Aching muscle relief is some thing often encountered among older athletes. For largely unknown reasons, the aging process causes muscles to tighten and causes their use to be significantly hindered, frequently resulting in soreness and even outright pain. A muscle relief gel is utilized by many to treat such conditions, people who refuse to be consigned to the much less active lifestyles normally recommended by their doctors.
As per the old adage about the truth being “somewhere in-between,” maybe the best course of action is to heed the healtcare providers’ advice to a certain degree, relieving aching muscles while not completely giving up long-cherished hobbies – which is, modifying their pursuit in deference to age or the advancement thereof.
Of course, such a course of action is tough for athletes used to giving their all and pushing performance envelopes. But it must be learned, and practiced and mastered the same as any new skill, in order to lay the proper foundation for a physically rigorous, but also safe, life. The older athlete faces enough challenges with out bringing on more, for instance creating issues outright by refusing to accommodate nature’s unavoidable progression.
Decline is inevitable. What isn’t unavoidable is catastrophic break-down, and that depends in large part on the older athlete’s psychological acceptance of significantly changed circumstances. Go with the flow, working with Mother Nature, and you are able to usually expect a vigorous enough life still.
Listen to your body. Learn its new language, its reduced syntax. The range of physical expression diminishes, but vibrancy is still possible when effectively channeled.
That is the challenge for the older athlete, pain or no pain. It is to learn anew how to work with the limits of one’s body, encouraging it to excel its capabilities even while respecting those limits. It is the challenge of any athlete at any age, but advanced ages make the challenge a lot more plain.
