year olds of past generations. One gentleman, who has been a lifelong runner, is in his 90’s and another with later stage Alzheimer’s stood, just stood, next to me one day. The fit youthful looking instructor, who teaches multiple classes a day, is actually our peer at 75 which is both humbling and encouraging. As a veteran fitness instructor and senior role model her classes are quite popular and her frequent reference to all the body part replacement surgeries amongst class attendees made me quickly feel at home.
Another low impact class I attended called Flex-Ability + Core uses isometrics to build core strength using body weight for static stretching/holding. This is the kind of exercise class that increases your heart rate and leaves you drenched as your body parts start shaking long before you are told to relax. This is a great class guaranteed to be a tough ride to mastery. Cheers to healthy aging, a privilege many are denied!
So after attending these classes 8 days out of the last 10, you guessed it, I was down and out on ice and the heating pad all weekend. It is really frustrating as I modified, slowed down and took a lot of breaks to ensure moderation and still ended up with cumulative discomfort. One major result of all this movement is exhaustion allowing me to successfully use my CPAP machine again and get 8 hours plus of restful sleep all week. I rested, stretched and walked over the weekend as well so we will see what tomorrow brings. In conclusion, I’m about 8 months post op and my spine surgery recovery remains….a work in progress!