Antiaging Wellness Blog

In the last post we chatted about being wise about beauty and health. In the interest of continuing on this theme, we need to also be wise about our sports as we age.

Being highly performance driven, I love being a winner. But more important to me is enjoying the game. Don’t interpret this that I will throw a point to be a nice person, I’m not that nice! I am talking about being smart about what sports continue to be good for my body as I age.

 If you enjoyed a competitive sports life like I did in my twenties and thirties, chances are your joints will be a little more worn that those who pursued more sedentary pastimes. After a major back injury from pulling around aeroplanes for several years, I was forced to give up competitive tennis. The shell of a game I could manage after the two years of recovery held little satisfaction for me, so I passed on continuing it after my mid forties. If I had let my ego drive my logic, I would have continued. And so too would the injuries and pain.

Likewise with the skiing. I still ski, but I don’t do moguls. The jarring is just too damaging to my previously ruptured disc. I will at times take the chair down at the end of the day, instead of skiing tired. Did you know that the majority of skiing injuries occur in the last hour, for that very reason. Skiiers are tired and their bodys no longer co-ordinate well.

So I took up golf. But before I hit a single golf ball I spent three weeks working on my body to strengthen the movements used in the golf swing. I spent the next two weeks mimicking a slow swing with a 3 wood in front of my french doors, to get my body used to the swing feel and my arms used to the weight of the club. This also had the benefit of giving me instant feedback on whether my swing was in the correct plane, and my body rotating the correct way.

By the time I got to the driving range I was hitting a driver 150 m, consitently. After a few more weeks they were 230m. Still doing the home drills. Now I admit that I have a natural talent and physique for sports. And I also agree that a long consistent drive is only a minute part of the game. But my point is that for a woman over 50 to start out with one strong game element, helps to overcome any shortfalls that may befall my middle age.

I am not sharing this with you to gloat over my beginners luck. More to illustrate to you that there are different approaches to achieving the same goal. I chose an approach that was more beneficial based upon my age and physical limitations. It was the smart thing to so. Climbing over rocks in sprigs a few weeks ago and badly damaging my foot was not so wise, but that’s another story. Even though I cannot walk around the course at present, I am continuing my home drills, whilst my foot recovers.

So pack the ego away, and start evaluating not only the choice of sports you continue to pursue as you age, but the extent you are willing to go to in that sport, considering the price you may pay. Remember, the body does not heal as well as we age, and recovery can be more complicated.

So be wise about sports, and live well.

Nicola

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 9:14 am and is filed under Aging, Personal Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.