You can’t do anything about getting older! You just have to know how to handle it! “But it’s lockdown and I’m shielding.”
Keep your body as fit and as strong as possible, with exercise to stave off pain and stiffness. Exercise corrects your posture but do you ever catch a glimpse of yourself and think “Who is that round shouldered, grumpy old guy?” But it’s lockdown and I’m shielding!
The first stage is an almost imperceptible slump of the shoulders, mainly when you are bored and tired. This soon becomes your normal stance and soon causes your head to poke forward.
Imagine someone has taken hold of your hair and is gently tugging your head upwards towards the ceiling. Grow tall, lengthen your neck and pull your shoulders back and down a little. Look at yourself in the mirror and the new you will appear slimmer by standing tall. I did say appear but the waistband of your trousers don’t lie. Even the fact that you’ve taken to slobbing about in joggers while on lockdown. After all you aren’t going anywhere, are you.
I took my next step really by accident when one of my former Gym Buddies who was also on lockdown and feeling the need to do something about his lack of fitness, telephoned me and asked me if I would my expertise in bargain hunting on eBay and Facebook to find him a Cross-trainer to put in his garage. He intended begin regularly working out.
I searched as requested and found six suitable machines that were available, to be collected by buyer within 10 to 15 miles from his home. I shared the details with him.
Meanwhile I’m lazing about and bored, and out of interest had another search and found an all singing all dancing exercise machine. It’s a combination exercise bike and cross-trainer at a low starting price with a buy-it-now price which more than I would want to pay. After watching the machine for a few days, with nobody bidding on it, I liked the idea of owning it more and more.
I even discussed paying the buy-it-now price with my wife, the lovely Pollyanna, and got a somewhat noncommittal response like “if you’re sure!” Two days to go I decided to bid the starting price and was immediately outbid by another bidder.
I had an ideal price that I would like to pay in my head. I was quite affronted by some upstart bidding on my machine. I immediately put three new bids up to my target and discovered that my starting price had been outbid by just £1 and I was the highest bidder by just £2 above the starting price.
I was certain that my bidding opponent was going to sit back and try to outbid me at the last minute. eBay rules would not allow anyone to know what my maximum bid was.
I spent too much time on line checking the eBay post before discovering that my tactics had put the other bidder off and I had won the auction. I actually felt quite guilty and when I contacted the seller I actually apologised for stealing his machine. He generously said “That’s eBay “!
I had already been determined enough that I was going to buy the machine that I had arranged with with my son who lives near to the seller and would collect it when I won. He did so and will be delivering it this weekend and now am going to have to start working on my waistband.
Until last February and for the past ten years or so, I’ve been at the gym by 06.30, going through my own exercise routine from spin bike to cardiovascular machines and treadmill. On to free weights ending up in the Spa with a few lengths in the pool followed by the steam room , jacuzzi and long soak in the hot tub. After a builders brew tea or a coffee in the cafe I’m usually home at around 10.00. Even though I’ve worked from home as a writer for many years, that regular routine to start my weekdays isn’t going to be replaced by my bargain cardiovascular machine in my bedroom but it’s a start.
