You have to be functionally fit to avoid hard work

I've said on many occasions that older adults should concentrate on functional fitness. Meaning that at the bare minimum, we have to be fit enough to do the things we are expected to do on any given day. A little exercise, now and then, makes work easier.
One of my clients, Charles, 62, has improved his fitness from last year when he had trouble cutting his grass to where he now cuts his lawn and knocks off his mom's yard too.

Hugh, also 62, is a professional gardener. A hip injury a few years ago slowed him. Over the winter, he decided to do something about his physical fitness. His workouts included working on skills consisted with gardening.  To duplicate moving bags of soil, fertilizer and mulch, Hugh corrected some bad habits picked over the years by concentrating on using his legs to lift 20 pound dumbbells.  
He also worked on endurance, as it fits his work, by walking rapidly over short distances from one point in the gym to another.
He had to make decisions on the go, as on his job, by having to change directions on these short walk sprints. Changing directions on the move helps improves balance.
Recently, Hugh said he has resumed some duties that he had passed off to a subordinate.

Don, a friend, 70 plus, wanted a tree removed from his back yard. His baby girl was to be married. The wedding was to be in the back yard. The tree was in the way. Don, retired, likes to fiddle-faddle but in a nice way. After years of hard work, he's earned the right to faddle but in doing so, Don is in surprisingly good shape.
Two old guys took a twenty inch chain saw to the tree. Cut it into fire place logs. Stacked them and cleaned up the mess. Took three days, but we got it done. We celebrated with a beer and called it a day. Forty- eight hours later, a flawless affair was enjoyed by all.
 
A few days ago, Bob, another friend who owns a home remodeling company, stopped by to help hang a repaired window and it's frame over the garage door. 
About a story and a half up, the decision was to use scaffolding from which we could safely work.
Absolutely nothing involved hard work. Pulling the scaffolding from Bob's truck and assembling it was as close as we got to heavy lifting.
As the early morning sun approached the ten o'clock sky, there was a fair amount of lifting, holding in place, manipulating this and that and climbing onto and off the scaffold. 
Both Bob and I are 66, so there was some walking back and forth because we forgot something.
Bob's a funny guy and he paces himself by telling stories. So there were spells of hardy laughter. Swapping tales.
Laughing takes energy. All of this took energy. Not hard work energy but 90 minutes of continuos movement energy. Bending...twisting. 
After getting the window in place, we repaired and painted the window trim and completed the job by re-adjusting the electrical line that supplies power to the garage from the house. 
We put up scaffolding. We took down scaffolding. All tools put back in place. Swept  
up. Job completed. Paid Bob. Tall glass of cool water. Overstuffed chair. ZZZZ, continuos movement ends.