1/16/2026: Working and Walking

Working and Walking

This period may be the most frustrating one for me so far. Four weeks with no more than minimal motion allowed at the shoulder. Healing is still very much underway, and it’s critical that nothing disrupts that process.

For now, I’m permitted only strict, limited passive and active shoulder motion. I can hold or lift no more than one pound and can’t bear any weight through the arm. So… what can I do?

I have three physical therapy sessions each week, where the best therapist I know—my wife—does soft tissue work, moves the shoulder, and works to minimize the muscle guarding and dysfunction that so often accompany injury and immobility. It always feels better afterward, which is both reassuring and motivating.

I can also work, and that has been one of my greatest outlets. It’s kept me mentally engaged and upbeat, forced me to stay on my feet and moving, and pushed me to get creative. Along the way, I’ve developed a surprising number of strategies to give a one-armed therapist the effectiveness of a two-armed one.

And then there’s walking.

Walking has been my salvation during this phase. For years, I’ve preached to my clients about the enormous benefits of walking—and now I get to live that message myself. Walking makes you feel good. It provides valuable “mindful” time. It offers meaningful cardiopulmonary benefits. But most importantly, in my view, walking drives blood, oxygen, fuel, and nutrients to every nook and cranny of the body.

As a bonus, my arm swings freely while I walk and feels noticeably better afterward. That alone has been incredibly helpful for healing and recovery.

Walking can help almost anything that ails you, even areas that seem completely unrelated. One study followed inpatient cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and compared those who walked on treatment days with those who did not and instead convalesced. Numerous variables were controlled. Who showed better responses to treatment and greater long-term survival rates? You guessed it—those who walked.

So I set a goal: more than 100 miles of walking in the month of January. That works out to roughly 3–5 miles per day. Walk the dog. Walk to and from work. Walk at lunchtime. Walk, walk, walk.

Sometimes progress looks less like doing more—and more like doing the right things, consistently.