Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,085
I just spent six hours cutting and moving firewood with my neighbor. This involved pushing and lifting 18 inch rounds -- real grunt work.
I feel good, but really beat up.
In this situation I always wonder whether this kind of rough exertion is, on balance, good for a 53 year old body or bad. At what point does it go from good excercise to body abuse?
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
I just spent six hours cutting and moving firewood with my neighbor. This involved pushing and lifting 18 inch rounds -- real grunt work.
I feel good, but really beat up.
In this situation I always wonder whether this kind of rough exertion is, on balance, good for a 53 year old body or bad. At what point does it go from good excercise to body abuse?
I'd guess that conventional wisdom says that unaccustomed hard work entails a greater risk of injury. But moderate exertion has always been considered good in general.
My DW can't believe how active I am on some weekend days - she would find it very uncomfortable, while I like the endorphins. On a Saturday I might clean the pool, do the lawn, walk the dog a couple miles, work out, etc. Nothing extreme but more than she would enjoy.
__________________
Rich
Tampa, FL 99.1% ESR'd...
As if you didn't know..If the above message contains medical content, it's NOT intended as advice, and may not be accurate, applicable or sufficient. Don't rely on it for any purpose. Consult your own doctor for all medical advice.
Good form is what matters. I think hard work like you describe is good for provided you take care not to injure yourself. I speak from some past experience including serious lower back surgery 17 years ago. as long as you warm up and cool down (including some stretching) you should be just fine. I do lots of exercise and love the buzz it gives me, which lasts for hours afterwards, but sometimes I have to soak in a tub or sit with my laptop with a heating pad on my back..... (and a glass of single malt in my hand)
I just spent six hours cutting and moving firewood with my neighbor. This involved pushing and lifting 18 inch rounds -- real grunt work.
I feel good, but really beat up.
In this situation I always wonder whether this kind of rough exertion is, on balance, good for a 53 year old body or bad. At what point does it go from good excercise to body abuse?
What do you think?
When you start to feel angina.
__________________
"Who among us is smart enough to learn from the mistakes of others?" - Voltaire
My dh is like Rich, he walks the dog in the morning, either cleans the house or putters around the yard, sometimes he'll stop by my sisters and split some wood for her just to get the exercise. If you feel good once you're done that's great, it's when you've done that work and wish you hadn't that you need to worry.
__________________ Dogs aren't our whole lives, but they make our lives whole. - Roger Caras
In this situation I always wonder whether this kind of rough exertion is, on balance, good for a 53 year old body or bad. At what point does it go from good excercise to body abuse?
When you do it too often. I think the biggest factor in aging exercisers is recovery time. Lesser factors include being out of shape (doing only that and only once a year) or having bad form.
I always feel lazy an hour or two before the evening tae kwon do practice and I don't particularly look forward to it. 10 minutes into it I'm having a great time that lasts the rest of the hour. (Same thing with yardwork.) But then I drag my butt home and snorkel up the ibuprofen.
If I have at least 48 hours until the next practice (or yardwork) then I'm fine and the cycle repeats itself with no problem. But if I do it the next night it's a recipe for disaster-- at a minimum a muscle pull or a respiratory infection.
__________________ *
* For more info see "About Me" in my profile.
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 6,085
Take my wife, Angina. Ba dum bum. Are you happy to be retired, or is that a sock in your pocket? These two retirees walk past a bar -- hey, it could happen.
I just spent six hours cutting and moving firewood with my neighbor. This involved pushing and lifting 18 inch rounds -- real grunt work.
I feel good, but really beat up.
In this situation I always wonder whether this kind of rough exertion is, on balance, good for a 53 year old body or bad. At what point does it go from good excercise to body abuse?
What do you think?
It's easy for those of us in our 50's to mis-judge how much we can do, and (all fantasies aside) it's usually less than we could do in our 20's. But we don't always take that into account.
Exercise is GOOD - - but we need to build up to it. There's no need to invite a heart attack. Being a guy, you should be especially wary of heart issues. People in their fifties keel over and die from heart attacks every day.
In answer to your question, I think that the point at which it goes from good exercise to body abuse is where the negative aftereffects and pain cause you to lose sleep, or interrupt your usual exercise regimen for more than a couple of days. Be careful to avoid becoming too overheated, too. Check your pulse rate to make sure it is within a reasonable exercising range.
As a rule of thumb, now that I am in my fifties I try to stop when my level of exertion is about half what I think I can do. When doing heavy yardwork I rest and assess for a few minutes in comfort, inside. If all seems to be going well, then I go back and finish whatever it was. That seems to work for me. When I'm not in the mood to do this, I usually regret it due to the surprising level of pain and the fact that I just can't do much in the gym for the rest of the week.
__________________ "Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harborless immensities." - - H. Melville, 1851
It depends on your physical conditions and how often you exercise. If you do not exercise regularly, you should exercise between 50 - 60 percent of your maximum heart rate. If you already exercise regularly, 60 - 70 percent of maximum heart rate is fine.
That pile of wood can always wait!
__________________
May we live in peace and harmony and be free from all human sufferings.
I am in as good shape as I was at 25, maybe even better. Been running and working out everyday since that time. I am almost 51 and can run miles and miles, do heavy lifting, which I tend NOT TO DO the hernia repairs are uncomfortable. But if you have taken care of yourself over the years well keep doing it. Look at jack lalaine, the guy is in his 90s and still works out.
Time to take the kayak out on the pond out back to attack the beaver dam.
Quote:
Linear Mode
