Be Prepared To Either Move It Or Lose It

I learned an important painful lesson one I thought important enough to share amongst my fellow retirement rebels.

My left shoulder had been bothering me for awhile, and I’d been having trouble sleeping on my left side so I did the smart thing and scheduled a visit with my physiotherapist.

During the examination she was shocked to discover how tight my shoulder and back muscles were and said that was the root of my problem. But how did it happen that was the million dollar question.

Computer shoulders

After further discussion she came to the conclusion that I had developed shoulder pain from simply sitting at my desk which surprised me. I’m a writer and spend a lot of time scrunched over my desk working on the computer.

Working like that puts my spine out of alignment, my shoulders round and the muscles in my chest shorten and become tight. My chest muscles then pull on the muscles in my shoulders and upper back, causing both shoulder and neck pain.

A few years ago I used to be able to get away working like that. At that time I was swimming three times a week and swimming is a great way to stretch your back and shoulder muscles.

Lesson learned

Not stretching on a regular basis results in a lack of mobility compounded over time. When things go south they go south fast and without corrective action your range of motion is not going to come back.

Often we do not realize how much range of motion we’ve lost until the pain starts and it’s hard to do things like, going for a bike ride or simply getting dressed.

Going forward I plan on spending much less time chained to my desk and investing that extra time in maintaining a healthy range of motion so I can continue to do the things I love to do.

Afterall, why allow yourself to become old before your time?

Every day I learn about more and more retirement rebels who are rebelling against the old fashion beliefs about “old-people’ and what they are capable of.

We have been brainwashed into believing that people aren’t supposed to be celebrating their 100th birthday by going skydiving, or attempting an ironman in their eighties, or walking the Camino de Santiago trail in their 70’s. But there are people out there actually doing this and having a great time.

Another lesson learned

There are a lot of things we can accomplish at a later age provided you have a big enough “WHY” and are willing to do the work. Retirement Rebels like Lew gave me the inspiration to attempt an Ironman at age 68 in Nov 2022.

Inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for death

So why not make "use it or lose it" one of your personal mantras. Just try to maintain an active lifestyle and be sure to eat healthy. None of us want to be on the losing side of retirement.