GROWING OLD(er) AIN'T FOR SISSIES!

[Q.]

Okay, this started out to be yet another shoulder whine but it's really more than that... that is, more whining!

A week ago Monday, something happened in my right shoulder while lifting but I don't know when or how... I just know that it hurt later. It's between the actual joint and my neck and it makes a lot of snap, crackle, pops when moving it around. That seems to happen occasionally and, with a little warm up, not a problem. I kept on doing what I always do including racquetball on Wed.

This Monday, it's still sore a lot but I did my usual stuff - squat, row, chin, hang cleans... maybe something else thrown in, can't remember. That night, I started taking a raquetball class so there was an hour of that and one of the kids wanted to play afterward so I kicked his a... I mean, we had a nice game.

The next day, I worked out again and did some r-ball practice. That night, my back woke my up it was so tight and sore.

Knees hurt from running more, too.

Gotta go for now but everything seems to be hurting right now but I just keep going. Dumb approach?

[Q.]

Oh, yeah, then there's that major crick in my neck that Monday when the shoulder starting hurting...

[gardener]

Yeah, well, for weeks I've had almost constant pain in my left hip--and wonder if I should call a moratorium on leg presses, etc.

BUT...this month marks the start of my fifth year of working out, my third year with a great trainer who keeps pushing me. Now, within three months of my 70th birthday, I continue making gains in strength. This morning, for several upper-body exercises, my trainer added ten pounds--80 where I'd done 70 and so on. My lower body strength is far far greater than upper, but today I handled the additional weight with absolute ease.

How far have I come, thanks to deciding that October day five years ago to abandon a life of sloth and ease? I'm pretty sure that I I hadn't I would now be using a cane. Or a wheelchair. Or .... be dead.

[Q.]

gardener, I completely agree that it's well worth all the aches and pains... considering the alternative!

I hope to be making continued progress when I hit 70 and I applaud you for your tremendous, on-going accomplishments!

You know, the younger folks here should, also, be rooting us on because it is they who will be paying the Medicare bills when all of us Baby Boomers start retiring. The healthier we stay, the cheaper the tab. On the other hand, if we'd just go ahead and drop dead, they'd be off the hook altogether!

[Bill Hartman]

Don't forget about maintenance issues. Each time you go to the gym, soft tissues are "damaged" and remodeled. Getting some regular hands-on soft-tissue work (ART, sports massage, etc.) go a long way to keeping layers of tissues sliding across one another rather than sticking together and causing discomfort.

Go to www.activerelease.com and see if there's someone close by who can work you over.

Your shoulder/neck tweak may be from your hang cleans by the way. Unless you drop them from your rack position, it can be rather stressful to that area.

Bill

[Q.]

Originally posted by Bill Hartman:
Don't forget about maintenance issues. Each time you go to the gym, soft tissues are "damaged" and remodeled. Getting some regular hands-on soft-tissue work (ART, sports massage, etc.) go a long way to keeping layers of tissues sliding across one another rather than sticking together and causing discomfort.

Go to www.activerelease.com and see if there's someone close by who can work you over.

Your shoulder/neck tweak may be from your hang cleans by the way. Unless you drop them from your rack position, it can be rather stressful to that area.

Bill

Hey, did JP ever get his Mini-Me, Bill Hartman clone??? If so, I want one, too!!!

I think I looked for ART folks nearby before but, the bottom line is, I'd never get that kind of regular expense past "the boss!" This is the woman who buys clothes maybe once a year - in a good year - and hates shopping! That's a BIG PLUS most of the time but it backfires when I want to go spend $$$ on stuff for me!

Is there any way to do any of this to yourself? I wish I could buy one of those recliners that the chiropractor I saw has; it did a pretty good job of massaging!!!

Re: hang cleans, do you mean drop them as in using the rubber weights? No, I'm catching it/lowering on the way down. We have some of those kinds of weights on campus but they are harder for me to access. I may try harder if it would help with the nagging back/shoulder problem. I'm doing power cleans now and have bumped the weight up since I'm more confident in my form but the back muscle pull is still noticable, just not enough of a problem to cause me to slow down much.

While we're on that, on the catch, I don't feel that I have the flexibilty to rest the weight on my shoulders as in a front squat. In fact, if I do front squats, I cross my arms because I can't get the bar down to my shoulders. Is this a function of higher weight pushing your arms down or is it still mostly flexibility?

[Bill Hartman]

Try a foam roller from OPTP (http://www.optp.com/shop.cfm) or The Stick (www.thestick.com) for some restorative soft-tissue work.

Have you considered buying Mrs.Q a gift of a spa day where you could join her for a sports massage??

Re: hang cleans, do you mean drop them as in using the rubber weights?

Yup.

While we're on that, on the catch, I don't feel that I have the flexibilty to rest the weight on my shoulders as in a front squat. In fact, if I do front squats, I cross my arms because I can't get the bar down to my shoulders. Is this a function of higher weight pushing your arms down or is it still mostly flexibility?

Yes on both counts. You can gain the extra flexibility by holding the rack position for time with a little more weight than you're used to. Some contract/relax stretching for the wrist and finger flexors prior to will make it a lot more tolerable.

Bill

[Q.]

Originally posted by Bill Hartman:
Try a foam roller from OPTP (http://www.optp.com/shop.cfm) or The Stick (www.thestick.com) for some restorative soft-tissue work.

You mean like this?



Hey, they also have other cool things like these:

I bet you could do some really great crunches with one of those!

Seriously, that's great info just in terms of the techniques shown on The Stick website! I wonder if I could find something lying around the house that would work ... squeak!!!

Originally posted by Bill Hartman:
Have you considered buying Mrs.Q a gift of a spa day where you could join her for a sports massage??

You know, when I went to LR for the JP get together, she and our daughter thought they better do something special, too, while I was gone. They went to a spa. Daughter loved it. All I heard about from Mrs. Q. when I got back was how she didn't think it was worth the money. Of course, I'm the one who always comments that high priced meals turn into the same thing as cheap ones so I guess I can't be too critical!

Thanks for the cleans advice!!! I'll work on the flexibility! Thanks for ALL the great info!