I’m getting old, or I’m just clumsy, or careless. Either way, I’ve had my fair share of sports injuries.

It’s laughable to think that I get sports injuries, considering I was never all that sporty when I was growing up. I suppose it is precisely for this reason that I keep trying new sports and activities in the hopes of getting stronger. Of course it’s probably also for this reason that I keep getting injured.

I remember going swimming in the village pool once, years ago. I remember thinking, it’s a low-impact sport, I’ll be fine.

I wasn’t fine. I pulled a muscle. I had to go home and lie down with a bag of ice under my shoulder blade. I probably didn’t stretch enough before swimming, and I probably swam more laps than my thoroughly unprepared muscles could handle.

Last year, I got a little too enthusiastic with my Zumba playlist. I think I was dancing for nearly two hours. That evening, my knee was so sore that it was throbbing. I needed painkillers and I had to rest my leg on a pillow.

When I started biking, I was so tense and I was gripping the handles so tightly that my forearms ached afterwards. Because I was unused to the exertion, and I hadn’t learned to pace myself while pedaling, I gave myself a sore right ankle. I needed ankle support and I had to stay off the bike for a few days. My left leg did not escape unscathed: I got a large bruise on my calf, probably from the pedal hitting it when I stop, and I just discovered a bruise just below the inside of my left ankle, very likely for the same reason.

I remember the first time I tried aerial yoga. Oh, I was so sore! I needed a session of Yin yoga the next day, just to help my muscles recover.

I’m pretty sure there’s more, but I can’t remember at the moment. I suppose it’s more accurate to call them exercise injuries, or attempting-to-get-fit injuries. I figure, they’re minor injuries and I recover fairly quickly, so that’s still better than sitting on my ass all day!