Over 40 and making good progress but injury prone?

sunsnstatheart
sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I'm trying to get myself to the next level of fitness and am regularly injuring myself every six months or so. Granted the way I'm injuring myself is getting much more entertaining - the latest one was pulling my MCL surfing - but trying to find other people over 40 and still working on improving. Anyone else like this?

Replies

  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    I'm doing the best I can. I had back surgery several years ago when I was 40 (I picked up a box thinking I was using proper form but ended up having a herniated disk). My back has never been the same, although I do many things the orthopedist told me to give up. I injured my ankle terribly last February after doing an exercise on some equipment that was emailed to me. I'm still recovering and my ankle may never be the same I may never be able to run again, although I'm still hopeful. It does seem that it takes much longer to recover from even routine injuries.

    I think I've definitely become more cautious, and my awareness that I will never be able to exercise flat out again is one reason why I'm so careful about monitoring my weight. Still, when I'm exercising, I want to get some benefit from it and not phone it in. When I resume exercise, I try to start out slowly and develop a new base of fitness.
  • Cindy873
    Cindy873 Posts: 1,165
    I'm 39 and I understand your pain! I have a partially torn ACL, recurring tendinitis in both feet, and plantar fasciitis. It seems like I get one step forward and fall two steps back. I'm keeping at it though! Feel free to add me. :smile:
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
    I guess that's the deal with this aging thing! :smile:
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    If you're constantly getting injured, you may want to rethink your training
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    If you're constantly getting injured, you may want to rethink your training

    It's definitely worth looking at, but seriously, basic activity that one would not have thought twice about at 25 or 30 can unexpectedly cause problems around 40. Sometimes it's not apparent until a day or two later.

    The worst of it is the psychological fear of injury, which is appropriate. You want to push yourself, but you don't want to end up paying for it, and what your body can take seems to change from year to year.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    I guess that's the deal with this aging thing! :smile:

    But don't give up. I'm convinced that something is better than nothing. I've seen some incredibly athletic people go downhill over the years. I think that once they pulled that tendon or got tennis elbow they gave up completely. Then they gained weight. Now they can barely get around.

    I could be wrong, but I think that ANY kind of regular exercise makes one more body-conscious, which makes one think a bit more about the consequences of sitting on the couch all weekend knocking back the brews.

    When we're younger if we've been basically healthy we tend to take our bodies for granted or are hypercritical about what they look like or how they perform. But once you get to a certain age you realize that you are in the only body you will ever have and you have to try to take care of it.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    It gets harder and harder to push as you get older. The worst is how our bodies just click off hormones that were quite happy to continue having.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    Another reason to not wait to exercise.
  • staceyseeger
    staceyseeger Posts: 778 Member
    At 42, every day is a new venture! It doesn't help that I've gotten hooked on these Mud Runs & Tough Mudders. When my body starts hurting & wants to give up, I run with my HEART!
  • brendaj39
    brendaj39 Posts: 375 Member
    yes, my knee is killing me, it wakes me up when i turn in bed, its not fun...i try to keep with my workout DVD i'm doing and find it a little frustrating when i can't keep up with the 20something year olds in it....oh well, i am doing the best i can...and the main thing is i'm doing something!:smile:
  • florymonde
    florymonde Posts: 261 Member
    I've always been pretty cautious; adjusting or stopping an exercise with any real pain. But, even then I've had some issues hitting 40. Plantar fasciitis really sneaks up on you!

    I think you need to listen carefully to your body, and plan on the gains coming slowly. I recently started up with weights again. After two weeks, I was starting to get some decent numbers (I used to weightlift a lot), but then I was in a rush when I picked up my computer/book bag, and threw my back out! So, I've been sticking to cardio for a couple weeks. The back feels good today, though, so I probably should be getting to it!
  • Manapaws
    Manapaws Posts: 72 Member
    I feel the pain. I had shoulder surgery to repair a rotator cuff oct 2011, it was not the only issue. Latest MRI discovered i have a torn labrum, surgery is required for repair. Before injuring shoulder i was at 222LBS
  • harlanJEN
    harlanJEN Posts: 1,089 Member
    I'm 49. I had a right, total knee replacement 20 months ago.

    I just deadlifted 195 today : ) I can leg press 460. I'm nursing a left tricep tear and a strained right rotator cuff. HOWEVER! Those injuries were primarily due to some poor form and bad decisions on bench press and pressing behind my head.

    The point is this: AGE - forget about it ! Pre-existing injuries - Work around them. Injury prevention - FORM FORM FORM.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    If you're constantly getting injured, you may want to rethink your training

    It's definitely worth looking at, but seriously, basic activity that one would not have thought twice about at 25 or 30 can unexpectedly cause problems around 40. Sometimes it's not apparent until a day or two later.

    The worst of it is the psychological fear of injury, which is appropriate. You want to push yourself, but you don't want to end up paying for it, and what your body can take seems to change from year to year.

    So true.
  • Manapaws
    Manapaws Posts: 72 Member
    OPPS, hit enter by accident. My weight had climbed back to 250, Got tired of it. All i can do is cardio, which sucks for me because i enjoy resistance training. I know it is boring as all heck to just do cardio, however it works to help get your weight off. Think about trying it
  • breezedaze
    breezedaze Posts: 357 Member
    I truly believe that for me it has less to do with age than to do with not having remained active in my thirties and I'm just restarting...so everything is off..balance, coordination etc.

    I am also doing weird things in my 40's that I didn't do in my younger years because I didn't need to...because I was just because I was just younger.

    I know I got injured when I was young but it didn't frustrate me the same either..because I know know how easily I can slip back into the old habits..then the habits didn't make me so unhealthy.

    Just recovering from a knee injury..but remembering a serious one at 17 that I still am bothered by at times..
  • cls_333
    cls_333 Posts: 206 Member
    I have something hurting every day lol, my main problem is my feet, but hip, back, knee, muscle pain all sneak in there. I've just come to the fact that this is life after 40. It will never stop me :) I know a lot of people that are out of shape and never do a thing that hurt a lot worse than I do. I'd rather be injured from working too hard, than from carrying too much weight or from "don't use it, lose it" syndrome.
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
    Yeah. I have had three surgeries related to exercise a heart cath, a meniscal repair, and a rotator cuff repair. Now I am nursing a swollen Achilles. But I am 54.
  • ChaseAlder
    ChaseAlder Posts: 804 Member
    I'm 30, but my job is pretty stressful on my body and I have injured myself three times in the last year (I dislocated my knee cap in December of last year, I got a hernia in January, and I sprained my left knee last month by hyperextending it to the side). I seem to always be injured and am having a particularly tough time recovering from the sprain... worse than the other two injuries by far. I had surgery to repair my hernia in April.
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
    I'm 49. I had a right, total knee replacement 20 months ago.

    I just deadlifted 195 today : ) I can leg press 460. I'm nursing a left tricep tear and a strained right rotator cuff. HOWEVER! Those injuries were primarily due to some poor form and bad decisions on bench press and pressing behind my head.

    The point is this: AGE - forget about it ! Pre-existing injuries - Work around them. Injury prevention - FORM FORM FORM.

    Agree totally. I am 42 and I haven't had any injuries. I watch my form when I lift heavy and I take rest weeks every four to eight weeks. AND I do not kill myself with tons of cardio!
  • BeeElMarvin
    BeeElMarvin Posts: 2,086 Member
    Age 53 and constantly fighting off something I've injured. It rarely has to do with my workouts.:embarassed:
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
    Thanks for all the comments! My injuries usually have more to do with play than actual training accidents though I have had my share of tendonitis. Free weights tend to keep me injury free compared to machines though I've noticed that preacher curls are hell on my forearm tendons so I just use dumbbells sitting or standing. That said, I also stay away from heavy weight on the leg press and depend more on squats after a rather uncomfortable injury a couple of years ago.

    ANewLucia - I totally agree with the rest every 4 to 8 weeks. It wasn't necessary when I was younger but this time around I need it and its definitely made a difference.

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