Aches, Pains and being 45 years old.

[stealurface831]

i have no input on the wear of age but the fortress mentioned voodoo flossing and i cannot agree more. i'm still playing football and i floss my legs and arms almost daily during the season. there is no feeling of relief like that blood rushing through your joints and to your muscles.

before a football injury derailed my baseball career, i used the Marc Pro EMS after each bullpen and outing in which i threw. it was helpful and definitely allowed me to recover quicker.

what i fear the most about getting old is how my mind will react. i've had multiple concussions and am starting to have some concerning issues with memory recall and working memory. my parents have noticed it too and i tried LENS neurofeedback and other cognitive therapies but none have really worked. anyone had success with anything in particular?

[bean]

Strength training. Push, pull, hinge, squat and loaded carry. Keep the reps low (3x3, 2x5, 5x2). Shouldn’t take that long to do it twice a week. Lift heavy and be in and out quickly.

I'm not quite to 45 yet but my perspective on lifting is the opposite of this - I care a lot more about my 10RM than my 1RM , I still lift heavy-for-me but pushing heavier weights is where injuries come in. About an hour twice a week does it.

Otherwise, same as that guy who's seen black diamonds. Getting hurt isn't an option, not keeping after it isn't an option so I keep it dialed down, do something almost every day, and go big-but-safe once every so often.

I really should stick to some degree of stretching/yoga routine though.

[Shorty_J]

Funny thing about this thread, is a lot of us "old timers" are almost 20 fucking years older than we were when we first logged on to this fucked up place. Now this forum is just a bunch of old, creeky, washed up fat dudes with bitch tits. (myself included). Hi, Xover, where are you?

The truth hurts and I resemble that.

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[Shorty_J]

I am 52 w/ history of L5 S1 back issues so I started taking it easier the past couple years and flat out stopped hitting jumps and not charging nearly as much as in the past.

In a a normal year for me I will fall a couple times a season and maybe lose a ski once/twice per season but it would be a painful fall, since I ski fast. I still easily hit 40MPH a couple times most every day I ski but it used to be 50+ so that is dialing it back; my biggest fear is falling at top speed especially when I am skiing on race GS skis on a groomer day since it is pretty hard to not go over 50 on those. I have also started lowering my DINs a little so I don't blow out a knee.

Falling at top speed (binding pre-release) 4 years ago led me into the trees at mach chicken where I hit a tree and literally destroyed my knee. ACL, MCL, PCL, MPFL, and at least 2 more ligaments I forget the name of.

I can't go fast anymore... it terrifies me.

I'm actually ok with that part... I still enjoy skiing slower. But my strength and fitness have not returned and that's hard.

And I think I'm in pain more consistently than i should be for my age.

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[BCMtnHound]

Humility borne of experience is a hell of a governor. And that includes the critical fails that I've walked away from just as much as those that took several periods of time to recover from. It's also amazing how easy it was to defer the pain into the future, thinking wrongly that it wouldn't come back to haunt me. Well, time to pay that piper now.
I count myself lucky that so far when those ancient aches return to haunt me that I can still laugh it off (with a little help from some 'friends'). So far.

[old goat]

I'm a firm believer in beta blocker training. Beta blockers prevent your heart rate from increasing when you exercise so your muscles get less blood and become much more efficient. Does wonders for your strength and endurance.
(There is actually some physiologic basis for this but I am definitely NOT recommending this. I take beta blockers because I have to and there are some less than desirable side effects)

[Benny Profane]

After reading this thread I feel better that I haven't mountain biked in almost twenty years since a few close calls in Moab. I went away from that thinking, just ain't worth it.

[Shorty_J]

I'm a firm believer in beta blocker training. Beta blockers prevent your heart rate from increasing when you exercise so your muscles get less blood and become much more efficient. Does wonders for your strength and endurance.
(There is actually some physiologic basis for this but I am definitely NOT recommending this. I take beta blockers because I have to and there are some less than desirable side effects)

I know your knowledge base on this is better than mine, but I was on beta blockers in high school and university due to a tachycardia (sp?) Condition.

I got it corrected in the 90s with a heart catheterization but at the time I really felt like I couldn't push myself enough to get fit. Maybe that was the condition and not the drugs... but I have a vague memory of things being harder when I started the drugs (atenelol) than before the drugs.

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[old goat]

I know your knowledge base on this is better than mine, but I was on beta blockers in high school and university due to a tachycardia (sp?) Condition.

I got it corrected in the 90s with a heart catheterization but at the time I really felt like I couldn't push myself enough to get fit. Maybe that was the condition and not the drugs... but I have a vague memory of things being harder when I started the drugs (atenelol) than before the drugs.

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Exactly--the drugs make it harder to train so you get more benefit from doing less. In other words you can push your muscles to failure faster because they are getting less blood. Of course it only you if you stop the beta blocker for the race or the ski trip--then your heart can push more blood and your muscles love it. If you stop your beta blockers you might die, but you'll at least die doing what you love. (My post was tongue in cheek--while there is some benefit from training with restricted blood flow to the muscles what I was really saying was that it sucks getting old and having to take medicine that makes it harder to do stuff.)

[Vise]

Surprised no one has mentioned taking a glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM supplement. Takes weeks to realize the benefits but it should be a daily staple for everyone on this forum.

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[powdork]

Surprised no one has mentioned taking a glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM supplement. Takes weeks to realize the benefits but it should be a daily staple for everyone on this forum.

That's the beauty of the replacement parts. Oil works almost instantly

[rod9301]

I'm a firm believer in beta blocker training. Beta blockers prevent your heart rate from increasing when you exercise so your muscles get less blood and become much more efficient. Does wonders for your strength and endurance.
(There is actually some physiologic basis for this but I am definitely NOT recommending this. I take beta blockers because I have to and there are some less than desirable side effects)

I started taking bystolic, like dose a couple of years ago, after being diagnosed with central sleep apnea.

Heart rate is lower, but i seem to have not lost aerobic performance. Possible?

I noticed that, maybe, i am calmer in dangerous situations, like on top of a steep couloirs. Do you think it's placebo, or real?

Thanks

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[subtle plague]

hmm. i ski harder than i used to, I climb better and since I've started yoga my flexibilty is alright. Not many stupid hucks (they were never big...) anymore, but the snow hasn't been that untracked in the resorts as it used to. so i don't want to send anything with tracks...
so all in all life at 42 is quite alright. No peristent pains.
and actually my back is better than it used to because i stretch and train really hard for climbing, which strengthens your core i guess.

But looking at the trees from my go pro swooshing by yesterday, i have to admit that i've never had anything go terribly wrong.

[skifishbum]

Funny thing about this thread, is a lot of us "old timers" are almost 20 fucking years older than we were when we first logged on to this fucked up place. Now this forum is just a bunch of old, creeky, washed up fat dudes with bitch tits. (myself included). Hi, Xover, where are you?

while 57 years of use brings pain and creeks
i aint fat and my ta tas are still tight
bitch

if you come back to the satch next season the mnt haven chaetae du pondo should be ready
still in ak?

[eldereldo]

Vision is my problem, skiing in flat light is a no go for me now, I can’t make out the terrain variations and end up picking my way down the hill looking like a gaper who got into the wrong place. It’s pretty much ruined a lot of my enthusiasm for skiing as I am stuck on groomers when ever the light is flat.

[jerlane]

Surprised no one has mentioned taking a glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM supplement. Takes weeks to realize the benefits but it should be a daily staple for everyone on this forum.

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There’s not good data supporting this.


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[old goat]

I started taking bystolic, like dose a couple of years ago, after being diagnosed with central sleep apnea.

Heart rate is lower, but i seem to have not lost aerobic performance. Possible?

I noticed that, maybe, i am calmer in dangerous situations, like on top of a steep couloirs. Do you think it's placebo, or real?

Thanks

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I don't know anything about the drug, sorry. If it slows your resting heartrate that wouldn't affect your aerobic performance, as long as you're able to increase it with exercise. Try taking your pulse while you're skiing a steep couloir. On second thought, don't.

[old goat]

Vision is my problem, skiing in flat light is a no go for me now, I can’t make out the terrain variations and end up picking my way down the hill looking like a gaper who got into the wrong place. It’s pretty much ruined a lot of my enthusiasm for skiing as I am stuck on groomers when ever the light is flat.

Same here. I think it's a combination of decreased balance--the balance part of the inner ear deteriorates just like the hearing part--and slower reflexes. I don't think it's vision--I used to have slight double vision, even with prism in my glasses. Since I had that corrected my binocular vision is better which should improve depth perception. And one thing that has improved with age--my nearsightedness is much much better so I don't wear glasses anymore except to read. I've noticed that when my glasses are fogged up inside my goggles my vision is poor.

[Ottime]

I don't know anything about the drug, sorry. If it slows your resting heartrate that wouldn't affect your aerobic performance, as long as you're able to increase it with exercise. Try taking your pulse while you're skiing a steep couloir. On second thought, don't.

There is a Fitbit for that. Or Apple Watch. Or another fancy wrist toy.

[Trackhead]

48 here, aerobic ability seems preserved, but joints have been a little problematic past two years. I've always had a metric for how many feet per hour I can climb on foot, and that has been preserved. Less is more when you age. Or the saying, "train smarter, not harder" seems very relevant.

Testosterone, free testosterone, SHBG, estradiol trends remain encouraging. Not smoking weed and avoiding alcohol is fundamental for endocrine preservation, also sleep, vitamin D, and other minutiae.

Skifishbum, glad you don't have gyno. Congratulations. If I wake up with it, I'll know I fucked up.

[MiddleOfNight]

That is very cool. Obviously that clinic has expanded the meaning of limb preservation beyond vascular surgery. Multidisciplinary clinics are a good thing. Very common in cancer, not so much with the issues your clinic deals with. Wish we had a clinic like that where I worked. Thanks for letting me know.

Yeah man. It's a great idea - Not sure if there are any others like it. It was where I got referred after a few unsuccessful ortho attempts at Steadman. Their elevator door has a super ripped track athlete with a prosthetic blade for her foot. In a literal ortho sense, try to preserve my limb. Last stop in the road. Or see if they make a carbon blade in my BSL. Given the prospects, I figured hey, it was worth at least trying cutting out ibuprofen.

What did your kind of surgery mean, like keeping the blood going to a limb so it didn't die off?

[BFD]

48 here, aerobic ability seems preserved, but joints have been a little problematic past two years. I've always had a metric for how many feet per hour I can climb on foot, and that has been preserved. Less is more when you age. Or the saying, "train smarter, not harder" seems very relevant.

Testosterone, free testosterone, SHBG, estradiol trends remain encouraging. Not smoking weed and avoiding alcohol is fundamental for endocrine preservation, also sleep, vitamin D, and other minutiae.

Skifishbum, glad you don't have gyno. Congratulations. If I wake up with it, I'll know I fucked up.

from experience I will say 40* degrees and rain will feel a lot different in 10 years.

[frorider]

Something I heard from a physical therapy guru that resonated for me was to be conscious about how our Western culture inundates you with options to make life easier by taking away the need to exert yourself or be flexible. Elevator vs Stairs is an obvious example, but in day to day life there are many others. SUVs with auto opening rear doors. Ebikes. Etc etc.

The point is that if you’re one of those highly disciplined folks who does an hour of yoga and a bike ride every day, great, but for people who can’t pull that off, the everyday ‘occupational therapy’ has a cumulative effect. Our mud room intentionally has no chair, so putting on / taking off boots remains a one legged balance and flexibility move lol.

Traveling in countries where 60 yr olds will squat down on the ground for hours without thinking about it vs layzboy recliners with a power assist to get you up on your feet when Fox News is finished kinda brings the point home.

[axebiker]

I am 52 w/ history of L5 S1 back issues

Same here...shitty spot for a back problem. Going on 25 years with this now.

[Trackhead]

from experience I will say 40* degrees and rain will feel a lot different in 10 years.

Yup, I know, and it already is. We have a 9 yr old that we are taking into consideration as we plan for the future, and currently like raising him in Juneau. Still have eyes on returning to the desert in the 5-8 year future.