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
Over the hill at 30? Damn. I’m 49 and have no issues. Stay active walking, biking, hiking, I work an active job also. I live that I stayed in shape as a younger man and it’s worked well as a middle aged man. I plan on staying active for decades.
part of me envys you; my own middle aged body reminds me everyday that i’m middle aged and i curse the american diet & activity levels for it.
You know you can actively change that… You can’t blame American diet and body. Because I am both American and I eat out quite a bit but I make sure to balance it out.
the american diet goes beyond food to include psychological triggers as well as including foods that have been proven to be addicting to some of us. so yes, i’ve changed it several times in the last 30 years; but that addiction keeps making me “fall off the wagon” every time i face diet influencing psychological triggers like layoffs, evictions, deportation, etc.
20 somethings think 30+ is forever away.
tbf, every decade thinks the next decade is basically game over and will take an eternity to reach
It seems like some people here either never trained hard when they were younger or are deluded about their abilities. If you are in better shape in your 40s than your 20s, I applaud your progress but I don’t know of a single life-long athlete in their high 40s that would say they could outrun, outjump, or outpower their mid 20 year old self unless they’re on the juiciest of stacks. There is a reason we don’t have many 40/50 year olds in the vast majority of pro sports.
I would say that I could over power my 20-year-old self. But honestly I know that at this point I have more muscle and greater strength than I did at that point. In between then and now I trained in martial arts I taught for 15 years I didn’t stop doing that till I was in my early 40s. In my early to mid 20s I was definitely the definition of a skinny little guy. I weigh probably 60 lb more than I did back then at very least. And it’s not fat sure some of it is but overall it’s muscle. When I competed I was only about 8 lb lighter than I am now so I haven’t gained that much weight since then. And I definitely wasn’t a professional but I did compete and win at State levels. And even in the 8 to 10 years since I’ve actively trained I still can hold my own with my kids who are in their early twenties and active themselves.
I am 40+ and I just realized the huge importance biomechanics has in choosing a sport or, in my case, the right free weights exercises to do in the gym: if you get someone who ACTUALLY STUDIED Biomechanics in university or anyway an academic-level course, they can take measurements of your limbs and torso and suggest literally the kind of exercise that would have the most return while keeping the chance of injuries at a minimum.
Of course, personal preference/enjoyment will always have to play the most important role in your choices, but when not having strong opinions reducing your chance of injury so that you can be constant in your practice is the best long-term strategy.
Couldn’t that be easily communicated without individual measurements? Like, people with long legs/arms do this, people with ling arms/short legs do this, etc? Generally curious: my partner is 6’4", and this could be useful for him.
There are several tipping points that are worth calculating abd having a proper measurements of the levers in one’s body allows for proper ranking of the possible movements/exercises.
But yeah, there are general rules one can look at, like when you see Phelps with a 2 meters arm aperture that makes him very fit for swimming.
Also people tend to enjoy things more when they get injured less doing them.
Disc golf. Standing and walking a lot. Keeping a strong back. I have a bulging disc and strong back really helps. Not being crazy overweight.
Sleep is the top priority. Warm-ups and active recovery has become mandatory
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.
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!
45M
I’m probably in better shape now, than when I was in my late 20’s and defiantly in my 30’s.
I go rock climbing once a week. And general running around with my 3 boys… For the exercise part.
But about 90% out the improvement is, I have a way better diet. If you can’t identify it by eye, severely limit how much of it you eat.
If you can’t confidently state “hey, that is a bit of broccoli” or “that’s beef mince” etc…don’t eat much of it.
Fruit, vegetables, meat, spices, simple grains, rice… Keep your ingredients simple, it will pay dividends in health long term.
I learned that no matter the diet, spices can compensate for the stuff that is nice for the tastebuds but bad for the diet.
Climbing and living in a city where I walk everywhere is how I get fit too.
Go for a walk (outside) every day. I used to try different posture exercises, running, sprinting interval training, but as you get older, nothing is healthier and easier on your body than just daily walks.
We kinda are walking machines anyway:
Bonus points for mental health if you walk in nature, without any headphones or entertainments.
Also do strength training (you can get hand barbells very cheap if you don’t have a gym close by), starting very light at first, and working up to whatever feels comfortable.
Avoiding injury is kinda how bodies degrade. Obviously I don’t me major injuries but the body heals in counter intuitive ways. So anyways, this is how.
I recognize I’m over the hill and my joints sound like pop rocks
I had that start when I was a teenager, maybe even earlier. It sounds gross, but so far it hasn’t done anything else.
Beside obvious recommendations from other posts (visit a doctor, do exercise, eat healthy, sleep well etc)…
The truth is - aging is a bitch! It starts probably even before birth and start clearly manifesting itself usually in 30s. So welcome!
And the “best” part is - currently we do not have a medicine to reverse it, so at some point at the age of around 80-90 it will most probably kill you unless something else kills you first, or unless we develop effective cure. I don’t want to be morbid here or spread anxiety. I am writing this to accent the seriousness of aging and the need to tackle it. You can request your government to provide grants to researchers to reverse aging or if you are European propose researchers to apply for already existing grant call from EIC, propose your medical universities to participate in XPRIZE Healthspan, etc.
As you are quite young, if you are generally healthy, the best thing you can do really is doing the basics (as your mom told you) AND ESPECIALLY campaigning for development of aging-reversal therapies! Those are the only hope to be still kicking well in 80s in good health, and beyond.
If you are more interested, there is a community !longevity@mander.xyz and I also recommend the book Ageless by Andrew Steele, which provides great balance between scientific rigor and entertaining approach to public.
Try not doing any stupid things that’ll harm the body more.
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 started Shaolin Kung Fu at 45. 7 years later im getting my black sash and getting invited into the inner chamber.
Tell Bruce I said “hey”.
Keep moving
