"An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure" Benjamin Franklin
This quote by Benjamin Franklin came to mind this week as I was reflecting on this past year and the mindset change that I made in regards my aging body. In 2023, I made a commitment to a daily routine of strengthening and stretching the muscles in my legs, hips, glutes and core. All the exercises were prescribed by my physical therapist and could be done at home. Each day I invested about one hour to these exercises. It was my "ounce of prevention" that I was going do everyday. My goal was to fully recover from a injured hamstring muscle that I had badly strained in 2020. I really wanted to get back to hiking any of the toughest hikes I wanted to do in 2023.
So, how did I do?
I completed a total of 34 hikes and racked up 250 miles and climbed a total of 50,000 ft of elevation. My commitment to a daily muscle strengthening and stretching routine helped me realize my goal. Throughout the summer I completed a series of very long and difficult terrain hikes. I experienced a level of fitness during my hikes this summer that even allowed me to do one of the most challenging hikes around (Gothic Basin/Foggy Lake).
The one area I had not been stretching or strengthening were the muscles in my feet and I started feeling Achilles pain in my right foot around the first part of August. I was so focused on completing the August hikes that I planned that I kept hiking and by the end of August I had to stop hiking these hard hikes. I went back to my physical therapist again and found out I had micro tears in my right Achilles tendon! So, I was back to PT working to recover from another injury.
This injury really got me pondering why was I continuing to injure myself? In discussing this with my physical therapist I learned that as muscles age they become stiffer. The muscle fibers naturally reduce in number and shrink in size. In addition, our muscle tissues are replaced more slowly and the lost muscle tissue is replaced with a tough, fibrous tissue. This is the natural process we all experience as we age and I was no exception.
I have always led a very active lifestyle and I put a lot of demand on my muscles, especially my lower body. Over the last 15 years I experienced multiple muscles tears and strains when I was pushing my legs extra hard.
My first big muscle tear was to my right calf muscles. It occurred when I pushed my left leg extra hard to get some sudden acceleration to reach for a football I was straining to catch. My powerful calf muscles I have enjoyed all my life, were no longer the same supple and pliable ones of my youth and I experienced a very painful rupture of the left calf muscle.
You would think that I would have learned from this but unfortunately I have did not. I continued to experience tears and strains in the my lower body muscles and tendons. I injured my right quadriceps, my right hamstring, my left calf muscle (a second time) and now my right Achilles tendon. After each injury, I took seriously my physical therapy so I could get back to hiking again. Once my PT was complete, though, I stopped stretching and strengthening those muscle groups. This, of course, left me susceptible to straining or tearing muscles as I failed to recognize the changes that were occurring in my body as I aged.
Now finally after 15 years of injuring myself, I have coming to grips that my body is undergoing a very natural progression of muscle stiffening. Unless, I commit to stretching and strengthening ALL my muscle groups, I will be right back in PT working to recover from another injury!
I need a new commitment to what I am calling my "Forever Exercises". A set of comprehensive muscle stretching and strengthening exercises that I will do for the rest of my life.
I have reaped a ton of benefits from this past year from my practice of daily stretching and strengthening including a significant reduction in lower back pain and neck pain. It is because of these benefits, I am motivated to continue investing in the exercises.
Yet, I know there is still one more change needed for me to keep from injuring myself. I need to begin to release my strongly held belief that I can continue to push my body like I am 25 years old. Even with all the "forever exercises" I will be doing, my muscles are still aging and are no longer 25 year old muscles.
I titled this blog, "Lighten" for a reason, I guess. I need to lighten my grip on this idea I can push my body like I was 25 years old again!
May the 2024 bring you growth in mind, body and spirit and remember we don't grow if we don't change.
John
I hear you John, I'm having similar issues. On the Ptarmigan Ridge hike I took a hard fall after I tripped over a root just as I glanced to my left to look at the diminishing view due to fog. I caught myself mainly with my right arm which I had injured at least a couple of times in the past. The MRI showed a full tear of the supraspinatus tendon, one of the four rotator cuff tendons. They said it wouldn't heal without surgery. I was able to get in two weeks later for surgery. The surgeon also found two other rotator cuff tendons that were torn, as well as the labrum and the long biceps tendon. At least…