I’m 56 years old, almost 57 and Jim is 47. By today’s standard this is a relatively young age and yet this Monday morning both of us woke up with some pretty serious muscle and joint pain. It’s springtime, folks, and we were not prepared, at least not physically. We’ve been excited for spring for a while now, planning our garden, getting ready for a season of Hudson Valley Plant Exchange fun, enjoying the longer days and hearing the peepers again in our backyard. Spring is amazing. But spring also means work. Heavy lifting, squatting, bending, digging and the occasional tug-of-war with a stubborn hose — Jim had to buy the 100-foot “heavy duty” one! — are just some of the joys of gardening. And with them come a reminder that our muscles are not in the shape we want them to be.

Since Jim and I want to have another good 40 years together, we need to be sure that we’re keeping up with our health. And while gardening is an excellent way to stay healthy, you can’t just go shoveling and bending for eight hours straight on a Sunday after a couch-bound winter.

The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, spread out — not crammed into one heroic Sunday. The National Institute on Aging suggests starting with 30- to 60-minute sessions with breaks, water and a bit of stretching before and after. I like to warm up by playing “fetch” in the house with Sunshine — our dog, not a euphemism. Even younger folks like us need to stretch, starting with the usual suspects: hips (ouch), lower back (yep), hamstrings and shoulders. When we don’t, well, Jim learned the hard way. After shoveling holes to plant 50 azaleas without switching tasks, he was not a happy man. It’s tempting to power through, but pacing makes a difference.

Finding the right rhythm takes time and not everything will stick. I’ve tested a few options — Salsa dance YouTube videos didn’t quite do it for me. (Jim said I looked like a robot, but I felt like Shakira.) What works for me is yoga. I start with the animals — cat, cow, downward dog — move into lunges and warriors, and end with a good twist. It’s free, you don’t need fancy gear, and it keeps your mind as limber as your body. And these days, my mind definitely needs a little limbering. With everything going on in the world, mental pacing matters just as much as physical pacing.

So limber up, body and mind, and get ready for whatever the spring throws at us next.