Is Hard Work/Play Good for You?

[TromboneAl]

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?

 

[73ss454]

TA, I think you should have a drink and go to bed.

 

[sgeeeee]

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?

What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.

 

[frayne]

Hey 55 year old here and nothing better than pushing some good stiff wood.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

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.

 

[Alan]

TA,

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)

 

[Patrick]

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.

 

[REWahoo]

When you start to feel angina.

Ohhh man, what a set-up! But it's just too easy...

 

[Patrick]

Ohhh man, what a set-up! But it's just too easy...

Go ahead, make my day!

 

[Outtahere]

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.

 

[Nords]

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.

 

[TromboneAl]

When you start to feel Angina.

She wasn't there, just my neighbor, Bob.

 

[Nords]

She wasn't there, just my neighbor, Bob.

You posted this just hoping that someone would bring that word up, didn't you?!?

 

[F M All]

Is this another of T Al's monologues?

 

[TromboneAl]

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'll be here all week, folks.

 

[Alan]

I presume you've heard about the doctor who was sued for sexual harrassment by an old lady when he told her she had acute angina

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I always feel good after eating some ice cream and watching tv.

After a day of hard work? Not so much.

 

[W2R]

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.

 

[Spanky]

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!

 

[dumpster56]

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.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

I'd agree that hard work and hard play are good for you in the long run. My grandfather (95 years old) worked hard throughout his shoe-selling career, then went door-to-door as a census taker for many years after that. Constantly going back to the stock room, lifting boxes, climbing ladders, lengthy walks around large neighborhoods, etc... probably did him a great deal of good from a physical development perspective (he's a strong guy even today).

My recipe is different. I spend all day sitting on my butt exercising my mind (and my mouth on the phone), so heavy weightlifting in the evening 5 days a week and morning walks keep me pretty fit. I also watch what I eat very carefully, even going so far as logging every morsel that goes into my stomach so that I take in adequate macro-nutrients. Yes, that is a great deal of work, but I'm in better shape now at 36 than most 20 year olds I know. They actually come up to me and ask how to get into such great shape. My response? Stop drinking, cut out the pizza/fast food/junk food, stop partying until all hours of the night, and quit smoking. Just like every generation of young folks, they don't listen. :

 

[Sandy]

Use it or lose it. If you can - do it

 

[OkieTexan]

I am getting prepared for softball season again this year by ramping up my exercise a little each week. I had to forego the "Over 50 fast pitch men's league" this year because I am having trouble seeing the ball with bifocals. The spped is approx. 70 mph from 45 feet away. I just can't see it quickly enough, especially a riser (a pitch that breaks up) on the inside part of the plate.

However, the slow-pitch coed team says they are glad to have me and I am going to play with them!

I think it has been very good for me to participate in team sports. It helps the mind as well as the body.

 

[donheff]

I'm planning to go snowboarding on Monday. I'll tell you Tuesday how my 58 YO body feels.

 

[windsurf]

Got in an hour and a half of downhill skiing at our local slope yesterday. Late am to early afternoon: most of the patrons are codgers there then to avoid the onslaught of reckless kids late pm. And they're all good. One of my buds, Mario, is 73. Great Euro style skiier, elegant and birdlike. As I was leaving, he was pulling a snowboard out of his locker as Marion, a 68 year old bud was going to show him the ropes. These are my (58) heroes, not some marshmallow, otherwise rich dude who has let belly fat feminize him into shehood. Harsh? I need the negative image of the girly man to keep me at my workouts and away from foods that will make my waist circumference bigger than my hips, a certain sign of metabolic syndrome and a burden on the healthcare system. I am a political progressive and bleeding heart but when it comes to the "choice" issues of diet and exercise, I guess I am a nazi.