12/22/2025
People my age, and even younger, often tell me they don’t exercise because they have aches and pains. Or they say I’m lucky I can move the way I do, that I got my first pull-ups in my 60s.
Well, guess what. I have aches and pains too.
Over the years, I’ve dealt with herniated discs, sciatica, stress fractures in both feet, torn ligaments that kept one foot immobilized for months, a torn rotator cuff, an injured hip that still flares up, tennis elbow, lifter’s elbow, and a tailbone that’s been broken more times than I’d like to admit.
So when I move, it’s not because everything feels great.
I don’t run long distances anymore because my hip doesn’t love that. I don’t train the way I did in my 30s or 40s. Some days I lift lighter. Some days I skip movements like pull-ups entirely. If something feels wrong, I stop. If I need time off, I take it. I adjust constantly.
What I don’t do is wait to feel pain-free before I move.
Because I’ve learned that when I stop moving altogether, things get worse. I get stiffer. Pain takes up more space in my head, and my mood suffers. Movement actually helps with my pain long-term.
Now I just work with the body I have today, not the one I had years ago. This was something I learned through my yoga teacher training.
The full piece is up on my Substack. Link in bio.
If you deal with pain too, what have you learned you need to modify or let go of?
