I commented in conversation yesterday that I have had to give up doing push-ups for the time being. Oh, I can do them. That’s not the problem. I can do straight push-ups, and knee push-ups, fairly easily. It’s just that I have either arthritis, a torn ligament, or something else really dire happening in my right shoulder, and if I do push-ups, the shoulder gets worse and worse and I can’t sleep at night because of the burning ache.
I had to give up a certain type of hip stretch before that, because I was just making everything worse.
I have a pattern of hurting myself by working out. It’s like much of what I’ve done all my life: I decide I’m going to be very sensible, I set out a program of training (weight loss, distance running, balance work, weights) based in all the known literature, and eventually I encounter unintended consequences, keep going anyway, and then spend a long time recovering from my well-meaning and well-informed efforts.
Years ago, I began training to run a marathon. I wore proper shoes, paced myself, varied the distances I ran, did one very long run every week, and incorporated rest into my routine. I lost weight. And I injured myself repeatedly – shin splints, knee problems, etcetera. I did finally run a marathon, in under four hours, and afterwards it took me months of painful running, weight gain, and failed attempts to start again, to realize I wasn’t designed to run long distances. That didn’t keep me from continuing to jog for another twenty years.
Another example: When I lift really hard weights or do intense work, I get exercise confusion, and once went to the ER after a session with a trainer because I was repeating thoughts over and over. I was mostly trying to recall my trainer’s name over and over, which was not helpful. It was Sam, for the record, because now I can never forget it. It has happened again since then. For instance, last winter, I made the mistake of shoveling a lot of snow, and recognized the state again, and sighed, because it means I have to get a neighbor to help me out next time.
Joining a gym doesn’t always help. I joined a gym a couple years ago and started doing a regular workout, moving the weights up incrementally and far more gradually than anyone advises, and had to stop because I hurt my back on the crunch machine. It took me quite a while to recover. The gym before that, though I said I wanted to do weights, the amiable trainer insisted on doing all kinds of body-weight balance-ball exercises which were no doubt worthy for a person of my age, but what I wanted was to be able to lift light weights without hurting myself.
In training for fencing, I have also given myself bursitis and at one point was walking with a cane. I had to fence non-dominant for a while, and wear an elbow strap, for tennis elbow. My knees flared up from time to time. For a long time, I couldn’t lunge at all, and lunging is integral to fencing. I don’t count getting stabbed in the hand and into my wrist as a training injury, though maybe I should because it happened during training.
When I tore my meniscus, a sports doctor gave me a Syndics injection, and that helped, and the sports podiatrist dealt with my Morton’s neuroma and the plantar fasciitis, but you could tell both of them were really, really impatient with dealing with an elderly athlete, even an elite one. They really, really want to deal with fifteen-year-olds, honestly. The sports doctor who gave me the injection actually suggested I start going to the gerontology practice in my network. “I’m not in bad shape,” I protested.
“They would love you,” he said.
What I’m saying is, I keep trying to work out effectively, based on the best current knowledge, and in spite of it all (a) I hurt myself and (b) I’m still in decent shape and I get results. I won medals without lunging. I won medals when I couldn’t walk without a cane. You adapt. Adaptation is the point.
Yesterday, I said to a friend that I had to stop doing push-ups, and another friend, overhearing, said, “Push-ups are really important for functioning as you get older.”
“Yeah, I know,” I told him. “But if I do pushups I hurt my shoulder, and it’s really bad pain. I can’t sleep at night.”
“Do you do them on your toes?” he inquired. I could see that he was in problem-solving mode.
“Yes,” I said. “And I’ve tried knee push-ups.”
“You could do them on your back, with weights,” he said, gesturing.
“I am a life-long athlete,” I said. “I have completed a marathon and I won a lot of medals in fencing. I know how to train. But I’m not going to do push-ups for the time being. Trainers always get it wrong with me. I need a physical therapist who can work with me,” I finished sadly.
“How about wall push-ups?” he inquired, smiling and earnest, and I gave up. But then another friend said she had a good physical therapist, and she gave me the woman’s number.
It is very hard to keep from giving useful advice. I know that all too well, because I try to keep myself from doing it all the time. Seriously, though, my buddy needed to get a clue. Though his sport is boxing, I suddenly remember, and perhaps he got hit in the head a few too many times. Goodness knows I’ve been hit in the head a lot myself. Maybe that explains why I keep hurting myself. Nah, I’m just a stubborn git, and so are we all, I suppose.