To the 50 somethings, and beyond

[Edge705]

I think a lot depends on what you did in your youth and in to your twenty's for example I played a lot of football, I did a lot of running and as a result I suffered injury's and like any youngster I couldnt be told and went back to football, running and made things worse and then there was a serious bike accident fractured pelvis and 3 months in hospital with subsequent severe muscle wastage. Im sitting here now readjusting my position freqently to stop parts from ceasing up but Im flexible on the bike and little bits hurt and it all boils down to me getting older so yes Yellow it hurts more the older you get or should I say its more of a pain when you get older

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

At 57, I've found that for me the worst part is that the body recovers much more slowly than it used to. Heck, it does everything much more slowly!

 

[dellzeqq]

At 57, I've found that for me the worst part is that the body recovers much more slowly than it used to. Heck, it does everything much more slowly!

that's not always a bad thing......

 

[bicyclos]

I think with age your life battery flattens a lot quicker and needs a lot longer to charge up the older you get. I know I am slowing down at 52 and enjoy my cycling at my pace without any aches and pains. I dont like to beat the clock or chase anyone down, but I love climbing a big hill or two and know that I can still do it........We are all genetically different as well, I compare myself to a Lada car, not very fast but just keeps going......

 

[derrick]

60 next week just a bit stiff in the mornings,
it annoys the wife.

 

[growingvegetables]

At the risk of lowering the tone - what was it Fred Wedlock said "When it takes all night to do once, what you once did all night" ........... ?

 

[Camrider]

I will be 58 in a couple of weeks and actually feel better than I did 10 years ago. I've been lucky health wise, but got rather fat. Having got rid of most of that excess weight my endurance, speed and recovery time have improved dramatically and I'm now riding further than at any previous stage of my life.

I road my 1st 100k audax last September and was quite impressed by the guy in his mid 80's who rolled up to the finish just 10 minutes behind me, so there should be no throwing in the towel for us 50 somethings unless fate deals you a bad hand health wise.

 

[gavroche]

I am with you all the way. I am 61 now and feel more like 40 although had a bit of a shock last week when my grandson found out that when I was young I could break a bit of wood with a karate chop. I have not done that for many years but decided to have a go so as not to disappoint him. So I chose a suitable piece of wood, laid it acroos two bricks and .....whammm!.... my hand just bounced off it. Cant do it anymore!! Never mind, at least he is still pleased that I could do it all those years ago. By the way, he is 9 years old and I promised to take him riding in the summer.At least I can do that!

 

[bof]

At 58 I have a touch of osteoarthritis in my little fingers, need 2 sets of specs, am going slightly deaf and I have chronic shoulder problem - not caused by cycling. I am also not as fast on the bike as I used to be.

On the other hand I realised at a works outing involving vigourous exercise that I am fitter than almost all the generally 30 somethings I work with, I can still easily average 16-17mph without drafting for a flattish 100 miles and I virtually never suffer aches and pains except with said chronic shoulder problem. Oh yes, and I have had 3 days off sick since the turn of the millenium.

I put it all down to restarting cycling and taking up gentle weightlifting (12reps in 3 sets of my upper body and core main muscle groups is my present regime) about 12-13 years ago.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

60 years young and no regular niggles, except for a bit of back ache here and there. I'll ache a bit when I get back from a ride, or after I do hard manual labour, but by the following day they have largely cleared. I've slowed down noticeably and I need a bit more recovery time, I also tire a bit more easily. All in all not as bad as I thought it would be.

 

[yello]

For instance, I sometimes get a chest ache. Sometimes after eating, sometimes not - I can wake up with it. Like a broad, flat hand pressing on me. Not severe and it passes.

Or my right hip is stiff after being still for a while. I have to do this curious 'leg swing' movement to get walking, like I'm deliberately rolling my hip joint around the socket. Couple of steps and I'm fine, walking normally again.

These are things I've not had to deal with before. I carry a lot of tension, I can feel it in my jaw, so I reckon such niggles are tension related rather than strictly medical. I think I need to practice yoga or somesuch!

 

[BigonaBianchi]

I seem to have one constant ache...but I'm not telling you where

 

[Arsen Gere]

Look at the advantages of being over 50!
More time and money available to do stuff you want, kids getting older - left home etc.

At 52 this year I'll be doing my first ironman, I could not have done it any time earlier because of the time involved in training, all the kit to buy, travel etc.

 

[Fiona N]

I reckon it depends on how much you've abused your body in the past - and I'm talking about sporting abuses rather than other sorts (/blushes/.....no emoticons on this beast).

I've never been one to take the easy path if the hard one was more fun but the downside of that is now I'm accumulating a growing list of injuries (mostly acute ankle, knee, back, shoulder ligaments rather than broken bones where I've been fairly lucky), medical interventions (ankle reconstruction, back surgery, 5 knee arthroscopies...) and I see my physio more often than my best friend. I've got arthritis is several joints and permanent vascular damage due to frost bite etc. but apart from hobbling around first thing in the morning after a long ride or, even more particularly, a short day in the hills, I wouldn't say I've more aches and pains just different ones from when I was younger. I rarely get delayed onset muscle soreness now whereas it was a frequent condition when I used to run, climb and mountaineer. Not to mention that, on the whole, I have fewer sudden contacts with hard surfaces than I used to - I frequently looked as though I'd been used as a punchbag by a psychopath as I bruise easily so a weekends climbing left a veritable rainbow of bashes.

I've taken to heart the exhortation from my Swiss GP who told me never to stop exercising or I'd seize solid and perhaps that is the secret.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[yello]

Ah, brought up in the school of hard knocks eh Fiona!

No such excuses in my case. Never even fallen out of a tree, but there's time enough for that yet.

I was reading something yesterday regarded something I eluded to above. That is, tension. I don't mean nervous tension (but that as well) but muscular tension. The article was on prostate problems (not that I have those.... yet!) and was offering the opinion that some such problems could be caused by 'pelvic tension'. The pelvic muscles becoming squeezed due to holding tension.

Tension causing headaches, stiff jaw, shoulders and neck etc is well documented. People brace themselves to contain the tension. We even jokingly refer to 'buttock clenching' as a stress response! So this idea of pelvic tension seemed intuitively plausible.

This got me to thinking that tension could be the cause of many aches and pains. Maybe what I need is not a physiotherapist but a dance teacher!