Every weekend I have a catch up call with my sister, usually on WhatsApp. June lives on her own, but has a bubble with one of her sons and his wife and her grand-daughter. She has underlying health issues which make her vulnerable and she is in her 70s, so she needs to be cautious.
Last weekend June and me talked about keeping active, and how important this is. Often she would go for a walk around the village, but at the moment she is feeling quite fearful about doing that, so we chatted about what she could do in her home and her garden to try and keep her body moving.
My family are a bit of a challenge on the exercise front. They kind of continue to see me as the baby sister, and while it is ok for them to tell me what to do, they don’t really want me to tell them what to do, even though health and fitness has been my job for 27 years. So I tend not to offer my opinion or advice unless I am specifically asked.
Knowing my sister I realise that her exercise needs to be based around things she can do simply throughout the day. Key areas for her are mobility of her knees and hips, balance and stability, but also getting fresh air.
She has a garden, so getting outside every morning for some stretching and marching on the spot is good. When she is in her kitchen washing up, she could stand on one leg while she is doing it, then the other. Every time she goes upstairs, go up and down the first step x5 with one leg leading, x5 with the other leg leading before finally heading up stairs. Every time she sits at her table to eat, she should sit down and stand up 5 times before settling down to eat her meal.
I hope my sister has done this and I will check in with her at the weekend, because our health is not based on participating in structured exercise 3 times a week, but its about being active throughout the day.
When chatting with class participants last week, I understand that more time is being spent at a desk and on a laptop, and this is causing more lower back pain. Lockdown has brought more sitting and this coupled with poor posture will be creating the problems.
Movement is one of the answers. Participating in a Pilates session will definitely be helpful to keep supporting and creating stability for the lower back, but standing and moving regularly throughout the day should also be built in. Set an alarm on your phone so that every 30 minutes you get up and move. And yes, it is hard when trying to focus on jobs and concentrate — but imagine if your back became so painful that you couldn’t sit and work at all!
Make Pilates your base, your foundation to put your body in a good place but then create opportunities to be active throughout the day.
