Be Ready When Opportunity Strikes

By Nancy Alexander, PT, CSCS

There are many sayings about opportunity, but this one has special meaning to me right now.

Today is your opportunity to build the tomorrow you want

There are so many reasons to exercise and improve your health and fitness. If you read my book, “Get UP! Defy Aging with Movement,” you learned that movement and exercise help reverse the effects of aging on every system in the body. Every one of them. You know that movement and exercise help increase your strength. You know you can improve your mobility by walking better and improving your balance. Movement and exercise help make you safer.

There’s more though. True, movement is incredibly powerful and can help you in so many ways. But for me, it took a recent event to remind me of another amazing benefit to exercise and being fit.

Scientific study proves the many physiological benefits of exercise. Move and you help thwart disease by boosting your immune system. You can help build stronger bones with strategic movement and exercise at any age. Movement and exercise can help you:

• Decrease pain
• Decrease stiffness
• Increase range of motion and flexibility
• Increase strength and power
• Improve balance
• Improve endurance
• Decrease stress
• Improve your sleep
• Improve your energy

The benefit I’m speaking of here is not so much physical, it is emotional. I truly believe I just had the pleasure of experiencing something more important than all of above reasons to exercise. I had to live it myself to appreciate it.

It came with a text and a call. It came out of nowhere, this opportunity. I knew movement and exercise can help improve your life. But I had no idea that it would benefit me in this way. Because I was fit, I was able to participate in the USA Hockey National Championships 60 and over division here is Florida with 2 ½ weeks-notice.

I’ve played hockey for over 45 years but not in the past four years (at least). I hadn’t skated either, not once in three years. I came close to joining a women’s hockey team after we moved to Florida over two years ago but then COVID-19 hit and everything shut down, including all local hockey rinks. I still have all my gear and even just recently researched local teams in the hopes I could join one in the future. This notion of returning to hockey had been on my mind.

Then I received a text from a good friend. “Hey Nancy!! Totally random question, are you interested in 60 and over Nationals in Wesley Chapel??” The National Championships are held at the end of April every year in this suburb of Tampa.

My response, “Seriously??”  She responds, “Can you chat for a minute?” “Calling.”

She had signed up with a team from Chicago and they were looking for a few more players and she thought of me. Bless her for thinking of me.

For me to consider playing on this short notice required me to be fit. I have a history of back pain for various reasons but because of my exercise routine and teaching Buff Bones® classes, my back was healthy and strong. I was also 20 pounds lighter than I was in New York (when I last played) as I had consulted with a nutritionist when I moved to Florida to help shed unwanted weight. I had been riding my bicycle for some cardiovascular exercise and could certainly do it more in the next 2 weeks to improve that. I had returned to pickleball lately and was improving my stamina and agility. I could improve this even more.

I needed to skate, though. I quickly found some public skating sessions at a nearby rink and the next day I was there, strapping the skates on. Was I in perfect shape to do this? No. But I was in decent enough shape to say yes. I was fit and healthy enough to play, to participate and to contribute. And that made all the difference. I was able to say, “Yes!” with confidence. When you move and exercise, it opens doors and opportunities for fun things in your life. It makes a life.

My plan worked and together our team made it to the Championship finals where we lost to a very skilled team. This was a respectable result considering we had never played together as a group before. We played five games in four days and I didn’t miss a shift.

Moving and staying fit sets you up for success. It sets you up to take advantage of opportunities that come your way including those that arise suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe it’s not ice hockey you want to return to (or maybe it is), maybe it’s another sport you want to play – new or old. Maybe it’s a round of golf with your friends. Maybe it’s an outing with your girlfriends. Maybe it’s an invitation to travel, to tour the National Parks, or to travel abroad. Maybe it’s an opportunity to join a group to snorkel or dive at the Galapagos Islands. Maybe it’s hiking out west. Whatever your precious goals, interests and opportunities are, moving and staying fit is necessary to get out there and enjoy them.

It goes beyond that, too. I’m talking beyond actual activities you can do or places to visit. Movement and being fit can help you reach goals you thought were out of reach. They can help you rediscover old passions. They can create new passions. They can help you meet new people and find new friends. They can help you appreciate all that your body can do. Movement and exercise can ignite a fire inside of you.

That’s what it did for me. I rediscovered my passion for playing ice hockey. I met new friends including another woman from Florida who has invited me to attend a practice with her local team. I am blessed with a way to keep skating and playing. I am reinvigorated. The past (hockey) can indeed become new again.

If it can happen to me, then it can happen to you. I truly believe that. Move. Respect your fitness level where it is now and move. Ask yourself:

• How can I be more fit?
• What do I want to be able to do?
• Is there something new I want to try?
• Is there something “old” I want try again?
• How can I start?

Work towards it. Take action. If you don’t know how, ask your physician. Ask your movement specialist. Ask someone you trust. Do it and build in accountability where you can. Make the commitment. Do the work. As someone recently said to one of my teammates, “Don’t let the old in.”