Is Fitness On Your Mind These Days?, Harriet’s Hip Advice, Exercise Hacks Book Review, Questions For You.
The summer solstice has come and gone. On solstice day, a northeastern Siberian town located above the Arctic Circle, recorded 100.4 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic since records have been kept.
In the East, an early summer heat wave continues, putting a damper on vigorous outdoor activities for seniors.
Or not.
Around our rural neighborhood, we’ve noticed several senior road cyclists riding solo in the heat of the day, temperature in the mid-90s, humidity up there, their gray hairs sticking out of their helmets giving them away. Senior runners are out there, too. Wise to keep pumping? Witless for pushing the limit?
At our age, most readers engage as best they can in vigorous physical activity, snow sports in winter, other activities in non-snow months. The virus, however, is cramping our habits. Gyms are closed or opening under major constrictions; team sports are out, bike clubs are social-distancing and mask-wearing, and pools are off limits.
As a result, we know for a fact that some seniors are exercising with new behaviors perhaps unwisely, too much, in the heat, perhaps with existing injuries. We know because we are one. Too much aggressive yoga led to pulled muscles, shutting down our physical activities for weeks now.
It’s hard to ignore that our lives have changed in these times of the virus. What we need to understand is that new fitness habits have to be thought through so that our enthusiasm for that endorphin rush doesn’t compromise our bodies.
This Week.
In this week’s edition, we have a series of articles on fitness. SeniorsSkiing.com correspondent Harriet Wallis offers her advice on critical decisions prior to having a hip replacement. Harriet should know; she has two new hips and two new knees.
We have also been sent a cool book on fitness for seniors. K. Aleisha Fetters’ Fitness Hacks For Over 50 offers 300 ways to build easy fitness moves into everyday activities. It’s a very clever idea to get us to think of different ways to keep our bodies in motion.
The results of our Next Season Survey are in. Click here to review the highlights. Thanks so much for your participation. We had a 21% response rate which is very high for a publication like ours and evidence of the engagement of our readers.
We have some additional Questions For You this month, focusing on cross-country skiing and how frequently SeniorsSkiing.com should publish next season. Please offer your thoughts.
And despite the oncoming of summer, three Vermonters found a way to ski left-over snow at Tuckerman Ravine in the White Mountains. Click here for a link to this story from Powder Magazine about three lucky skiers who saw an opportunity ski the Ravine in late June.
Be safe, stay well. Remember there are more of us every day and we aren’t going away.
