Back pain

As I get older I have started to become more aware of my physical limitations, especially where lifting goes. There was a time when I would try my hardest to lift anything, even including things that I shouldn't have even tried. I still seem to have some of that mindset. My wife and I visited a garden centre and as we were weighing up compost prices we decided to get two of the heaviest and bulkiest bags. They were the most economical. However, getting them in and out of the car and into the back garden was the problem. I got them into the car fine, with my wife's help. The problem was that when we got home we needed to lift them up a step from the drive into the back garden. I must have twisted as I lifted, I did have my knees bent and tried to keep my back straight but something happened and I knew I had done my back.

So, I've done it again and now have limited mobility and pain for a while. I hope not for too long. I seem to do this to my back two or three times a year. I have continued with my back exercises since the last time I did it. They do help.

My body is just not as flexible as it once was and I now have a belly. When I first started dating the woman who was to become my wife, she always says she found it attractive that I had no fat on me, that I was lean. Although, I don't think I've ever been as flexible as I could be, trying to pull a few yoga moves or trying to do dance moves shows me up as someone who doesn't really have a skill with moving my body.

I would like to be able to lift heavy stuff when I need to, without the indignity of hurting my back and not being able to put socks on, bend down to pick something up or twist in my car seat to see behind when reversing properly as a result.