Embrace Your Destiny: Embrace Aging

In Hawaii late 1990's

Wouldn’t it be nice to age without aging? Maturity and wisdom that come with age are great. It’s the physical body breaking down that is troubling. With each new decade some new issue shows up. The bones and feet continue to break down. Throw in a fall and break something or have a bad illness and everything goes sideways.

 

 

Having MS exacerbates the whole aging thing. The Primary Progressive form of the disease that I have, predicts a yearly decline. But then, everybody has something, right? I am reminded of this everyday as Donnie, who has never had health issues, is working hard to get back to his status “before radiation”. While his issues are different than mine, there are some similarities. We both want more strength, endurance, balance and coordination.

Phone screen shot of Loleh

With aging factored into the equation, it takes extra patience and hard work to improve the body physically. Every time my aging mother fell she would come back but, it took a toll on her overall strength. So, instead of getting functional in two months, it may take six months to a year. Throw in less energy and lagging motivation and we ask ourselves, “WHY”. For me the “why” question is all about feeling good and staying strong for grandson, Loleh. He is my inspiration. What’s yours? I believe it’s more important than ever to have inspiration to keep exercising as we age.

 

On a recent walk with Donnie I said, “Sometimes I feel like I’m losing ground with MS. My walking has deteriorated. I see it in my shoe wear pattern. Maybe that was a new lesion on the MRI. Do you think starting back with a trainer and going to the gym will help me improve? Plus, I really want to get rid of this little roll of fat around the belly. What do you think?”
 

Trainer Jeanne, July 2021

He said, “I’ll go with you when I finish the radiation. I have my own belly to firm up and reduce. Go ahead and get started with a new trainer at Gold's.”

 

Enter Jeanne Harbison, my new trainer. Jeanne understands my issues. She has me doing exercises for the core, upper body and legs. She makes sure I do the exercises properly, use the right weight, and do repetitions to get the results I want. She is focusing on both strength and endurance. She also has me doing some very different exercises to strengthen muscles on the inside of the leg that will help with walking. After three weeks, I am beginning to see results.

Recently, I said, “Jeanne, my body feels like a rag doll at the end of the day. Standing up straight to prepare dinner is work. I have to really concentrate and stay focused.”

 

Learning to move on the glides

Jeanne was already on that problem. She said, “Those muscles in the back are really hard to strengthen. We will do one specifically for posture.” She showed me how to do the exercise and explained why strengthening those muscles between the shoulder blades is  so important.  I believe trainers are a good investment.

Throughout the Covid lockdown, I exercised in my makeshift "at home gym". I’m doubtful I maintained status quo. Taking the fall last year set me back more than I realized. I blame losing leg strength on my walking deteriorating.

My goal now is to stay fully functioning without needing a walker, cane or wheelchair. Therefore, the gym will stay in my schedule. I see value in using their space and good equipment.

 

I am trying to mix up my work-outs to include walking, gym at home and going to Golds'. Hopefully with more strength training will come improved walking gait, improved distance of walks, and less fatigue at the end of walks. 

 

Aging happens and things change in a heartbeat. I’ll keep doing my best to age gracefully. The wrinkles, sagging skin and gray hair are here to stay, but I refuse to give into things I can improve like posture, walking and flexibility.