I have arthritis in both knees, especially the right. 10 days ago I stubbed my right baby toe HARD. Nothing is broken but I have a significant amount of pain still. And PF, which is thankfully under control. I am flexible and agile, but feeling every one of my 59 years right now! And the sleep challenges don’t help. Still - I am younger and healthier than my mother was at this age.
In a state of insanity, I enrolled (audit) in Tap 1 and French 1 at a local university. Age 60. No prior knowledge of either. Plan was to challenge myself mentally and physically way outside my comfort level. It is working. I even carry a backpack!
The only time I feel old is when I bend down. My back hurt if I stay bent down to pull weeds. It affects my volunteering with a garden club. Not as good at pulling weeds as in the past. At home, I sit on the ground to pull weeds to avoid bend down.
I feel old when wearing readers. I have many normal physical declines, but they don’t make me feel old really. But for some reason the readers do.
Exercise! Pilates or other core-strengthening programs. Balance exercises. Weights. I find my back hurts much less. I can get up without using my hands much easier and my balance is much better than when I started seriously exercising a few years ago. My body is not naturally muscular so it takes a lot of effort. Certainly, I can’t keep up with the 30-somethings in my classes, but I am still there and still trying.
I am very thankful not to have any major joint pain so far, with some occasional shoulder issues. Hopefully, that will not change too soon.
I think balance exercises are extremely important. Use it or lose it literally especially as you age.
What is the best core strengthening programs? Pilates?
The best core strengthening program is the one that you will actually do on a regular basis. 
@igloo:
I don’t know if Pilates is the best, but my son’s violin professor turns/turned 76 this year, the guy teaches some ridiculous number of students a day, and his wife has him doing pilates and he is in great shape:).
As for me,a lot of things make me feel my age. I have the beginnings of arthritis in my shoulders and knees, which can make doing things like reaching for an item on the shelf difficult, likewise my knees can hurt walking up stairs, like from the subway. If I sit for a long time, getting up is difficult because my back has stiffened up.
My vision is what it always was, that isn’t a problem. My memory in some ways is as good as it ever was, but my memory for names has gotten worse, things that would come naturally take some thought.
The one weird thing is as I have gotten older, my immune system seems to be getting better, perhaps because I am taking better care of myself with eating and supplements and such, either that or the hyper immune response that causes the arthritis and some other auto immune conditions I have makes sure bugs don’t have a chance. One thing I still have is my stamina, my wife is amazed that on a weekend I can do the things I do, and can keep going well into the night with it, and not get destroyed by it. I might have muscle aches and pains, but I don’t find myself after some intense work around the house dying after a couple of hours.
The one big regret of my age? It is a lot harder to lose weight and to maintain my fitness, when I was younger if I had a relatively healthy diet and did some basic exercise a couple of weeks, I could keep myself in good shape, now it takes a lot more (and with my work schedule the way it is, I often don’t have the time to do that).
I see trade offs. Five years ago I could still get up on a two story ladder and paint my house. Now I can’t. However, I have enough money to pay someone to do it for me, which wasn’t the case five years back without a lot of sacrifice.
All the elders of the generation above me are gone. I am the family matriarch. I am still coming to grips with that - big responsibility. 
Continuing to work is not a good solution to avoiding aging. Do not let working define you! We all likely know that person who can’t shift gears and clings to their profession for lack of something better to do.
Once you retire (all of this presumes financial stability- ie the need for the money earned is not there) you can discover a very interesting world. There are so many different things one can do that there was never time for. These can be as active or passive as you wish. Public libraries are wonderful. Taking classes in fields you are terrible at can be fun- no need to have any artistic ability, whatever, since the grade doesn’t count, your future is not dependent on doing well…
I have those morning aches and pains- the bending down to pick up the heavy cotton (wish they still made lighter polyester ones) bedspread from the floor to make the bed. It is tempting to just not do it- if I were single and living alone I wouldn’t… Once up and moving (plus Advil) it is so much better.
I also am doing less of those physical projects than in the past. It also takes me longer than when I was forty (now early 60’s) and doing a landscape (because I like to, not because I couldn’t spend the megabucks to let the pros do it). We moved four years ago and I am thankfully done pulling out the old bushes (even small trees, stumps) so I now have only the easier things- planting. Delegating lawn and pool care is wonderful.
I still clean my own house (H is not at all thorough enough). Two reasons- I do a better job than cleaning services and it does fill some time each month (no more every two weeks now). And it gets done when I want it, such as before visitors are coming instead of the scheduled time.
My father just turned 90 and his memory is shot, he never adapted to computers and is still the cantankerous person he always was. My 84 year old mother-in-law is starting to be a bit forgetful but she discovered the internet and email. A friend’s 95 year old mother still wins at online canasta. I wonder how well I will age as I turn from old to elderly.
We were always old in our children’s eyes. Remember back in childhood when you thought that 30 year old teacher was so old??? Now they seem so young. And those kids you knew now have their own… Not sure I like being the older generation now. It is sobering to realize we are perhaps in the last third of our lives- twice as much gone as remains (this depends on old one is now and how long one lives).
Clutter is your friend. Nothing helps you be aware of where things are like being able to see them. 
Well, if you have less things, there is less to try to keep track of. 
For those aches and pains and flexibility issues, I strongly recommend stretching exercises before you begin your “real” exercise. Everytime I skip my 20 minutes of stretching, I can definitely tell the difference the next day.
I have two new hips. Saying that makes me feel old, but having them makes me feel young again.
Maintaining strength and balance is so darned important to aging well.
A couple of years ago I had packed on am extra post-menopausal 25 pounds, seemingly overnight. And suddenly i was tired, was walking instead of running up and down the stairs, found balancing on one foot with the other up on the shower wall to shave my legs difficult, couldn’t rise gracefully from criss-cross apple sauce. I began to lose weight, to get back in shape, but it was a slow slog.
And THEN our oldest got engaged, and there was a drop dead date to aim for. Nothing lit a fire under me like the thought of photos of me, with an extra twenty pounds, being passed on to a future generation.
I got down to my fighting weight and got back into good shape for a late fifties woman.
I aim for an hour or so of cardio that makes me happy 4 days a week: Zumba or cardio dance classes, cycling, walking, hiking. I don’t run because I hate it. I would swim if there was a pool more easily available.
And I do a short circut thing that I found online. I try to do this five days a week. I can fit this in even if I don’t have time to do anything else. It takes no special equipment and can be done anywhere.
- Pushups (started by struggling to do 10 modified - now do 30 modified or 20 regular)
- Squats (started doing 15, now do 30 or more)
- Plank (started at 20 seconds, now do a minute)
- 60 seconds of high intensity cardio - jump rope, sprint in place, burpees, whatever.
Repeat the circut of four exercises four times. So in the end of a 20 minute routine i’ll have done 80-120 pushups, 120 squats, 4 minutes of planks, four minutes of something cardio and some balancing yoga poses.
I add a couple of yoga balancing moves afterwards.
I can once again rise gracefully from the floor, run up and down the stairs, throw one foot up on the shower wall to shave a leg…
@wis75- very enlightening and hit home.
I really appreciate this thread and all the entries.
Aside from exercise, I went to my D’s bf’s play and the kids invited me to join the cast at a local bar. Made me feel young. I didn’t go, but it felt nice.
Make sure your shoes are good, what you need. I will not wear old lady shoes. But even our favorite good ones wear out and can throw us just enough out of whack.
@eastcoastcrazy, same here with an event where I’ll meet up with a large group of friends from, count’ em, 40 years ago.
I walk, a lot, my fitbit and pup are happy, but my feet get sore. A few years ago, I would come home from a one hour or so walk, sit for a while and when I arose, it felt like I was walking on broken glass. I actually saw a podiatrist, he loved my Flintstone feet (nothing pretty and slender here, they look like I walk the car around town.) I bought a pair of those expensive Dr Scholls where you stand on the machine, they totally helped, but still when I first get up, be it in the morning or after a rest post-walk, I hobble for the first 5-10 steps. What is that?
I also noticed with yoga, I have to be careful not to get too flexible, I was doing fantastic stretching and poses, but my hips began to hurt when sitting at my office desk.
Having seen my parents and inlaws turn 80 in the last few years has really made me aware of my own aging.
The observation I have made is that the people who age the best are those who keep active - physically, mentally and socially. I took up yoga 2 years ago and practice 3 - 4x /week. Started running and walk a lot. Not the activities for everyone, but it works for me.
I returned to work several years ago (at age 50). I generally enjoy my job and it keeps me mentally active (and boosts my retirement savings). I don’t watch TV (really, almost none) which gives me time to read a lot.
I plan for social activities. I look at my weekends and then make plans to get out and go somewhere/do something either with H or my friends. I try new things, go to places we haven’t been before.
So far, so good.