For decades, strict bed rest was the go-to treatment for lower back pain. Current guidelines say the opposite: France's national health authority states that bed rest is not recommended and that people should keep up their usual activities as much as possible, adapting them to the pain. Lying still weakens muscles and feeds the fear of moving. Most cases of common back pain improve within a few weeks. Movement is the treatment.
Chlorine on its own is fairly gentle. But when it combines with urine, sweat and other grime from swimmers, it forms chloramines, which cause stinging eyes and that classic 'chlorine smell'. A well-kept pool barely smells at all. Shower before you swim and never pee in the water.
Muscle mass slowly shrinks with age, putting independence at risk. But in 1990, a study had nursing home residents aged 86 to 96 train their legs for eight weeks: their strength more than doubled. Muscle responds to training at any age. Getting up from a chair without using your hands is already an exercise.