Burnt out from working out

It's like there's nothing left in the body to give! The Tank is completely empty but the desire to be were I was is still in the mind and won't leave!

I do agree with you that I am older... unfortunately I'm not that old... and I ran my fastest mile ever at age 26 than I ever did when I was a kid or teen.
My problem is more or less my body being torn to shreds...I have no cartilage between my knee caps and lower back, and I was diagnosed with either juvenile arthritis or full blown arthritis at an early age or some strange disc issues with my back. These are all injurys that accrued after I quit playing and working out....(and doctors couldn't officially say juvenile arthritis because of this..I had always thought my back and knees were just sore growing up, so I never went to the doctor until I stopped everything and noticed my body still hurting)...

I don't have the mind set of a quitter. But I do agree with you on your entire statement. I have yet to go balls to the walls in my workouts, so underachieving isn't something that holds me down or gets me down and makes me want to stop, Im just ready to either push myself further or just keep where I am...Yet It always comes down to my first thought in my mind for going further, "why the heck would I tare my body up more to go further and what would I do with a body of a freak now that I' am older??". I do not try to squat even 20% of what I used to or even try to bench press what I could. I would injure myself in no time. I maintain a healthy body now.
It's really come down to my body being torn apart. I can run an eight minute mile with only one problem, my knee caps feel like they are being hit with a hammer every time they come into contact with the ground. I can lift weights and get a good sore but with only one problem, my joints ache in pain as if someone beat the hell out of me and brused my bones and Tylenol does nothing for it. I do a little workout at least 4 or 5 times a week and that's all my body seems to handle, age is definitely a factor but there's more than just being old to it. I've seen plenty of older men in the gym that look well into there 60s with abs and benching just fine, but did they play sports as intensive and demanding as I have?... when I do lower abs and lower back workouts my back pops on each rep due to no cartilage or something else...when I said im healthy, I didnt make my self very clear...my blood work, body fat, cholesterol, lungs (not a smoker and try to run 4 miles a week at the least), is all good. But my actual body is shot. I have had Texas back institute of plano doctors tell me these issues with my body. I didnt just make them up or say I hurt, just to say so.
I feel Burnt... not like I can't work out, or that I get down and stop trying, but that my body just flat out can't go further with out injury or pain due to long term over kill working out and playing sports. Coaches use kids in select sports for their own good and dont worry about long term effects. I've done some research on many players who quit their sport after years of training and no longer can walk without a cane...that is where my questions rise about if this is where my mind and body are at. Do I push myself again to achieve these statistics that I once had (doing this I know I'm not 18 anymore) or do I stick to what I'm doing and just stay healthy...OR...

Do you suggest getting the surgeries that these doctors have recommended for my shoulder, both knees and lower back? (To add about those surgeries, they are no cure all that is 100% guaranteed to help). Like I said, I fully agree with you, but I feel like I didn't make my self cear on what's going on.
I wanted to know if anyone has felt this way from long term sport playing and being burnt out in the body and mind and they were able to get back to an athletic shape, not just look good either, That can be done by proper diet and solid cardio...I want to be a freak of nature again, with a long term work out goal of course. I am not someone who cant keep working out consistently and cant keep with a decent routine but someone who no longer feels like their body is no longer in any shape to work out intensively and feels that it may almost be unsafe to do so.

When you say your experience is 30 years long, is that 30 years of high intensity training and sport playing or just fitness in general to stay fit? Have you had or still have injurys that complicate your every day work out? If so, I would like to know what you do or have done to work through the pain, cause I have no problem saying im a wussy (choice word to keep it rated G) and probably need to just suck it up. But like I said, it doesnt seem like a wise choice from the research I've done to try and become a freak again.
O also, if you have battled through long term abuse of the body, is there a medium that you have settled with that you tell yourself? Like, "Im too old/injured to sprint a 4.7 40yrd dash, but if I run a 5.2 thats good enough", for me it was a 60 yrd dash at 6.7 seconds or lower...I dont even know if 4.7 is fast in 40yrds. Or in the weight room, "Im too old/injured to bench 350lbs ever again, so I'll just maintain 250lbs". Because If I'm going to workout and become an athlete, by God will I try to be the fastest I've ever been and strongest!

Hope this helps clear up my first post. This is my first post I've ever done. Dont even have facebook! Don't hate me too hard

10-4, Thank you for the suggestions. I think not going to an ortho might be whats holding me back. Being afraid to have my body break down on me and not being able to walk or bend over and get back up scares me at the age im at (its far too young to feel this way). I already get stuck in positions and cant sit in a desk chairs without feeling terribly uncomfortable. Ortho it is! Thanks again!