Instead of a resolution, I have a goal, which is to find a sweet spot \u2014 if there is one \u2014 between exercise and pain.<\/p>\n
Maybe I\u2019m asking too much. I\u2019ve had two partial knee replacements, I\u2019ve got a torn posterior cruciate ligament, a scar tissue knob on a frayed Achilles tendon, a hideously pronated left foot, a right shoulder that feels like it needs an oil change, and a pacemaker that keeps on ticking.<\/p>\n
But I decided to get some expert advice that might be useful for anyone who has entered this glorious phase of life in which it\u2019s possible to pull a muscle while taking a nap, or pinch a nerve in your neck while brushing your teeth.<\/p>\n
And I knew just whom to call.<\/p>\n
Cedars-Sinai orthopedic surgeon Robert Klapper<\/a> hosts an ESPN radio show called \u201cWeekend Warrior.\u201d <\/a>This lab-coated Renaissance man, a surfer and sculptor in his spare time, also weighs in regularly on the radio with \u201cKlapper Vision\u201d \u2014 clear-eyed takes on all manner of twisted, pulled and broken body parts suffered by elite athletes and banged-up buzzards like me.<\/p>\n On \u201cWeekend Warrior,\u201d Klapper might be talking about knee replacement surgery one minute, segue to Michelangelo\u2019s rendering of the human form, and then insist that a sandwich is not a sandwich without peperoncini. It isn\u2019t necessarily all connected, but it doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n When I emailed Klapper about my aches and pains, he responded immediately to say he\u2019s written one book on hips<\/a>, another on knees<\/a> and a third one is in the works with the following title:<\/p>\n \u201cStop Exercising, You\u2019re Killing Yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n No, he\u2019s not saying you should never get off the sofa. In a phone conversation and later at his office, Klapper said the subtitle is going to be, \u201cLet Me Explain.\u201d He\u2019s making a point about what kind of exercise is harmful and what kind is helpful, particularly for people in my age group.<\/p>\n Dr. Robert Klapper holds up his book about preventing hip surgery.<\/p>\n (Genaro Molina\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n My daily routine, I told him, involves a two-mile morning walk with my dog followed by 30 minutes of swimming laps or riding a stationary bike.<\/p>\n So far, so good.<\/p>\n But I also play pickleball twice a week.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, I make a living from pickleball now,\u201d Klapper said. \u201cExercise is wonderful, but it comes in two flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n One is nurturing, which he calls \u201cagercise\u201d for my demographic.<\/p>\n The other is abusive, and one of Klapper\u2019s examples is pickleball. With all its starts and stops, twists and turns, reaches and lunges, pickleball is busting the Medicare bank, with a few hundred million dollars\u2019<\/a> worth of injuries each year.<\/p>\n I know. The game looks pretty low key, although it was recently banned in Carmel-by-the-Sea<\/a> because of all the racket. I had no idea, when I first picked up a paddle, that there\u2019d be so much ice and ibuprofen involved, not to mention the killer stares from retirees itching for a chance to drill you in the sternum with a hot laser.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a sport which has the adrenaline rushing in every 50-year-old, 60-year-old, 80-year-old,\u201d Klapper told me in his office<\/a>, which is the starting point in his joint replacement factory. The walls are covered with photos of star athletes and A-list Hollywood celebrities he\u2019s operated on.<\/p>\n \u201cI see these patients, but they\u2019re not coming to me with acute injuries. They didn\u2019t snap their Achilles tendon \u2026 like they do in tennis. They\u2019re not snapping their ACL like they are in pickup basketball,\u201d Klapper said. \u201cThey\u2019re coming to me saying, \u2018My shoulder is killing me, my knee is killing me.\u2019 \u201d <\/p>\n Pickleball has obvious conditioning benefits for every age group. But it can also worsen arthritis and accelerate joint degeneration, Klapper said, particularly for addicts who play several times a week.<\/p>\n Not that he\u2019s the first MD to suggest that as you age, walking, cycling and swimming are easier on your body than higher-impact activities. As one doctor said in an AARP article<\/a> on joint care and the benefits of healthy eating, watching your weight and staying active, \u201cthe worst thing you can do with osteoarthritis after 50 is be sedentary.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, I thought Klapper might tell me to stop pickling, but he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cPickleball is more than a sport to you \u2026 and all of your compadres,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s mental. You need it because of the stress. The world\u2019s falling apart.\u2026 I want you to play it, but I want you to do the nurturing exercises so you can do the abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no fountain of youth, Klapper said, but the closest thing is a swimming pool.<\/p>\n OK, but I already swim three times a week.<\/p>\n Dr. Robert Klapper meets with patient Kathleen Clark, who is recovering from knee surgery.<\/p>\n (Genaro Molina\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Klapper had different ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to be walking forward and backwards for half an hour,\u201d he said. Do that three times a week, he told me, and ride a stationary bike three times.<\/p>\n Why the water walking?<\/p>\n \u201cWe as humans take over a million steps a year. Forget pickleball, just in \u2026 daily living,\u201d Klapper said, so I\u2019m well beyond 72 million steps.<\/p>\n \u201cThink about that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Do I have to?<\/p>\n Water walking will develop muscles and joints without the stress of my full weight, and that could \u201coptimize\u201d my pickleball durability and general fitness, Klapper said. Buoyancy and the touch of water on skin are magic, he said, but there\u2019s science involved too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to move your arms and legs and your body through water, and yet it\u2019s unloading the joint,\u201d Klapper said. \u201cAnd finally \u2014 and this is the real X factor \u2014 when you close your eyes and straighten your elbow and bend your elbow, straighten your knee and bend your knee \u2026 your brain knows where your limbs are in space.\u201d<\/p>\n This is called proprioception<\/a>, Klapper said. Receptors in your skin, muscles, ligaments and tendons send messages to your brain, leading to better balance, coordination and agility and potentially reducing risk of injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767283873_570_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767283874_415_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n