Who just can't do fitness?

[Auspaul]

13 hours ago, RDB said:

Keep going, guys! Up to my mid 30s I felt pretty much indestructible and was running hard and lifting weights and doing a lot of everything without too much thought. Then in late 30s I had a series of issues including serious Achilles tendonitis. No more marathons for me.

Now I’m 44, and still very active, but the degree of care and prep I have to put in is huge. I’m a rock climber, and it’s a full 30 - 40 minutes of careful warm up before I’m ready for hard efforts. Also my total potential volume is much lower: I have to really think about rest and recovery, and not push too much. Instead of running 30 miles a week it’s more like ten, and with more of a mix of other things. Climbing no more than every other day, and listening to the aches and pains ebb and flow.

Stretching and core work. Physio, diet and supplements (turmeric was a game-changer for me).

God it all sounds like a huge faff. But I enjoy the challenge, and I’m determined to be fit for my age. Of course we all decline... but it can be a very slow decline and older people can remain very physically capable.

Tumeric that is interesting I have been eating heaps and my joints feel great at 51  .Had a bloke at work in his 60s the doctors told him he had joints like someone in his 20s he put it down to low impact exercise heaps of leafy greens

[Philc2001]

It was hard to get into gear initially, and challenging to stay with it, but I've actually gone the other way. I'm more physically active and fit today than I was 20 years ago.

I'm not sure I can explain what got into me, but about 8 years ago something clicked and I turned my life around. I think it was fear, actually. At that time I was about 40 lbs overweight, and I suffered with nearly 10 years of chronic back pain. I was always being prescribed painkillers and muscle relaxants. I was virtually crippled with back pain, Then I had an MRI and found out I had three herniated discs. At that low point I couldn't walk or stand for more than 2 minutes without extreme discomfort, and it would take me 30-45 seconds just to stand up straight from a sitting position. That, and with my family history of diabetes and heart disease, I was terrified of becoming clinically impaired as I approached upper middle age.  

Now I workout in some fashion 5 times per week. I usually split; 3 cardio and 2 resistance training, or vise versa. I currently jog about 8 miles on Sundays at an average pace of 8.5 mins per mile (over 7 mph), and have a resting heart rate of about 52bpm, lower than when I graduated from college over 30 years ago. I have a lot of senior enjoyment planned, including smoking cigars in some exotic parts of the world, all of which depends on being physically active and in good health.

I don't know how to motivate anyone else to do it. One day I just got the will power and took that first step. I admit I had a few down periods where I got lazy and fell off my regimen for a week or two, but somehow I managed to get back in the saddle. Now I've learned it is much easier to carry on, even if you slow down a bit, rather than having to restart after a period of down time. My routine from the beginning included core and back strengthening, and I've now been free of back issues for nearly the entire 8 years, despite jogging regularly. I intend to, and I hope I will, keep this momentum up forever if I can. I dread even thinking about the alternatives after having watched my parents, aunts, uncles, inlaws and so on get ill and suffer through their senior years. Not a fair ending in my book.