Aging Body Movement Tricks?

If you want to keep moving into your later years, think about it. I find the process fascinating, if not somewhat challenging.

There seems to be something to deal with every few months, now I’m in my mid-70s. For instance, I’ve noticed some pretty prominent floaters in my right eye over the last six weeks. I can flick them out of the way, but they quickly return to impair my vision. Apparently it’s another aging issue, vitreous liquefaction. Isn’t that fun? Generally it resolves, apparently! I can work with it.

As you age, you become weaker, whether you train or not. Furthermore, it takes longer to recover from injuries. It pays to find them promptly, and fix them. Thus the short video, above.

Here’s trick I learned in the pool, yesterday, after 70 years of swimming. During a long swim we depend on the minimizing drag combined with optimal conditioning. The older you get, the more important it becomes to reduce drag by the water. The best way to do this is to stay high in the water. Dangling legs create a lot of drag.

I was experimenting with my hands. This resulted in an epiphany about the forces involved. Don’t forget, you want to keep your body, especially your legs, high in the water.

During the recovery stroke, you’re forced to bring your arms down, below your body. This pushes down on the water, pushing your upper body up, and thus your legs down.

My epiphany: Angling one’s hands down clearly reduces the downward force on your legs as you rotate around air in your lungs (the fulcrum). However, as you are moving forward, your hand can act as a paddle, pushing your arm down (and legs up). This counter force, I found, helps to keep my legs high, if I get the angle of my hand just right as it impacts the oncoming water.

Give it a try. It’s all about feeling the water and never giving up.

Wishing you happy laps,

FitOldDog