Iāve written many times about the importance of strength training, particularly as we get a little older.Ā
Being stronger makes literally everything in your life easier.
Opening jars, going up stairs, pushing the kids on a swing, getting in and out of the car, carrying your shopping, picking up your grandkids. Ā More importantly,
when a few more years tick by, being able to get up off the floor if we fall and the ability to right yourself before you fall.
I tweaked my back pretty badly a couple of weeks ago, obviously carried on as normal and woke up in the night with my lower back and pelvis in spasm with lightning bolts of pain with every millimetre I moved. Ā It was the worse pain I have ever felt, I literally felt paralysed as I didnāt want to move and experience the pain again.
Being the fun side of 50 and waking up in the night means that a pee is most definitely needed (a reminder to book a prostate PSA test). Ā I was bursting and not sure how I was going to actually roll off the bed, Fran tried to help but not very successfully.
In the end, I pushed myself down the bed and gradually lowered my legs over the edge, with a little traction and time i was able to then push myself up and get to the loo.
Once I started moving around it eased to the point where I could lay back down, which I chose to do a a spiky shakti mat, to get a bit of blood flow going through the night.
If I didnāt have the upper body strength to push myself down the bed while bracing my centre, Iām really not sure what I would have done.Ā
It really made me appreciate my mate Dean who comes round to train a couple of times per week.
Ā Pressing a heavy bar over head and throwing around some slam balls is exactly what helped me out.
Iāve had lots of injuries over my years of fitness, martial arts, sports and partying; having a reasonable level of strength has always been beneficial in actually getting back up but also reducing the recovery time needed to feel human again.
There isnāt a downside for most of us being stronger. Ā If youāre carrying a few extra pounds,
getting stronger actually feels better than puffing and panting trying to get traditional cardio done. Ā You will also get a decent cardio workout as you improve.
As you get stronger, your joints will feel more supported, hurt less and give you the confidence in your body to give the traditional stuff a try.
You donāt need a fancy gym to get stronger, for most of us, your body weight is plenty. Ā Get started with some squats, a
version of press ups, ideally some pulling exercises (bands are good for this), get up and down off the floor and pick something up of the floor.
If you want a specific plan, we can help with that.
Darren āSalt āNā Pepaā Checkley