To Your Health: Stay well and strong in your middle years

By Toni Small

Your age: it’s a number. Not everyone ages at the same rate – injury, chronic disease or pain can lead a person to grow old faster than their chronological years. Some folks age quicker sitting in a tractor trailer truck than you do working on the water. While the number helps us generalize, it is not an absolute.

By the time you get to middle-age (40 – 65), there’s a lot of “good for you/bad for you” health advice that has come and gone: coffee and butter are bad for you, good for you, bad for you, good for you…

Fishermen are left out of the corporate embrace of wellness programs or paid gym memberships. You are doing everything yourself. Navigating an aging body that works as hard as yours is a lonely enterprise.

Toni Small, married to a lifelong Maine lobsterman, is a movement coach who works with the USDA AgrAbility/FishAbility project.

Can your body do what the job requires? (Strength)

Aging is the accumulation of years of using not just muscles, but all your systems: skeletal, connective tissue, neuromuscular, cardiorespiratory, as well as your metabolic system. So, while you have become a very efficient fisherman by now, you’ve also spent down your capacity. The time has come to ensure you are maintaining your systems to slow down overall wear and tear.

Fishermen are strong. However, with age, parts of the neuromuscular system quietly retire. Some motor units—the nerve cells and the muscle fibers they control—slip away like an Irish exit from a party: no goodbye, gone. The remaining motor units often pick up the extra work, so you may not notice much loss in muscle size. What you might notice is that you’re not quite as quick, explosive, or sure-footed as you once were. That’s a bummer we all get to experience, no matter our job. The good news? Strength training doesn’t just strengthen muscle. It also helps the nervous system make better use of the motor units you’ve still got, improving communication between your brain and your body.

When I say strength training I mean two times a week of short, efficient, heavier loads than your daily loading. Not hours in the gym, not overtraining. A strength and conditioning coach can help here. When our nervous system senses we’re not producing force efficiently, it may tighten muscles to help us feel more stable. That isn’t the same as strength.

A healthy heart and lungs improve your ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, supporting recovery and overall health. Also consider that strength and conditioning training will improve the efficiency of your heart. Again, not long hours: short brisk walks, maybe a walk/run. Build the habit first, increase the distance over time.

Can you still do the job when things get weird? (Mobility)

As a fisherman, you move a lot. You endure crazy conditions around you and underfoot. The systemic changes we just discussed make you more vulnerable to injury when you get tossed about onboard.

First, think about moving your body in novel directions—meaning different than your daily repetitive patterns. Maintaining our capacity to move in multiple directions keeps our tissues responsive and adaptable. Motion is still lotion.

Secondly, consider assistive technology. Here in Maine, we have a USDA project called AgrAbility (FishAbility/LogAbility) which is charged with supporting fishermen, farmers and loggers despite setbacks from injury, disease, chronic pain and aging.

It’s a free service: a small team visits your boat, observes your setup and makes recommendations. Sometimes, a minor change can help, or a specialized piece of equipment might be needed. Then, FishAbility connects you to Vocational Rehabilitation services, which can help defray costs if this equipment is vital to keeping you in your job.

Can you still think clearly when the day goes sideways? (Mindset)

Adjusting to the realities of an aging body when your spirit inside hasn’t aged a day is pretty disorienting. There’s no ceremony to welcome you to middle age. Sadly, it’s often the bad back that tells you you’ve arrived. I’ve just suggested you need to add strength and conditioning to your to-do list, which probably pissed you off.

This can be the time to redefine your why. Remembering why we do what we do can help us adjust, ask for help, process our losses, build contingency plans, change course or recommit. Sometimes, this is when talking to a counselor can be helpful—Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association has resources. FishAbility can help, as described above. Addressing pain, physical or spiritual, helps shore us up for the next long haul.

Can you absorb hard days and still come back tomorrow? (Recovery)

The hazards of working with your body for a living include being in discomfort. Pain is a complicated alarm system. Sometimes pain indicates a problem. Sometimes pain reflects a nervous system that has become more sensitive over time. Getting help translating pain signals is important. Preferably, get help as soon as you notice pain starting, rather than waiting until you’re not functional. Living in pain is no picnic.

Getting enough protein supports tissue repair and helps maintain muscle as we age. Massage, hot or cold therapies, or acupuncture may soothe aching joints. One guy took to cold plunging to interrupt his pain long enough to get a good night’s sleep and found relief held for 72 hours. (Check with your doctor.) Recovery may require experimenting to see what works for you.

Think of your body like an ecosystem, not a machine — always adjusting to weather, wear, recovery and dieback. The goal isn’t to be perfectly repaired; it’s to stay healthy enough to keep participating in the life you want to live.

You’re still an athlete in oilskins, it’s just now the game has changed.