Shuffling around like I'm a very unfit 80 year old....

[BarrelOfOtters]

I'm mid 50s and I realise that I'm shuffling round like a very unfit 80 year old in a pair of baffies (slippers for non-Scots). I walk, I did c25K last year, I hillwalk. But I'm very inflexible...

If I start doing yoga or Pilates will that help?

It can't hurt to try! I'm 62 and have done Pilates pretty regularly for quite a few years now - I find it really beneficial. It's not just flexibility but also stability and core strength which helps a lot I think. IMO it's worth finding a good instructor rather than trying to do it off YouTube as some of the positioning is quite subtle.

I'm probably naturally quite flexible, but my DH isn't - if he does various Pilates-like exercises recommended by a physio they definitely help.

I would think so - yoga probably for flexibility? I am about your age and have found strength and resistance training great for strengthening joints. I would maybe go and see a sports physio, and see what they think would help - it’s not always intuitive.

I used to do Pilates regularly with a good instructor for years but fell off the wagon just before Covid when she moved away. So for the last 3 years have only been doing very intermittent flexibility or stretching....

A physio appointment might be just the ticket too.

I've joined another Pilates class once a week but only just started. I think I'm fairly comfortable following videos as I've done it so much before .... so maybe a mix would help.

But honestly I'm waddling along like a penguin.

Your baffies may not be helping if they don't fit well, of course.

Perhaps as well you need to look at your posture and try and walk more briskly? I find it easy to slip into strolling along really slowly (mainly because I'm miles away daydreaming). Plus posture, shoulders away from ears, chin tucked in, walk tall.

It's more like I feel like my left foot is slipping and I'm unsteady on my feet...especially downhill. I use a stick on hills - but walking down the street...I'm no longer striding confidently but shuffling along as my heel slips. Yes my shoes do fit.

Ears!!! I was you until I got my ears sorted (and admittedly totally deaf- like lip reading deaf). Go and get your hearing checked - it may be just a build up of wax making you unsteady. I was always falling over /bumping into things by veering of course a bit like a drunk and got to the point of breaking bones. Don’t be me. Downside - the world is incredibly noisy.

I don't think it is my ears as I'm not having any other hearing problems. But not a bad tip in general.

I'm wondering if it's sciatica related. I'm going to book a physio appointment.

Definitely worth a physio checkup. I realised last year that one of my hip flexors is really weak which means that foot drags a bit and makes me limp and also makes me liable to trip over it. This despite years of yoga and pilates. I have now started a targetted hip
flexor exercise to try and improve it.