Onwards and upwards - hill climbing in your 70s. Geoff's story

After recovering from back surgery, Geoff still wanted to be able to climb the hill by his house. Find out how you can improve your walking ability and keep doing the things you love.

Background

Geoff is in his 70s. He recently had back surgery to help with a trapped nerve. During recovery, Geoff was frustrated with his reduced walking ability and wanted to know how to regain it.

G says:

“Now that I’m able to move around without pain or numbness, I’m working to improve my walking distance. My main training approach has been the improvement of hill climbing. Where we live, it is impossible to go for a walk (without using the car) without climbing a fairly steep hill. I’ve designated a kind of calibration path, which I use very regularly, and my current measure is the number of stops needed to reach the top. It’s now three, down from five.”

“Onwards and upwards!”

This is amazing! By deciding to keep practicing walking up the hill instead of avoiding it, Geoff was able to build on his strength and stamina to improve his walking ability. There are so many choices we make each day that have a real impact on our health and happiness. Choosing to keep going because he wanted to be able to walk up the hill as he had been able to do for years allowed Geoff to regain his ability to walk unaided.

Sit-to-Stand

Geoff also chose to practice the sit-to-stand movement to measure the improvement in his health and fitness. This is where you stand up from a seated position without using your hands and see how many times you can repeat the movement in thirty seconds. Geoff was able to improve his score to 13, which is about average for his age group. Being able to keep track of his sit-to-stand ability allowed Geoff to see how much progress he was making in his fitness levels every week!

Success!

Geoff has seen significant improvement in his health and fitness. His walking ability is now back to where it was before his operation, and he can walk without any mobility aids. By focusing on building walking distance before increasing his speed, Geoff was able to regain his ability and now enjoys walking as he did before the surgery.

To retain privacy, we have changed the identity of the person involved.

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