I turned 48 today, at what age did you start to feel old?

On my 28th birthday, my father offered his concolences for my ongoing and rapid decline. Then he tried to cheer me up by stating that on the flip side, now that I offically was an old man, at least I could enter masters' regattas.

Around 30 is where I really felt something change - suddenly I injured myself doing things while working out that I had done countless times before without issue. Recovery after exercse started to take much longer. And then I managed to somehow get an inflammation in my achilles tendons that impaired my ability to train for nearly two years. Took another couple of years to learn how to adapt to this. Changed my training style (avoid training to fatigue; increase frequency instead, variate volume and intensity and manage fatigue, include "feel-good" stuff like yoga and movement practice), and now, in my early forties, I'm in a better shape than ever. (That is, I was until my second mRNA-shot - have arythmia issues ever sinces, that can be really unpleasant. Seem to be promoted both by stress at work and by doing threshold work or HIIT, so I try to minimize that. LISS seems to be fine. I am now slowly getting back top pre-vacc fitness levels.) The trainee whom I hired two years ago thought I was in my 20s and seemed rather shocked when he found out I was more than double his age.

In high-stress phases, some hairs in my beard and on the sides of my head turn grey and I suddenly look 20 years older. First time that happend was in my mid-twqenties. Luckily, this seems to be reversible - at least it always was until now. Lesson: don't get stressed!

I feel old, really old, however, every single morning when I get up. It's just an world of pain for about half an hour to an hour after getting up. Every joint, muscle, tissue, nerve disagrees with my existence. The good thing is that some doubl espressi and a breakfast later they get silent. Kind of a calibration issue - feels like I need to re-calibrate and re-zero every sensor and the signal processing before I start my workday. That is actually a good thing, because now I can simply tune out the pain. I know that my knees and shoulders are screwed up with cartilage damage (diagnosed at age 18 during the medical exam for the army). I used to be able to tell weather changes a few days beforehand, and sometimes I would spent days in pain after some overexertion. This no longer happens. Guess my brain has learned to simply filter the pain out as noise, so that is definitely a nice side effect of having had a bit more time in this body.

Where I really notice my age is when it comes to sleep deprivation. This ties in with the recovery aspect mentioned above. I can still pull an all-nighter if necessary and be sharp and work on a technical problem until the sun rises - but then I crash and I NEED some sleep, and I'll be a zombie for the following three or four days. I can't just take a short nap and then get back up and keep working the next day as if nothing happened, like I could in my 20s. Loosing one night of sleep nowadays means I am messed up for at least half a week.
Oh, and last autumn a teenager at our boathouse offered to help me get my single sculls out of the water. It dawned to me that he must have considered me old and frail. That hurt a bit. Am I really getting old, or is this just that in a 15year-old's mind anybody over 30 is considered an old fart?
 
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I feel like I'm aging exponentially at this point. 33 this year and I already find myself less willing to go to really busy/loud areas. I like being at home more and more. But my mother used to say I was 12 going on 50 so i tend to lean one way anyway. My poor wife.
 
NICE WORK!!!

I started lifting when I was 14, my freshmen year in high school. I made quite good progress, and still hold a couple records back at my high school some 30 years later.

I remember friends telling me when I got to college I would give up lifting, and gain 20+ pounds...more motivation
Ive noticed you and @PWMDMD posts often in here. I think it's great and reading some of these posts I think, even late in life almost everyone, if they are able can start some kind of exercise. Now that I retired I have, NOTHING on the scale of you two but I love it and actually have started just recently pushing myself a little bit more.

I think for some older people who do not know where to start 1 hour Orange Theory Classes two times a week might be a good place if your doctor says cardio is good for you.
But there are many other places (which I am sure you two know) that one could even get a more gentle start.

I always sort of took care of myself as far as weighing what I should and was always aware of what I was eating. I always had active employment which kept me physically moving every minute of the day. Bottom line other than working out in my parents basement with weights and my friend as a teenager I have never been to a commercial gym or any type of workout until I retired and felt I needed to keep moving or else deteriorate.

Over the years I took my eating/what I eat to a level that I doubt can be improved upon trying to avoid the deadly family history of males in my family.
Heart Disease, Diabetes and all related issues with the two. Ive been mostly successful, just had an ablation to correct some heart PVCs which went perfect and 2021 an angiogram did reveal some light plaque in my heart veins. So a little disappointed but very relieved because the other males in my family had diabetes for decades before they reached my age and had heart bypass surgery for up to 15 years before my age.
The plaque in my veins is put at 20% which is technically heart disease or arterial disease but as a reference it was just stroke of luck and my insistence to have that angiogram so I know in the future what I have to work on.
An angiogram is the GOLD standard for a test.
I would have never got it without creative wording by my cardiologist office for the insurance company as my Nuclear Stress Test was good, but did show some PVCs. Many do not know, a stress test will only reveal blockages in your veins once you get up to 60 to 70% blocked.

Ok, so anyway to my point, now retired, I did not want to sit around and deteriorate so I joined Orange Theory. It's really intense one hour workout but not like you guys lifting heavy weights. My goal at this point is to keep my already strong heart strong and hold at bay any additional plaque in my arteries. I think you might agree that this is a good start?

Anyway, I was going two time a week for just over the last year and now recently been pushing myself for the 3rd time. I REALLY look forward to it. Of course after some heart procedures I checked with not one but two cardiologists over the last year and two of their NPs.
They are comfortable with me working out and running my heart rate in a range of 140 to 160 and peaking in the 160s and think it great.
This Jan I actually had to slow myself down as I notice my heart rate hit a peak of 183 which would be a peak for someone almost 30 years younger than me. 220 - (your age) = Max BPM

SO anyway, after a year, I am toned up more, not muscle bound but it's a great feeling. I can now feel my biceps when I bend my arms up *LOL* but for me right now this is about keeping my views and arteries as clean as possible and my eating habits good.
In fact, true story my cardiologist said to me, "you know you need some cholesterol in your body for your cells and brain" *LOL*
Long story short, after I asked him, he firmly believes if I keep this up I may never need any intervention like the others have in my family.
Best of all, mentally, when you retired, it's just a great feeling to get out and push yourself. AN Orange workout is Treadmill, Rowing and Exercise and exercise with weights but I wouldnt call it weight lifting/

Ok, another long post by me that no one reads *LOL* but I have to get ready for my 10AM O.J. Class. *LOL*
There has always been this "sick" part of me, I dont mind sweating like a pig makes me feel good/alive...
 
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Remember at age 50 is when that CEL light starts to come on!
As long as your catalyst doesn't blow out you should be GTG until 65.

Seriously I feel good at 64, wasting time on the internet and I can't find my dang pickleball glove...........kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.............. 9:00AM play time!!
 
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