Could Your Daily Activities Be Injuring You Over Time?

Terry is in his late 80s and the elderly father of one of my lovely clients.  Sadly he is in debilitating pain as he has 2 ruptured discs in his lumbar spine which has now become bone on bone.  Sitting gives him some relief but standing and walking are agony.  He doesn't want to do Pilates because he believes that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.  Surgery is not an option due to his heart condition, so that leaves medication. His specialist is experimenting with different medications and dosages but hasn't been able to find the right combination so far to make life bearable for Terry.  Is this any way for anyone to spend their retirement years?  During his working life, Terry owned a furniture store. He was constantly lifting and carrying furniture around his showroom and loading and unloading trucks . A lifetime of heavy lifting has severely damaged his spine and made his retirement years a living nightmare. Let's take a look at which daily activities could be putting you at risk of injury that you can avoid to ensure you can make the most of your retirement years.

Lifting Heavy Items

We all find we have to lift something heavy from time to time but like Terry, doing it on a regular basis, can potentially damage your body.  Once you you have damaged your spine, it's much harder to treat and manage the condition than it is to prevent it from happening in the first place.  Whether you are lifting heavy objects occasionally or regularly like Terry use the correct lifting technique. Take time to learn the correct lifting technique with this handy guide.  Prepare yourself first for the task by strengthening with Pilates. If Terry had been practicing Pilates throughout his working life and ensured he was using correct lifting techniques he may have eliminated or at least greatly reduced the severity of his lumbar disc issues.  My unique online Pilates studio helps you to prepare for lifting by strengthening your core and glutes as well as upper and lower body strengthening. This ensures  your body is more capable & resilient to withstand lifting.  Also, know when an object is realistically too heavy for you to lift and get help.  Remember, once the damage is done you will regret taking an unnecessary risk.

Dangerous Office/Kitchen/Study Set-Up

I've enjoyed cooking healthy and delicious meals for many years now.  A couple of years ago, I started experiencing.upper back pain between my shoulder blades which radiated slightly lower.  It was debilitating and I could feel it 24/7.  It took intensive Pilates and osteopathy to overcome this issue. Fortunately I was able to quickly identify what was causing this searing, burning pain and prevent it from becoming even worse.  My house still has the original kitchen from the late 60s and I've always known that at 178 cm tall the bench tops were way too low for me when I was chopping and preparing meals. I had been fine untill this point but it was like a ticking time bomb that was starting to go off.  It was something I could no longer get away with doing on a daily basis.  To make it safe for me, I now chop and prepare on a large chopping board on a box which is the perfect height for me.  What if I'd kept using the low bench? I would have developed serious spinal issues and in time shoulder injuries as well.  Do a quick assessment of everything you do on a daily basis and see if you can identify anything that may be doing that is damaging you physically.  It could be your computer set up, your kitchen or laundry set up or the way you use your phone to text or watch Netflix.  It could be where you sit to read a book. Look at everything you do and see if anything is potentially risky and make those positive changes now before you develop a chronic painful condition.

Exercise!

While exercise and movement are essential for our health and wellbeing sometimes it can have the opposite effect.  One of my lovely clients has ongoing foot issues that requires a lot of strengthening and maintenance for her to walk without pain.  Recently; she had quite a severe flare-up which prompted us to go back and search for any potential triggers. In addition to 2 Pilates sessions with me each week, my client does 2 personal training sessions with a trainer.  Lately her programe had included lots of standing exercises challenging her upper body strength with 6 kilo weights.  I suspected the load was too great going through her already compromised feet and that turned out to be the case.  When she modified the exercises by using lighter weights or sitting instead of standing the swelling and inflammation began to decrease and the pain level was greatly reduced.  It's important when you are exercising to ensure it isn't counter productive.  Analyse what you are doing and ensure the exercises you are doing are benefiting you and not harming you.  Remember, it's not a one size fits all approach and like in Pilates, the exercises should be tailored to your own individual needs.

Not Enough Movement & Exercise!

If you spend your days sitting at work for example and come home and continue to sit  you are damaging your health.  A sedentary lifestyle is setting you up for a world of pain and many preventable illnesses in the future. Set an alarm to remind yourself every 45 mins to stand up and and walk around the room.  Studies have shown this is benficial to break up hours of sitting . If you are time poor, my online Pilates studio is the ideal way for you to introduce so much needed movement into your life.  Several of my clients do 30 min virtual sessions with me during their lunch break to break up their work day. Others use my on demand video library to slot in 10 or 15 minutes of Pilates when they can.  Small  amounts of Pilates really add up to incredible results as I see with my clients all the time.