Whether you were a professional athlete, a collegiate competitor or a weekend warrior just out to have fun, we all go through changes in our lives that squash our motivation to be our best.
"I'll never look as good as I used to, so why should I work so hard"
"Why would I spend so much time in the gym if I am not going to compete at a high level"
"I can't play the way I used to because I have ...(arthritis, sore knees, a sore back, insert other issue)...it's just because I'm getting old."
"I used to be able to....."
Does this sound familiar? As a former collegiate athlete, I have said all of these things at one time or another to make myself feel a little better about periods of "laziness" or inactivity. We all go through these transitions because "Life happens"! We get busy, we gain/lose weight, we have different priorities, time is limited AND we keep getting older! In the early years of our athletic activity we would practice and prepare our bodies for our sport for hours each day. Now we try to fit in our workouts while the kids are at school or between our morning and afternoon meeting. Or maybe you try to decompress with a workout after a 10 hour work day on your feet or Worse yet, after sitting at a desk all day!
Despite these changes, we should ask what remains the same? Do you still have a passion for competition? Do you use your sport or activity to connect to your friends, community or other like minded individuals? Does exercise and activity give you an outlet to relax or unwind after a stressful day?
If you answer yes to any of these, then what will you do to continue doing the activities you love? Do you have some "aches and pains" that make you skip that workout sometimes? Have you accepted that pain is a fact of aging and you are just getting too old to keep it up? If you have accepted this, are you willing to continue to give up more as you continue to age?
Aging Athletes DO NOT have to live with soreness and pain daily that limits your activity! The risks for chronic issues like arthritis, do increase as we age. However, there are many non-pharmacologic and non-surgical options to mitigate and even eliminate the pain and limitations that are experienced with these chronic conditions.
Let's consider an example of an issue that many athletes experience as they age. This diagnosis causes them to say "I have low back pain, but it's arthritis, so I can't do what I used to do".
FACT: In a review of studies including >3000 people, 37% of people by the age of 20 have disk degeneration (early stages of arthritis) in the lower back. This number increased to 96% by the age of 80. Oh, did I mention that these results are in people WITHOUT low back pain!!!
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?? Likely degeneration ("wear and tear") of the spine is a normal part of aging, and NOT a pain generating factor! Many times when we fully evaluate "arthritis pain", the common culprit is the positions that we sit/stand in regularly and the muscles that are guarding those positions. These are all factors that we can change through Physical Therapy, exercise, and other modalities.
If you are dealing with "aches and pains" from your day to day activities and are ready to find out what you can do to change it, visit MyPT at thatsmypt.com to schedule an appointment.
Or contact me to discuss how I can help get you back to living a more pain free life!