14d • From Steve
Thoughts for the day.
I had a patient today who changed how I think about exercise and aging.
She is 70 years old. She has been a dancer her whole life. Not Broadway. Not professional. But she trained as a kid, kept dancing as a young adult, and stayed active with Zumba classes right up until recently.
She just had a hip replacement.
She was shocked. She said, "I exercised my whole life. How did this happen?"
Here is the thing most people do not know.
Not all exercise is the same.
Dancing, Zumba, aerobics, sports. These are dynamic activities. They require coordination, balance, and quick changes in direction. As we get older, those things get harder to do well.
Over the years, we collect small injuries. A sprained ankle here. A tweaked knee there. Some low back pain. Each one changes the way we move just a little bit. Muscles get out of balance. Joints become less stable.
The tricky part? We do not feel it happening.
Our body quietly compensates. Other muscles pick up the slack. We shift the load to different joints without knowing it. We just keep moving and think everything is fine.
Until it is not.
Until we have joint breakdown. Until we need a hip replacement.
I am not saying stop dancing. I love that she danced her whole life.
But here is what I want you to hear.
As we age, dynamic activities require more from our bodies, not less. We may need to do more work to maintain them. We may not be able to do them as often as we once did. And we need to be honest with ourselves about that.
Keep moving. Keep doing what you love. Just do it with open eyes.
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Thoughts for the day.
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