Ouch ... I'm Not Getting Any Younger

I devised a plan to stretch out my sore shoulder and attempt to strengthen the muscles that surround it, in an effort to alleviate some long term stiffness.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. If my shoulder hurt, I wouldn't push it. Stretching was my goal. And strengthening my arm muscles - we are supposed to strive for muscle mass, aren't we? It seems if the muscles surrounding my shoulder are stronger, it may help.

My first course of action? I returned to my Wii Fit trainer. He never lets me down.

If you are familiar with Wii Fit, you will know about the body test that it prompts you to take every time you start up. You tell it your age, you weigh in, do some balance tests and it puts all that information together and tells you your Wii Fit age.

I am routinely told that my Wii Fit age is 10 or so years younger than I am. I am so gullible that I tend to believe it and I am often surprised to remember my actual age. One time, it even told me I was 27! I laughed as I tried to convince myself not to get to cocky over that calculation. It still felt good to hear.

Well, I haven't been too faithful with my exercising lately. In fact I have pretty much abandoned ship all together. So when I decided to dust off my Wii Fit and get it my best shot this past weekend, you can imagine my dismay when my Wii Fit age was one year older than my true age. Not to be deterred, I thought "It thought I was 27 a while ago ... obviously this machine is not too smart!" That is, until I did the next day's body test. And it calculated that my Wii Fit age was my correct age. Hmmm ... what happened to that 10 year spread? Could I actually be aging?

As I hobbled around 'the day after' my first work out, I thought "That Wii Fit age just may be right." Ohhh ... my aching body!

Not to be deterred, I got right back on that horse the next day. It never fails - if I just work out and stretch those sore muscles, they usually bounce right back. This time? Not so much (meanwhile, my Wii Fit age was not helping my ego).

Day #3 - I was tired. I just did some stretches and skipped right over that Wii Fit age calculation. No time for that nonsense. I thought I'd return that night but in the end, I decided reading was much more age appropriate.

This morning was Day #4. I'm just barely hobbling now. The exercises are tough, but I can endure. But the best thing of all? My Wii Fit age is back on track. I have fooled it into thinking I'm 10 years (or more) younger once again.

I can't help but think that my fountain of youth is running dry.

I can see myself as I navigate my sore shoulder into my coat. I remind myself of someone 40 years my superior. In my mind, my hair has turned into my Grandma's and my body is deteriorating. If someone rushes to help me into my coat one day, I may break down and cry.

Then ... I fell on a patch of ice in a parking lot last week. My feet both slipped out in front of me and I landed, full weight (plus the velocity from the fall) right on my keister (apparently my elbow softened the blow because I later felt some repercussions on my arm joint). When I landed, the full impact seemed to shoot up my spine and the only discomfort that I felt at the time, was on the top of my head.

The only lasting injury from my fall was my tender elbow. But add my sore left elbow to my stiff right shoulder ... and some of my exercise moves are pretty scary to witness.

My thighs were so stiff, that going down a flight of stairs was quite a feat. My abs were so sore, it was akin to the tenderness I felt after surgery last year.

So it really is no wonder (after I rolled out of bed and hobbled ever-so-slowly down the stairs to work out with my Wii Fit trainer) that he thinks the years are wearing me down. If he could see me do those single arm stands using my sore right shoulder to push my entire body up ... and land on my tender left elbow, I think he would jump right out of the TV set and hand me a cane (here is a demonstration of the exercise I'm talking about).

It's a sad state of affairs when I rely on my Wii Fit trainer to stroke my ego. But it does have me determined to get this weary old body in shape. And I guess that's a good thing.