Inactivity

woodworkingboy

woodworkingboy

TreeHouser
Joined
Aug 16, 2008
Messages
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Location
Nippon
Some months ago I did a couple tree jobs with a buddy of mine, a person that was very helpful to me in learning some of the ways of tree work. Some climbing and bucket work, nothing too demanding. He hadn't been doing much of anything besides taking care of his blind and bed ridden wife, and he also inherited a lot of money. To this day he is still complaining about how crappy he feels from the jobs we did, his body hurting here and there. I have been wanting him to get better because he has a couple other jobs lined up and he pays quite well. He is in his mid fifties, in good shape, and was a torrent of tree work ability and stamina before he stopped working. I don't think he is ever going to make it back. I guess he was not doing much for about a year and a half. It's a good cautionary about staying active it occurs, especially when age is creeping in.
 
I'm heading out the door for my daily five mile walk right now.

Use it or lose it, especially when you're older.
 
Well I ain't hit a lick at a snake today, aside from trimming the goats' hooves, hauling some hay to the goats, and measuring my dad's roof. I worked as hard and hot this week as I have all year it seemed. Yesterday, my socks were soaked with sweat by 10:00, and it was showing through my boots by dinner. When I got home at 2:30, my feet looked like I'd been soaking in the tub for hours. I don't remember sweating this much since I quit roofing.

I've heard all my life about "breaking yourself down" from working so hard. I know some old guys who hauled pulp wood for years, and have back issues from so many pulled muscles and wear and tear over the years. But I also know older folks who never had demanding jobs, and have had both knees replaced, hips replaced, etc. I think lots of it is hereditary. I had a great-great-uncle who was clearing land to build a new house when he was 98. He died before building it. His brother turned 108 last month. Their nephew, (my great uncle) lives across the hollow from us. He's 95 now I think. Granted, he doesn't get around good any more, but gawrsh, I know folks in their 60s who act like they can't hardly move. I used to roof for a gentleman in a nearby town who owned several rental properties. He was toting shingles up the ladder to me in '05 the week before Katrina hit. He was 78 at the time.

I hope to be active until I'm O-L-D. My dad turned 71 in April and gardens all day some days, right out it the heat. I hope to live to 100....
 
Still climb with the young ones, but that is because of new techniques that level the field.
Where I notice the biggest change is I just can't handle the heat stress as I did before.

At 56 I have to drink more and stop more often to let my heart rate recover.
Yesterday was a struggle with the heat index over 100.

Watching the Olympic swimmers windmill their arms warming up for a heat makes me realize how much my joints ache. Can still do it but more pain :(
 
Hell, I'm still a pup. I work production, like alot on here, everyday. Normal life seems easy. Less and less people know how to work physically nowadays, some not at all. I'm definetly a proponent of the use it or lose it at any age though. I prefer to stay active, so much so that inactivity causes me issues. If I don't do something physical for a decent chunk of the day I'll be irritable and have a hard time sleeping, I'm sure all the 'stress' levels go up.
 
I'm nearing the tail end of it though. I still can get it done like the best of them, but it's starting to take effort while in younger days it felt 'easier'.
 
I can no longer do production five days in a row. Arthritic changes wreak havoc on my joints, so I do trees only two to three days a week max. Luckily I have plenty of other work. Two days ago I was replacing lcd panels in laptops, fixing a netbook, and repairing a dishwasher. Powerwashing this coming Monday; measuring for drawings for an entire custom-built raised-panel cherry library for a military historian on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will be pruning seven trees and cable bracing another. Friday I may just play with my granddaughter :)
 
"you rest you rust" "no rest for the wicked " I get achy in the winter when work dies off and I sit around for a week or three or is that a month or two :scratch:. The good news is that I have enough logs to process into firewood and processed firewood to sell that I should stay busy in the dead times.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13
Stretching seems like a good thing to keep going, even if you aren't doing other physical activities. I ride a bike a lot, which seems to provide a fair amount of stretching. I move a lot of heavy wood, but am seldom troubled by a painful back, I credit the bike for that. A friend of mine's wife is a yoga instructor. I don't see where she gets any other exercise, basically. She must be sixty or close to it. Her body appears very fit, maybe world class for her age.
 
I heard just this last week on CBC radio that inactivity is the leading cause of all health problems, trumps, diet, exposure, anything else in overall impact to health.
 
Good thing this is my last day of vacation then.
 
That's why Id get fired if i worked for a big company. Stretching is cool, but not when its mandatory. Kind of like reading a book. It's cool unless a teacher forces me to do so.
 
I stretch some mornings before leaving for work. I do 10 "toe touches", except I touch fingertips to the floor for the first three, then fold the fingers partially and touch 2nd(?) knuckles to the floor for the next three, then main knuckles to the floor for the next three, then hold main knuckles to floor for a few seconds on the last rep. It loosens the hamstrings and lower back. Don't know that it really helps anything, but I do it anyway when I think about it.
 
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  • #21
Stretching is supposed to help for a quicker recovery after exertion as well. I stretch in the shower when I remember.
 
I'm sure what Scott says about genetics being a big factor on how well you hold up to hard work has some validity. I was not very lucky in that regard.
 
treesmith said:
I stretch some mornings before leaving for work. I do 10 "toe touches", except I touch fingertips to the floor for the first three, then fold the fingers partially and touch 2nd(?) knuckles to the floor for the next three, then main knuckles to the floor for the next three, then hold main knuckles to floor for a few seconds on the last rep. It loosens the hamstrings and lower back. Don't know that it really helps anything, but I do it anyway when I think about it.
Click to expand...
For years, every morning first thing ... long slow stretches. :thumbup:

Burnham said:
I'm sure what Scott says about genetics being a big factor on how well you hold up to hard work has some validity. I was not very lucky in that regard.
Click to expand...
Genetics has to be a factor BUT My dad and his dad where extremely robust and worked HARD in their early years and VERY sedentary in their later years - both died early. :(
On Mom's side, all the men worked HARD all their lives - made well into the nineties. :)
So, I'm betting on the stretching and hard work for as long as I can - we'll see ... :/:

Well I don't know but I've been told, you never slow down, you never grow old.
- Tom Petty, Mary Jane's Last Dance Lyric
Click to expand...
;););)
 
I'm not talking about longevity, I'm talking about body parts wearing out. That's where I'm coming up short.
 
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