Soooooo I really am a bit sedentary

[conuly]

Well, sedentary with long walks because I'd always rather walk than take the bus, but still.

On the one hand, I want to exercise more for general health reasons. I don't want to end up old and find out that immobility has snuck up on me, nor do I want to discover that it's really true that being inactive increases your risk of dementia. (It's all well and good for me to assert that dementia doesn't run in my family, but that only works if I ignore my father's mother. Which I mostly do, but still. Probably I should stop doing that.)

On the other hand, I don't want to exacerbate existing joint issues, which would really suck and probably not help my old age mobility at all, especially not if that's connected to arthritis. In the past month my mother has mentioned off-hand an alarming number of relatives who were severely restricted due to arthritis at rather young ages - and that's only counting the ones who developed it in adulthood! There's at least one cousin of hers or her mother's who was apparently "totally crippled" before puberty. She can preen all she likes about how that gene seems to have skipped her, I see my sister increasingly worried and yet dodging the thought that she might already be developing arthritis. She's not even 40 yet! (She ought to go to a doctor. I think we all know that neither funds nor time is really the reason she hasn't.)

So clearly the thing to do is find some 15 or 20 minute daily exercise routine that's reasonably high intensity but isn't going to screw up my joints, at least, not more than they already are. Preferably something that can be done by somebody with no real coordination - I can't jump rope, I can't ride bikes, every day I nearly trip over my own two feet/my pants/the dogs and break my glasses.

Maybe I should just buy myself an exercise bike. When I don't need to balance, I am very unlikely to fall down. I'm not worried about myself so much as my poor glasses.

Comments

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

This has been the top post in my Lj for the past two years:

"When I'm online, I set the timer to go off every 45 minutes, and when it does, I get up and dance to a song on Youtube. I highly recommend this exercise plan to everyone as a fun, free and simple way to burn fat, tone muscle, and avoid the deadly effects of prolonged sitting (http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/health/sitting-increases-risk-of-death-study/index.html). So, these are the videos I've mostly been dancing to (https://elenbarathi.livejournal.com/703178.html) recently, in order of duration. All these bands have a lot of other very dancey songs too. Enjoy!

I know you said Youtube doesn't play well for you, but you can certainly find some other source of dancey music, and get up and dance to it for a few minutes every hour. Dancing will do a lot to improve your proprioception, which will improve your balance; plus it's free, it's not boring, it requires no equipment, and it's good for your joints. Especially if you're prone to arthritis, you need to be putting every joint through its full range of motion at least a few times a day - yes, you'll be stiff at first, but nowhere near as stiff as you'll be in a few years if you don't work to keep your joints supple.

Awhile back, I noted that doctors are now recommending that older people stand on one foot while brushing their teeth, as a simple way to improve balance. Some people are naturally more coordinated than others, but everyone can improve their coordination with practice. The threat of losing mobility is certainly a powerful motivator! I live with a woman only 5 years older than I am, who can barely walk across the back yard because she's spent so much of her life with her butt stuck to a chair in front of the damn television: "Don't Be That Girl."

[conuly]

:D

I should have remembered that post.

As far as one foot toothbrushing goes, I think I'll wait until our bathroom is slightly less embarrassing, that is, until we have a sink. (We now have a door again, hallelujah.) God forbid I fall and break my neck, I don't want the EMTs to see that.

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I sure hear that. My room and bathroom are too messy for any mortal to enter and live.