We have a wii, and I used to get a fantastic score on the obstacle race. Now I plod slowly through it. And consider it a success if I just get to the end before running out of time.
Good Morning Monday 17th August 2026
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I can no longer sit cross legged or sit with my feet tucked up on the sofa. I can't bend in the morning to put my socks on either until i have taken my painkillers.
We have a wii, and I used to get a fantastic score on the obstacle race. Now I plod slowly through it. And consider it a success if I just get to the end before running out of time.
Lettice it's not funny but you did make me laugh. We got our front doorsteps enlarged to make them safer as we stumble. Getting older is not for the fainthearted.
Jessica, I read this thread with interest and yet you are the first to mention loss of urinary continence. At 86 that is a problem for me. I take Furusemide so if I take it at 8am I have to stick around inside the house until about 11am. I also sometimes have to rush to get to the loo in case of accidents. I have to wear pads and remember to change them regularly in case I get an infection. I expected more grans to have this problem, although I am pleased you haven’t got it!
Same with me and skipping - can’t get off the ground. And have to have subtitles on most tv programmes now though I seem to hear normal conversations ok
I have a crushed disc in my back due to an ancient car accident. I have had a knee replacement and the other knee is arthritic. I need glasses to read. When I turned 60 (two years ago) I suddenly had a huge 'awakening' when I realised these things were not going to get better like they did when I was young and I would never be able to run, jump, kneel down ever again!! So now I am just thankful for what I can still do - read, hear, walk (not too far), swim, watch tv, enjoy my family and above all - laugh!!!
Actually, looking over these posts, I have to say that at 80 I feel very blessed. My health is excellent, without medications, and the thing that I have difficulty with - putting on some shoes/boots - is more about my fat belly getting in the way than trouble with joints.
Stairs! I now place each foot on the stair, purposefully, and then the next. Oh when did I stop just tripping quickly and easily down a flight and out the door.
One knee with osteoarthritis, other than that fairly fit and able. Oh memory bad since menopause.
In an effort to maintain some level of fitness, burn a few calories and maybe be a bit less rotund, I bought a skipping rope. Off I went to find a nice, big flat area where I’d be able to skip without the rope getting caught up on anything, and then found that I had lost the ability to jump! I simply couldn’t get both feet off the ground at the same time! It caused a great deal of mirth from DH. He thought it was hilarious.
Early 70's and can still do most things including standing on one leg but not with eyes closed. Can almost touch my toes. Found recently that I can't lie flat on the floor on my back and get my head on the ground too, I need a cushion. Maybe with practice I could. Every night I write up my journal and my handwriting has definitely deteriorated and I keep making mistakes and have to so crossing outs. A word with mm, or nn or mn or um is difficult, I lose count of how many I've written. Memory a bit shaky at times.
I can still cut my toenails but it's a bit hit and miss because I cant't actually see them.
They are too far away for my reading glasses and too near for my distance glasses.
I wonder if my optician would prescribe toenail cutting glasses?
Like other posters on this thread I am just generally weak now.
I'm fairly sure I would be able to kneel still but would be incapable of getting up. (It's a good job I'm not religious).
If I can't get a top off a container I sit on the aft deck of my narrow boat until someone who looks hale and hearty comes by and I ask them.
Yes my problems health wise are what stops me doing things too, osteoarthritis affecting my spine, knee , leg , ankle and foot, nothing seems to help and my mobility is very poor!
Not so much a physical thing but, I seem to struggle in the kitchen when preparing meals. If its more than the two of us, I seem to go to pieces! Especially if sons partner, who is vegetarian joins us. I used to be able to cook for hoards of people easily and could juggle different dishes while throwing a dozen scones in the oven, clearing/washing up as I went along! Now the kitchen looks like a bomb has hit it often and I don't enjoy cooking very much at all!
I struggle to remember names. Watching tv or doing a quiz of any sort my memory is rubbish when it comes to remembering people's names, particularly tv personalities, film stars etc. even really well know ones. I don't forget other things generally, just names.
I can still bend over and touch my toes with straight knees. Getting upright again is a different story. Lots of creaks and oooos happen.
I can't do black flips....mind you, I never could...sighs
My memory is really poor and my only consolation is that when I'm with friends of the same age they are just as bad. It can take several people to construct a sentence.
My knees are rubbish and the top of my arms hurt a lot of the time.
About 5 years ago, I remember thinking how good my eyebrows looked. Then I bought reading glasses for the first time, and good grief, what a mess!! Thank goodness I had a fringe?!
My bladder seems to have lost, um, endurance.....
Hetty ‘I can't balance as well as I used to. I have to take extra care climbing ladders and trees‘. That made me laugh so much my rib aches.
Chewbacca: I don't want to worry you, but i could happily kneel down and get in and out of the bath before I had my total knee replacement. Afterwards, I could do neither and was even rushed into hospital in agony with over a litre of fluid on my knee. The consultant concerned wouldn't admit liability and didn't even come and visit me when I was in hospital even though he was actually on the ward when I was there. (I had a single room, so I couldn't see him). After the op, I had to make lots of repeated visits to try and get all the problems sorted out, but they never were and he refused to admit any liability and even told lies about what I had said on previous visits. I really should have sued, as I am so much worse off now than before the operation and can only walk short distances.
I'm only approaching 62 but have only just realised I can no longer jump! I never noticed when that happened and so therefore cannot remember when I last jumped. I following exercises on YouTube and they suddenly started star jumping! I can't do it!! I had to do the easier version and I am so upset. 
Arthritis in the knees prevents kneeling, and bending is difficult to do. I do miss having a bath, but have showers now since getting stuck in a hotel bath in, ironically, Bath. I have also started to have problems opening tins, as my hands are getting creaky.
Another activity affected by age is, in my opinion, sex. The equipment is still in working order but the quality has declined. (As I wrote that sentence, the title of an old TV series popped into my head - Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width!)
funnygran Pilates would teach you how to do things like that without straining your back.
I'm just having a rest for 10 minutes and catching up on today's threads. I've been cleaning the bathroom and bending down to scrub the bath and shower tray has taken its toll on my back! Never used to think twice about things like that but at 71 (not old I know) I'm not as supple as I used to be. Have recently started bike riding again so hoping I will loosen up eventually.
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