I am 83 years old, with type 1 for 77 years. I have a lot of neuropathy in several parts of my body. My arm and leg muscles are weak When I fall, I am not able to get up again unless there is something stable I can use to gradually pull myself up.
I can still walk without a cane or walker, but I have to take short steps and be very careful. Grocery shopping is easy, the grocery buggy is a great “walker”.
There is numbness and poor balance caused by the neuropathy in my feet and legs. I am concerned about getting exercise in the near future. I stopped working out at a gym in late 2019 because of the oncoming pandemic. I started again, twice per week, this month. I am using a treadmill at home, but only one lap each time. I am too weak for more then that.
In warm weather I like to walk on the roads in my neighborhood. If I use a walker next Spring, how will that look when I am on those local roads? Should I stop taking those walks?
Any suggestions?
Richard, if I saw anyone walking with a walker, I would think good for them. We do what we can.
Would you be walking on road or sidewalks? What condition are they?
In my neighborhood some sidewalk parts are well maintained, but some have very uneven surface. In warmer weather, often many kids out on bikes and scooters. But if I pick the right times, there is less obstacles!!
For winter, i use indoor stepper.
In 2019 I had a broken hip, and used a stepper for rehab, using walker nearby just in case.
Oh goodness, if the roads are decent I would certainly walk with a walker. It really doesn’t matter what others think, but I think that they would admire you.
First of all, I hope I am still doing as well as you at your age and longevity of diabetes! It is great that you are still finding ways to exercise.
Walking is one of the best exercises, but if walking is difficult in the winter, I would next consider swimming. Do you have access to a pool? Possibly at a local Y or high school? If you do then I think this would be an excellent choice.
Another alternative that I use (I don’t have a local pool) when it gets too cold to run outside, is a good rowing machine. Best way to see if that would work for you is to try one at the gym you joined. The rowing machines tend to get relatively little use at gyms, but they are in my opinion the best low impact whole body exercise other than swimming. You sit while rowing, so balance would not be an issue. And unlike cycling (another obvious possibility) you get good workout both upper and lower body - a combination of aerobic and strength training.
Try to get someone who knows how to row to help you get started with technique at the very beginning. Technique is not difficult to learn, but makes a big difference in the quality of the workout. If there isn’t anyone to ask, you can use the many YouTube videos to get started.
I started rowing for my college crew team, and have owned a good rowing machine ever since. So if you find you like rowing even a little, then come back here and I can give you more info than you want about how to get a good machine, set it up, keep motivated, etc.
P.s. there are rowers competing against each other at all ages including the 90+ age category. So it is never too late to start using a rowing machine!
@Jag1, my arm and leg muscles are so weak that I cannot swim or do any exercises like you mention. Walking with difficulty is ok. At the gym I use machines with light weights attached I have to be very careful!
@MM1, the local roads are good and have very light traffic. No sidewalks where I live.
Thanks @Marilyn6, I agree!
Richard, I’m sorry swimming is out. But I am not convinced that you would have any trouble using a rowing machine, in fact it sounds to me like a perfect exercise for you.
You are sitting down the whole time you are exercising. You are pulling a handle connected with a cable to a flywheel, and the tension is adjustable AND you can pull it as slowly as you want. People on YouTube will be pulling fast but the speed you pull is completely up to you. The other part of the exercise is the leg motion, where you simply move back and forth on a sliding seat. Again, there is no weight being lifted - you are simply sliding on ball bearings forward and back AT THE SPEED YOU CHOOSE.
So again, you’re sitting the whole time, you choose how hard or soft to pull, and you go however fast or slow you want. I really do think it is worth you trying. Maybe ask your trainer at your gym?
Here’s a video showing the technique:
@Jag1, I agree, that looks good for me. There are rowing machines at my gym. I will give one a try. Thanks!
You can get a flotation jacket and still swim if u love swimming. How are your sugars? Because neuropathy can heal and resolve with tight control. I suppose there is an end limit to that, but if you can tighten up, it would be something to try.
How would you feel about Yoga, Richard? My grandma was into yoga.
Maybe you do grocery shopping at Costco or Super walmart that require a lot of walking a few times a week, if that works. If it aint broke, why fix it? The Winter months make walking a challenge. I feel better about you walking inside a mall or somewhere there are other people around.
At the museum last weekend a man with a cane went down on the stairs. He didn’t get hurt, but he was sure heavier than he looked and it was quite an effort to get him safely out of the museum because I couldn’t locate his wife (who was waiting for him in the car). He didn’t get hurt, but he would have been in quite a pickle if there weren’t other people around. Bring your cell phone.
@Timothy, I am in the 70–180 range more than 90% of the time. I do not have any problems with my eyes or kidneys.
We have a person in our neighborhood that uses a walker and a couple more that use a cane. We have a lot of people that walk as our weather is nice all year round. We have no sidewalks so everyone here is used to walking on the road edges. But we are in a residential area.
I have a really bad back so what I can do is limited. I have a recumbent bike and I literally started at the no resistance and only did less than a half mile at first. I slowly worked my way up. The first 2 miles were hard to work up to originally, but it seems that once I did, increasing the miles was much easier after that. Nowadays I do 10 miles every day and sometimes a lot more if my BG levels don’t behave. But it took a concentrated effort at first to make sure to get on it everyday and when I thought I could, add just a little more time on it.
To me the trick is finding something you can do, then make sure it turns into a daily routine. It doesn’t matter how little you do as long as you actually continually do it. You will get used to it and be able to do just a little more at some point. Those muscles have to learn to be used again.
There is a really nice program that you can do from home and Medicare covers it called Spinezone. It’s PT at home. It’s geared towards reducing back pain. My insurance sent me a link saying I was covered if I wanted to sign up. I originally wanted it to improve my core muscles. You can download the ap on your phone or see the exercises on your computer. You get a coach that will talk with you to evaluate what you need and customize your exercise plan. They stay in touch with you by e-mail, phone or on the site and make any adjustments you need. I found them really responsive to any problems and willing to really work with you to find what works best. You can extend the time frame as needed, they will get the approvals necessary and it never cost me anything. I think I did it for a year.
@Jag1 Thanks for your info on rowing. I’m near Richard’s age and have access to a rower at my Y but but but ! I don’t think I could get myself upright afterwards if there is nothing to haul myself up by. It has been so long since I was there that I can’t recall if ours are as low to the floor with no handhold to push up by. I will call the Y, however, and ask. After my recovery from a minor upcoming surgery. I am in bad shape physically and know that even now I need to start exercising. I can walk but winter is here! A bike does not work for me. Thank you for this thought for me too.
@Blueburd, thanks for this post. I would also not be able to get up from the rowing machine. I had not thought about that. There are other machines at a gym for exercising arms and legs that do involve sitting on a seat at a higher position.
Richard, I do know that the rower is an excellent choice for an overall workout, as gentle or as tough as you want. Some gyms may have them more off the floor for folks like us, therefore, I would not count it out before checking. I have a vague recollection of a round metal handhold on both sides but I don’t know if it would work for me specifically. Have to see it to know for sure.
Honestly, my speed right now is a daughter/mother duo on youtube called yes2next. They have seated and standing exercise in place with a chair to hold or not. The daughter leads thru a lot of gentle but felt muscle workouts. That may be too slow for you but… might take a look. Mom shows the ‘older’ person approach! She keeps up and after all this time I think she has to pretend to have limits sometimes!
@Blueburd
That looks like a nice beginner exercise utube sight!
Just remember if you are starting out, you don’t have to do the full time or all the exercises. I have always been told in PT to start with what feels comfortable and slowly increase it. Stop whenever you feel you need to.
There are several different manufacturers of heavy duty rowing machines used in gyms, but the most popular brand is the one I gave a video link of: Concept2.
Because I started rowing 50 years ago, I have tried or owned just about all the different machines, and I can confidently say that Concept2 makes the best and longest lasting machines.
If, as is likely, the machine in your gym is made by Concept2 then I can tell you that the seat height is either 16” or 21” (I just measured). The 21” height is a bit more expensive and more common in gyms; the 16” is more common for home purchase, though both are available. I actually own one of each, and had a third before I gave it to one of my daughters.
Note that a standard dinner chair is 18”. So even if your gym has the 16” height, I don’t think that 2” differential should make a big difference. And if it has the 21” height, then you will be sitting a few inches above your dining chairs.
Really, try not to overthink this. Find a rowing machine in your local club, and ask for some help from your club trainer to get it adjusted to fit you and help you get started. Then sit down and give it a try.
Not sure this is worth watching, but here is a competition for 90+ y.o. males and females. Personally I see no need to compete, but some people find it motivating. If you find you like rowing, you will not be alone:
Jag1, I will check it out. Years ago I did use the one at the YW. But that was years ago and I was more active then!
ha ha. And I can’t recall its height at all. That is why I did not rule it out and encouraged Richard to keep an open mind too.
though not in those words.
Richard does seem to have a more difficult muscle use situation, however, and I can’t speak for him.
I might get through a few “rows” and then ask for a couple of people to winch me up!! I like the ‘seated’ part. chuckle
Thank you so much.
Blueburd