[David_Annable]

Hi

I'm 44 at the moment & have been CC for 15 years.

I plan to retire at 60, leaving another 16 years of physical work.

My question is, is this realistic & what should i be doing know to maintain a level of fitness to see me through.

Thanks

Dave

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

buy a t.m. and you stand a chanse trust me there far easyer then lugging portys and water about

[Dave_Lee]

I'm 61 and not even thinking about retirement. I maintain my fitness by working properly and hard, fell running, climbing mountains and wild camping (The Munro's at the moment) and drinking much Guiness and Bacardi afterwards.
Dave.

[rambly]

I'm a few years short of 60 but will retire next year to cruise around the country on a narrowboat I'm having built. I expect to be able to do this for  number of years before I need to go back to living in a house as I'm reasonably fit.

With regard to how you keep fit I think it is as much to do with genetics and life style as anything else. I dont find carrying a bucket of water onerous and as for lugging a porty - I dont as I use the wheels and a ramp. I think the only thing to be careful about is moving furniture and cleaning suites as both can give you a back ache if you're not careful and having a TM wont change that.

Round my part of Lincolnshire there are people who worked the land all their lives and still get about

[Mike Halliday]

a few random thoughts.

I will work until I die as long as I have the physical ability, it I can't do the hard work I'll use a helper.

I need to do 4 average jobs to equal a good pension.

I may chose to pack in carpet cleaning and use my other skills ( which don't rely on physical strength) to earn a living.

My wife earns a good living and has a NHS pension, she can support me.

in the end I have the total believe that no matter what age i reach  I will survive & prosper.

[John Gregory]

Spent a day ith Dave Lee  last year,  Im shocked to hear him say hes 61. I hope Im that fit when I get to 61

[Bryan H]

Hi,

I'm 62 now & have been doing this job for the past 22 years.  I,m generally very fit, but have quite severe upper back & shoulder problems caused by the job. A few years ago I needed a hernia op'  probably the result of humping the gear up flights of stairs !

I have really been semi-retired since 60, & only do enough to make a basic living, I don't need big money anymore.  I intend to keep going in a small way until 65, then will hang up my carpet wand for good !

Bryan

[cleanability]

I'm 47 and I find the problem areas are the back and hands.

 Chris

[Joe H]

Im 60 now, but at 59 I changed to the Powerflite CFR 500 and since then serious backache is a thing of the past. Truly the case of the machine doing the majority of the work.
Also with a lot of houses beng 3 flours and also flats with no lifts I just cannot think about getting the machine up flights of stairs without help (which is not always available) so I am seriously looking at the Envirodri or the Host "dry" carpet cleaing machine as it is lighter to compliment the CFR500.

[*paul_moss]

Im now 45 and plan on at least another 20 years before I pack in.
Beat thing I found this year that helped me was buying a tuckmount.Problem is now im putting weight on.

[lands]

I'm only 35 and I get some upper back problems especially inbetween the shoulder plate area but I do do alot of hand scrubbing (find that the most effective form of agitation on badly soiled carpets). Warm up but more importantly WARM DOWN. As someone big in to sports as a younger lad I can't tell how much of a difference this makes in the short and the long term.

Best one for us is to stand up straight and and do the backstoke (slowly) with both arms at the same time for 3 lots of 10 reps after each carpet job then drink lots of water. It really does work.

Pete

[carpetguy]

If you retire at 60, what will you do with yourself?

[lands]

Drink stale bitter in a working mans club whilst bitching about the amount of immigrants draining the NHS having never paid a stamp in their lives and how the young'uns have it so easy these days.

The old farts have got their lives mapped out for them.

[carpetguy]

You mean you don't already do that ?

rob

[lands]

I've just read what I wrote, Don't know where pregnant dogey came from neither of thos words should have been there. Boy, I've got to stay away from the stella and the peneciclydene (got any data sheets for that)

No Rob I don;t do all those things. I read the Guardian which means I want them to suck up all the taxes we pay or something to do with the collective responsibility we have to help our fellow man/woman irrespective of race, nationalit or cultural differences.

Give that speech in one of those environments and they will throw their falses and meat raffle tickets at you.

[carpetguy]

I've never met anyone who read the Guardian.................thought they were on a different planet to me !

[Derek_Walker]

I am 45 and play football in the local league, + squash, table tennis, cycling, weights etc. In between that I clean carpets. I think just a small amount of stretching and excercise every day would help people in their working lives. I do not have any plans to retire because I really do enjoy my work and all the things that I want to do, can be done around it.

[lands]

Same planet Rob just read a wider paper.

[carpetguy]

At 62 I'm afraid my days of playing squash are long gone, but Tai Chi and Kung Fu continue to give the balance to my body, by stretching and opening up the muscles and joints..............it's harder, physically, than it looks.

My back has troubled me since my teens and my years as a golf pro, certainly took their toll.

I won't retire, but will do less of this and more of other things, like fixing other peoples backs and getting into property ( soon I hope )

[carpetguy]

Pete

Can't hold a wide paper............. RSI.....................they slip out of my fingers.

rob