Dear LPG readers,

Are you a RFYOP? 

I think that many of us have to get to the stage where we qualify as a ‘Relatively Fitter, Younger Older Person’ before we really start to worry about if we are being as kind to our bodies as we could be. When we have been retired for a few years, done most of what we promised ourselves we would do, and the momentum that has carried us so far is slowing somewhat, I bet this is one of those issues that gets the thought processes working. 

After initial retirement, when many of us start with a serious tidy up at home and perhaps that holiday of a lifetime we always promised ourselves, comes the period where we find ourselves wondering what we are really going to do with the rest of our lives.

I think that I just about continue to qualify for the RFYOP club, and initially, I found myself promising to exercise and stay healthy, but my standards have been slipping somewhat. 

Whatever Coronavirus has taken from us this last year, being at home so much more has given me an opportunity to revaluate, and I recently did a lot of looking on the internet to work out how best to achieve this goal.  I used to go swimming and to exercise sessions until lockdown, and my social life included visits to clubs and day centres, but I live alone and my evening pursuits of watching far too much television and sitting at a computer have taken over a lot more of my lockdown days. A quick look online taught me something and now I have to concede that while those activities are really good at exercising our mind, they are not that good for our bodies.

Some people have no choice but to sit all day because we all know that older people are prone to aches and pains in their backs and legs that often make lots of moving around painful, but according to some information I recently found online, sitting for long periods if you don’t have to, is not the answer either. 

I remember a few years ago when there was a lot of research done on how bad sitting for too much of each day is for us and I took a look online where there are some depressing reports.

We all know how bad it can be for your neck and back, but it can impact on your circulation, the veins in your legs, your weight and your metabolism not to mention a possible prelude to diabetes and obesity. I remember when working in an office at a computer all day there was a regulation suggesting that office workers needed a few minutes standing break every hour and, I know that was partly for your eyes but your back had to benefit too.

So while we still can, can I suggest that we make a point of interrupting our sewing, knitting, computing, watching telly, nodding off in an armchair and other sitting activities with a regular or even hourly stand-up break, make a point of standing up during television commercial breaks for a quick stretch, and walk around as you talk on the phone.  Why not set your alarm or get your Alexa to remind you to get up for a bit every now and then? It will do you the power of good?

It occurred to me that it is important for us RFYOPs who can, to keep our muscles working for as long as possible, because I feel that many of us ex-office workers still spend far too much time sitting at a computer while at home, or doing some other activity that we accept needs to be done sitting down, and I fear that it is going to be a challenge to get used to getting back to the levels of fitness that we had before Covid-19 once the ‘new normal’ is finally established.  It is so easy to get lazy.

JN, Surrey.

JN has found us some information about the effects of too much sitting around…

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…some exercise which might help (although LPG reminds readers about checking with your GP) …

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…and an online calculator to check your ‘sitability’ quotient …

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