Write Team: Let’s keep moving those marvelous muscles

Did you know that you have more than 20 muscles in your neck area to move and stabilize your head and upper spine? And that there are 17 different muscles to move just your hips and thighs? I stand amazed at the way all our approximately 600 muscles help us move, breathe, pump blood, lift things and all the other work our bodies do, much of it without our giving it a thought.

Though I have given plenty of thought to how these muscles and their associated joints work together as I had some physical therapy sessions recently to address some hip and neck pain and stiffness. The exercises seemed designed to make each one of those muscles call out, “I’m here! I’m trying! This is tough! Are you sure I can do this?”

And the stretching – I learned that often my fear of being stretched is what causes the most pain. Hmm, sounds like a life lesson, for sure.

The exercise sheets I was given were full of terms like abduction, extension, retraction, rotation, cervical, thoracic, piriformis and so on, again opening my awareness to all that’s involved in our incredible abilities to move.

This may seem a strange comparison, but such exercises remind me of the intricately chromatic counterpoint music of J.S. Bach, which literally leaves no note unexplored.

It didn’t take long through the program, though, for me to feel a tremendous and gratifying difference in my freedom of movement and feeling of being “put together,” and my ability to walk and work longer and harder without feeling debilitated afterwards, especially if I make sure to continue stretching and engaging my core.

It’s been nice to find out I don’t have to accept passively that aging means becoming miserably stiff and creaky. Not that I can do everything that I could in my 20s, far from it, but the body’s ability to rebuild, condition and strengthen is truly amazing. Good nutrition plays a vital role, too, of course.

The therapists were very encouraging and upbeat in helping me identify and meet my aims for activity level. Likewise, a friend of mine, when asked her goals by her physical therapist, said she wants to be able to get up and down off the floor to play with her grandkids, and she was able to master that, even after being seriously ill and bedridden for months.

My 82-year-old sister-in-law still sits on the floor to cut out the wedding dresses she sews professionally. She may not be as quick getting up and down as when she started sewing as a teenager, but that doesn’t stop her.

Ok, to top that, my 101-year-old mother won’t stop moving, albeit much less now that her heart condition makes it considerably more taxing. When I offer help getting up and down, she declines, saying, “If I want to keep being able to do it, I have to do it for myself.”

Inspired by the example of these brave souls, I’m going to continue reminding myself not to get too lazy or “too busy” to keep fit and moving. Won’t you join me?

Winifred Hoffman, of Earlville is a farmer, breeder of dual-purpose cattle and a student of life. She can be reached at newsroom@mywebtimes.com.