I’m half joking. But as a 30-something who used to be very active, I recognize I’m over the hill and my joints sound like pop rocks
Anyone replying “stretching” is basing their response on grade school gym class, not science.
Studies have not shown that stretching has a positive impact on injury prevention, and this has been widely known in the literature for over 20 years. Stretching can improve performance in some sports like gymnastics where increased flexibility is needed, but that is unrelated to injury.
Stretching has a negative effect on performance in other cases because it actually decreases muscle force generation.
Think about it, would you think that loosening all the belts on a machine would automatically make it less likely to break down?
So what does prevent injury?
- Good warm-ups. Walk before you jog before you run. Lift an unloaded barbell before a loaded one, etc.
- Strength. A joint surrounded by muscle is a stable joint. That means doing exercises that strengthen all the muscles, including minor ones. It’s part of why most people who know what they are talking about will try to get you to do compound lifts with free weights over single joint exercises on machines.
- periodization/progressive overload. Basically slowly building intensity and then backing off to recuperate.
As a 54 year old who has just had two weeks of agony because he forgot his age and tried to deadlift a 225kg motorbike by himself, I’m going to skip this one because I clearly haven’t learned anything.
Mustn’t’ve groaned enough.
A for effort though
I’m 62 and had to be advised to get a few fit young people to assist with moving a piano.
Big one is just walk more. If there’s anything near your house that you regularly drive to, start trying to walk there as much as possible.
I have a lot of trouble motivating for the gym and similar self-directed activities, so I find classes or semi-organized sports much easier to do consistently.
Mid 30s, I gym, i’ve gymed for years, but now i have prehab warm up exersizes for the big lifts to activate all the supporting muscles. I havent pulled anything in a while so i guess they are working.
I plateued, years ago, i dont need to get any bigger. Instead i do much more rounded workouts.
From what i’ve read, rowing is super low impact and very good for your health from a cardio perspective and a muscle workout perspective. I keep meaning to give it a try, but my routine works for me. Maybe as i get older.
Not sure your workout regimine but I’ve found compound lifts make for shorter workouts and provide the most benefit as we age, particularly squats, deadlifts and rows.
So many people think their back hurts because they’re old when really their back hurts because it’s weak. I started lifting at 47… that was 8+ years ago. I feel so much better and ache so much less in my 50s than I did in my 40s, and surprisingly you can really add muscle and strength even when you’re older, if you want to push yourself. I never anticipated such gains were possible but working hard combined with eating and sleeping well still pays off.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/382128
Yeah, you are spot on.
Those results are really impressive considering the average age was 90 yrs old. Thanks for sharing.
Rowing and swimming (in a pool, not because the boat capsized). Both are non weight bearing, easy on the joints. Rowing is excellent for your core.
I cannot stress to people how much rowing is actually enjoyable as someone who doesn’t want to “make time” for working out. It’s so relaxing.
Not how I row lol. I’m trying to get the maximum workout in minimal time. I used to put on nature documentaries and go for longer, slower rows but with a kid I need to be done as quickly as possible.
I’m not talking about rowing machines. I’m out on the water with a crew, hauling on an actual oar. It’s the best thing ever.
Ah dang, that’s awesome!
ITT: One half providing helpful insight into healthy physical activities, the other half total assholes ripping into this person for not being a jock.
Some people have been living sedantary life styles, the reasons for such can range from lack of interest to mental illness. Some people get a good dopamine hit from exercise. For others, exercise is a pretty miserable experience.
If someone is reaching out to seek advice on how to improve their lives, lend a helping hand. Please don’t be an asshole.
I still lift weights, although now it is more about staying toned than getting huge gains. I also try to do cardio at least twice a week.
Injuries are harder to recover from so if something starts to hurt in a bad way I stop and do something else.
Just walk for everything under a mile. Eat one type of new fruit a week.
The less you weigh, the easier life becomes.
Drop alcohol completely.
Buy high quality shoes, beds, tired & brakes.
Which fruit you got last week?
Gooseberry last week. This week it’s Lychee.
Great choices! Have you tried kumquat?
I have not. Thanks for the tip. I will try this.
Nothing. It takes like five times longer for bruises and cuts to heal, but it’s not bad enough for me to change my behavior to avoid them.
Make sure your iron levels are ok, my wife has this issue and had super low iron after pregnancy, but she’s in her late 40s now and still dealing with it.
Good advice I can use! I’ll switch to a multivitamin that includes iron and see if that helps.
Yoga. I started doing some distance running and besides learning to run in the correct zone so I am not maxing out my body everytime I have been doing this Post Run Yoga after most runs. It really helps and allows me to cool down and stretch well. The rest of her videos also rock
Ping pong / table tennis (depending on how seriously you take it) can be a VERY good way to get your steps in. In a 2 hour session I get about 8-10 thousand steps. This is 4 to 5 miles. It is low impact and you can really get a good sweat on.
Wanted to get into this but couldn’t find a place or community close enough to play- settled for Pickleball. Is good fun, plenty of running around in singles.
I’ve had to come to terms with taking things slower than I used to. I learned the hard way that I can’t just train for a 10k in a few weekends.
The rule of increasing distance/duration by 10% per week is to protect our joints/bones/etc when they ain’t what they used to be.
Same. I’m 43, and it mostly takes learning that you’re no long 20-something. I can do everything, I just have to do it more slowly, more sparingly and give myself the time both physically and mentally to recuperate.
I was in a terrible youtube rabbithole of knee replacement surgeries the other day and I’ve been hating our fragile corporeal vessels lately
Ah, yes. The Scared Straight, Couch Potato Edition. A classic at my house.
I find a variety of activities help distribute the loads
I often push my older body when it’s not used to work. This means I pull a muscle once every few weeks, often in my upper body; or demand too much in my knees.
Fortunately I can heal in a week or two, but I definitely am slow to heal compared to before.
Spoiler alert, it doesn’t get any better. I need to do more yoga and cross training
I’m still trying to reach my potential two hours of workout daily, only doing one hour of things that makes me sweat.
I have alarms on my phone set every three hours to remind me to stop and do something
The alarm is a great idea. I should do that. Even just sitting for long periods hurts now!
Sometimes I only walk around, other times I do more like run
SWIMMING POOL
Walk 5km a day during the week, and 8-10km a day on weekends. Weights three to four times a week, and a cardio session afterwards. I like using the ski machine, as it gives me a serious workout without any impact.
Weights has had a huge impact on my quality of life, as I am recovering (recovered?) from a serious head injury. I was not active for nearly 18 months and am feeling good about my body for the first time in years.
58m here for context.
Look at this badass over here. Im 32 and the idea of multi km walks everyday makes me knees hurt something fierce!
If you are 58 meters tall it’s a breeze to walk that much. Please relate to the rest of us!
I wish I had 3-4 hours a day for this kind of activity.
It wasn’t easy getting into that routine. I get up at 4:30 for my weekday walk, and it takes about an hour. Weekend walks start at 5:00am, and generally take 1.5-2 hours. Gym is two hours, once or twice during the week and both weekend days. Life still gets in the way sometimes, and I am lucky that my job is flexible. For example, I started work at 6:30 this morning and will knock off at 2:30 and go straight to the gym. I will be home before 5:00.
The alternative was living with the results of an injury and letting my health deteriorate further than it already had. Some days, motivation is still hard.
how badly do you guys treat your bodies that you are decrepit in your 30s??
Asking the real question. I’m in my 40’s now and doing fine. Sure I’m not literally invincible anymore like I was as a teenager but everything works as it should.
I’m 39, and the picture of health. I rarely injure myself, and when i do, it doesn’t take long to heal. Holy shit, how bad are these people treating themselves if they’re so decrepit so young? SMH my head.
I’m half joking when I say decrepit but I’m definitely not able to workout 6 days a week, play 3 mid intensity basketball games back to back, or bike for 4 hours anymore. No major injuries but I feel the wear and tear a lot more than I used to. Biologically, people typically do go through a noticeable decline in performance after 30.
I known many people 30s-40s who can do routines of that intensity, including myself. Anywhere near 30 is far more about conditioning than it is age.
I read that there are two “waves” of rapid biomolecular aging in the mid-40s and early 60s. Still affects everyone differently and of course a worn-out body will feel that much worse.
In general, though, our bodies start wearing out in our mid-teens, about a decade before we’re even fully grown! High-frequency hearing is one of the first things to suffer. Bodily decline is really a constant companion in our lives; it only becomes noticeable when it starts accelerating.
No exercise and lack of muscle really makes life harder.
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