Age, Health, Injuries

[strokerlmt]

Dandydoug......I agree with you...snake oil.....we have become a nation of marketers and the line between fact and fiction has been erased with "marketing". The country spends billions on useless shit sold to us by salesmen.
LMT

 

[loxpump]

I'm 52 going on 53 next month and I hate not being able to do what I did when I was 20, like waking up in the morning without pain. Use to wake up with only one thing stiff now it's the entire body.

 

[T-boy]

I'm 52 going on 53 next month and I hate not being able to do what I did when I was 20, like waking up in the morning without pain. Use to wake up with only one thing stiff now it's the entire body.

lox...Wait a few more years and the one stiff thing won't be. Unfortunately your entire body still will be.

 

[strokerlmt]

ya its kinda a "reverse stiff syndrom" thingy as you get older .
LMT

 

[Kirkus51]

Somedays I do feel like this..

 

[KingBear]

48 years old and I'm very fortunate to have never been seriously ill or injured. My only hospital stay was when I was a kid having my tonsils removed. Some trips to the emergency room though, once when I was 19 for a severe shoulder dislocation which will probably never be right, and a few times for stitches. Strangely enough the stitches have always been in my head. That explains a lot!

 

[Speed3Chris]

56 here. Sounds like I have a lot of company I have always been a fitness nut. Fortunately I didn't ruin my knees growing up playing sports. That said my back, neck and joints from wrists to hips to everything have never reminded me more that I am getting old. I am in serious denial because I like feeling good. As mentioned in the bicycle thread, I still try to ride competitively. I can't tell you how many I know in their 60's that are still fit so there is hope for us oldsters. Tennis clubs in Florida are filled with 70 and 80 somethings that play every day on clay...and some not so bad having played with them.
If I have any advice to you guys...is...exercise the best you can. I do sit ups and pushups and ride my bike about 15 miles a day on the dirt with a few long rides...some aggressive on the road thrown in. None of us will likely feel like they did when they were 30 but I believe weight control and cardio is the key to getting the most out of what you have. For those with tender knees that try to ride a bicycle...about 90% of those that ride, do it wrong. You have to spin high cadence and a low gear to keep pressure off your knees.
Last tip...take Omega 3 supplements. Read up on the web about why.
All the best to my fellow boomers. We grew up in the very best possible era of America and better to burn out than to rust out.

PS: A short anecdote to share about aging and competing with young guns...some if not most of whom are cocky about competing with old guys. My girlfriend's family is close and her nephew who I watched grow up is in college now and age 20 is getting into cycling so has a lot of questions. There are many similarities between he and I even though we are 36 years apart. I grew up competitive swimming and so did he. We are both gear heads. He is 6'4" and fit and I am a bit shorter but we are built similarly. He's a great kid. A few years ago I was at a pool party and he was on the swim team and we raced at a family gathering. He touched me out....two lengths of the pool crawl. I frankly couldn't believe that he beat me...him being just a kid and all...my denial. So we raced again and he touched me out again. I still couldn't believe it. Yes he was swimming everyday but I was pretty fast in my day. About two weeks ago, he brought his mountain bike out to our house and the family went for a bike ride. Now we had been talking a lot about bikes. He is now a strong young man and I figured he may have some speed but I ride with a lot of fast guys and don't impress easily. We get out to the park and we are racing about the park on mountain bikes at 20-25 mph and he is trying to drop me, which he can't. So...we are riding home down the trail and get to our dirt road about 1/2 mile from our house. I look over at him...I still like to race...and that means race anything ....I lock out my fork, he jumps out the saddle and takes off. I catch him and pass him and beat him by 3 bike lengths. The family was all back at the house and he had a lot of crow to eat. I still don't think he believes that a 50+ year old man can out sprint a kid who is in his prime. For the record, I was on a faster bike.

 

[Kirkus51]

My Dad did the same thing to me, but he hit some gravel and took a dive got concussed and that was about the last time he ever rode anything on two wheels. He preferred golf and dragging anyone who tried to cut him off while he was driving.

 

[Speed3Chris]

My Dad did the same thing to me, but he hit some gravel and took a dive got concussed and that was about the last time he ever rode anything on two wheels. He preferred golf and dragging anyone who tried to cut him off while he was driving.

Ouch. Believe I read someplace that Lance Armstrong has had something like 100 car accidents on his bike while out on the road training and racing. Good to be lucky but he largely makes his own luck with his skill. You got to learn to bounce off the cars just right. Not uncommon for him to take a hard fall being aggressive in one of his long stage races. This year at the Tour de France it cost him. End of a great era.

 

[slobinski]

55 here, never worried much about taking care of myself, and am now paying for it. Arthritic since age 15, have had a variety of orthopedic surgery including a knee replacement and a couple of spinal fusions. My doctor is bitching at me about hypertension and blood sugar levels.

Shit. What's next, hemorrhoids and impotence?

Do everything you dream of, while you are still young and healthy. Life is a one-time, one-way voyage. Don't bother with bullshit.

Ride, every chance you get!

 

[DandyDoug]

OK Guy's and Gal's I think I may have discovered the solution or at least part of the solution to this getting old and gimped up thing we all face. Due to some really nasty medicine I am required to take to deal with an equaly nasty condition. I have become very tired, anemic, , short of breath and generally feeling lousy.
My wife did a bit of research about vitamin deficiencies and at my last Doctor visit 3 weeks ago, we had them do a very complete look ( a large amount of blood was taken) at all my vitamin levels. They discovered my D level was critically low and my B-12 level was also critical.

So I was prescribed some D vitamin horse pills and went on a regimen of B 12 shots once a week for 4 weeks. After 2 weeks I was seeing no real improvement but at the 3 week visit I felt so much better I was amazed.

Vitamin D and B12 are almost impossible to take in an over the counter form in enough quantity to do any good , so getting your doctor involved is important. I really have not felt this good in several years and hope we are on to something here.

Something for you all of a certain age to at least consider.

 

[rodburner]

55 years old. Have seen the ravages of illness and disease up close and personal.
Have had 1 broken wrist-40 years ago
a few broken toes over the years
have arthritis in my thumb joints [repetitive motion ,work related]
knee surgery [work related]
6" epigastric hernia in chest [hereditary condition,ruptured at work]
minimal hair [heredity and stress]
no ass [work related,worn off/chewed on]
still have tonsils and appendix
still can pitch a tent several times a day
oh,and some nerve damage caused by a dentist needle that makes several of my front teeth and the left side of my nose and face go numb periodically.
Don't "exercise" but do hours of manual labor and walk several miles each day.
:w

 

[travellingtenor]

68 years young here. I still play senior softball three times a week and bowl in two leagues. I would play golf again but I don't have time since I also try to circulate the fluids in my four motorcycles. If you rest, you rust!

 

[Ryan]

At the age of 23 I've been blessed with several 'gifts' over the years:
Scarlet fever as a child, which led to my adult teeth growing in with little/no enamel.
Swimming and climbing trees constantly screwed up my right shoulder
Appendix removed via emergency appendectomy
... And a few insignificant injuries/dumbass-moves.

In rebuke of that I have taken time to strengthen my shoulders/knees. Taken on regular stretching. And participating in good health activities. Due to to fact that stress seems hereditary in my family I've also taken measures to live a more minimalist/sustainable lifestyle.

@DandyDoug: I take a B complex vitamin a few times a week, and have for years. It provides a lot of energy but there are side effects. Such effects include having to piss alot: make sure to drink your water.
Our family physician has recommended a multi-V pill taken once a week helps too. Not to sound like a know-it-all but regular exposure to the sun stimulates your skin to produce Vitamins C & D

 

[TC_Dick]

The "mental attitude" makes less of a difference or effect as you get older. I wake at 5:00am every day no matter when I go to bed. The first 10 minutes of movement is fucking ridiculous. Its painful and I move like I never thought I would. I wobble out to the kitchen turn on the coffee maker and lie on the family room floor and start to stretch. 15 minutes of that allows me to get a cup of coffee and walk around the bac yard with the dog . Its a good 45 minutes before I feel like I don't walk like quasimoto. I found stretching the back, doing 3-4 kinds of leg lifts with strap on wts and neck exercises and light wts for shoulders every single day helps a lot. When I blow it off for awhile I see a huge difference in a few days. I really like to be with my wife and daughters which makes me want to keep up.......and I want to be able to ride for a lot longer.
'Press on Gentlemen"
LMT
PS T-boy quit the fucking cigs

If the stretching helps, try yoga.

A lot of people make fun of yoga, but you'd be surprised what it can do to help lengthen and loosen muscles. There is a reason why a lot of NFL players and other pro athletes do yoga.

If you can find a yoga instructor in your neck of the woods, ask to have a chat with 'em some time, and go over exactly what you said above. They will be able to teach you a few poses that will have you right as rain in a VERY short period of time.

A short yoga program a few times a week will give you that 45 minutes each morning back.

 

[slowgator]

61 here and find walking 5 miles a day helps me keep the rust off. Dad is 86 and says "If I knew I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself..."

 

[nohawk]

Im 34 and I just screwed my back up pretty good on monday, been to a chiropractor twice now. Pretty creepy how much the body can crack without breaking. He has told me that I have a bulging disk and have one thats a little smashed down due to years of abuse. This shit hurts.

 

[bikeypikey]

Take care of that back Nohawk and get a second opinion. I had a "bulging" disc (prolapsed) and a fucked up op left me paralyzed from the waist down for 3 months and off work for 18 months. You definitely don't want that!

And, yep, it hurts like nothing else.

Cheers,

Pikey.

 

[slowgator]

Take care of that back Nohawk and get a second opinion. I had a "bulging" disc (prolapsed) and a fucked up op left me paralyzed from the waist down for 3 months and off work for 18 months. You definitely don't want that!

And, yep, it hurts like nothing else.

Cheers,

Pikey.

What Pikey said^^! I also had a bulging disc but declined the surgery and stayed with the chiropractor who treated it with therapy...(adjustments, massage, ice, etc.) and am glad I did. Eventually went to a Physical Therapist after getting tired of always returning to the chiropractor and they helped me with an exercise regimen that strengthened the lower back muscles. That and starting daily 5 mile walks did the trick! Beware the knife! :w

 

[kinky stunt]

If the stretching helps, try yoga.

A lot of people make fun of yoga, but you'd be surprised what it can do to help lengthen and loosen muscles. There is a reason why a lot of NFL players and other pro athletes do yoga.

If you can find a yoga instructor in your neck of the woods, ask to have a chat with 'em some time, and go over exactly what you said above. They will be able to teach you a few poses that will have you right as rain in a VERY short period of time.

A short yoga program a few times a week will give you that 45 minutes each morning back.

+1 for yoga.
Big plus for the good chance a firm young hottie will be there gettin' all bendy in front of you.
-1 for the farts that sneak out when you try to put yourself in those impossible poses.