Keeping My Body Sharp in Retirement
Eight months into retirement, I'm settling into a good routine and pace of life. I recently published a post on keeping my mind sharp. Keeping both my mind and body sharp is key. Here’s how I keep my body engaged:
Hip Injury
I am coming back from a hip injury sustained while playing tennis. One thing that motivates my regular exercise and activity program is how long it is taking me to recover. I don't want to have to spend this much time rehabbing again. Maintaining a manageable exercise program is key for me.
Functional Fitness
I have started a Functional Fitness program. Functional Fitness goes beyond just weight training; I incorporate Heavy Clubs, Kettlebells, Maces, and indoor rowing. I find this helps me focus on body rotation, full-body mobility, and strength. The variety is also enjoyable. I use a simple 10-day rotation. I set my individual programs for each piece of equipment and then progress by adding reps, sets, and/or weight. Not over-engineered, just a nice progression.
Golf
I have taken golf back up. Walking rather than riding gives me a great workout and helps build my social relationships. Just as important, golf
lets me spend time with my youngest son. Joining a local golf league gives me a regular schedule to get out and golf and allows me to meet new people.
My youngest son took up the game last year, so that was my motivation to start playing again.
Skiing
I have enjoyed skiing my entire life and am back skiing. Again, this is something I can do with my son and really enjoy it. The ability to travel to great locations (Breckenridge, Big Sky, Jackson Hole, Killington, Boyne Mountain) has been great. I enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of knowing I can still do it. Depending on the run, skiing does help challenge my comfort zone.
Daily Walk
I focus on getting some sort of daily walk. That can be a neighborhood walk or walking while golfing. Just getting out without my phone helps me think, get comfortable or uncomfortable in my own mind, and warm up my body.
Summary
Along with a sharp mind, a sharp body is key to my enjoying life. What do you do to keep your quality of life up? Let us know in the comments below.
Own Your Health
It’s easy to say, but for me, harder to do.
I’m of the generation that valued credentials, formal education, and degrees. And with that, I deferred judgment to my healthcare professionals and too much of setting my direction and plans. Yet, intuitively I know that no one cares more about my health than me; it has been more challenging for me to do it.
Until Now.
I just had a health scare that had me in the hospital for five days after feeling poorly for the last eight weeks. Trips to various doctors, inconsistent messages from the doctors, and no specific doctor quarterbacking my care, approach, and plan to find the root cause of the issue.
I finally took matters into my own hands and essentially self-checked into the hospital, finally getting concrete answers, which gave me an excellent foundation for attacking the project.
Own your health plan.
I'm Starting a Meditation Practice
I started using the app. Headspace to begin a meditation ritual. The offer a free 10 minutes for 10 days program that I had heard about on Tim Ferriss' podcast. He continually discussed that a majority of the people he interviewed participated in some kind of regular meditation practice. I thought I would give it a try.
Interesting fact so far is that although I am only on day 2 of the 10 day program, I find my self experiencing a couple of things. First, during the practice and right after I find myself extremely nervous and anxious. This is completely opposite of what I expected. After doing a bit of research it seems like this, although is not common does occur. It is most likely the fact that I am becoming more mindful or aware of my feelings and some inner anxiety. Interesting. Most resources suggest that the anxiety will subside after I deepen my awareness and acceptance of it. I actually become more relaxed and calm after about 10 to 15 minutes after finishing.
I'm starting a meditation practice in the hopes of slowing down. My over-analyzing brain needs a break. I'll update you on my progress after my 10 days us up.