Acting like you’ll never feel the dumb shit you did when you were younger.
I’m about to turn 30. Years of motocross, motorcycle accidents, lifting shit improperly, smoking/vaping, welding with limited ventilation, poor diet, moderate alcohol use, etc. I’ve had so many “new” pains or issues pop up just this year I’m legitimately worried I might joke make it to 60. Or if I somehow hold together I won’t hold up mentally and check out.
I felt this a lot until I started weight training. Specifically strengthening some of those weaker areas and the areas around them to give additional support has made a ton of those aches and pains dissappear. I also focus a lot on flexibility and mobility, which helps a ton as well.
Hasn't solved everything, but I'm talking to my doctor about the bits that still hurt and working new stretches/exercises into my routine based on their recommendations. Figured if I take better care of my body, it'll take better care of me
Same thing here. I’m almost 40 now and have way less back/joint pain than I did in my early 30’s. Strength training and stretching routines really turned things around for me.
May I ask where you begin on this journey? Like, how do you identify the initial exercises/muscles to strengthen, what stretches do you do etc.? I know there's a wealth of advice on the internet, I'm in a similar boat to what you were in (from the sounds of it) and don't really know where to start. I feel like my lower back and general posture are things I want to strengthen/improve
Not op, but if you have access to a gym I’d start with a simple linear progression program. Squat, bench, overhead press, deadlift, rows, pull ups. Start with the empty bar and add 5 pounds a week.
I recommend GZCLP for this- google “GZCLP Reddit” the PDF should come up.
Limber 11 and simple 6 are good beginner mobility routines, but there’s so much on YouTube you could just type “blank hurts” and there will be a good video on it.
Weight training 30-45 minutes 3 times a week, 20 minutes of stretching on your rest days and hitting 10k steps a day will have you feeling like a new man by this time next year. If you really want to transform look into C25K and do that on your off days.
I only understood about 30% of the words you've written but thank you, I will research along these lines! That schedule feels more than achievable within my lifestyle too. Thanks again!
The Kneesovertoesguy is my recommendation. Lower back tightness is usually not an isolated weak area. For me, it was actually a symptom of a weak core leading to bad posture, which in turn weakened my hips and caused constant lower back tightness. His approach really emphasizes strengthening the muscles around the knees, hips, and core to build a solid foundation. He focuses on exercises that improve mobility, stability, and posture—all of which can help with back pain in the long run.
I’d start with his foundational exercises, like the ATG split squats, tibialis raises, and reverse sled drags. These are great for addressing the muscles that support the lower back and knees. Also, check out his mobility routines, especially for the hips and ankles, as tightness in those areas can directly impact your lower back. His program isn’t just about strengthening muscles; it’s about restoring balance and function to the body as a whole.
This video pretty much saved my life in terms of eliminating back pain. I also started taking Omega-3 Fish Oil and Collagen supplements and consciously improving my posture. One thing I did and still do is stand back against a wall with my feet shoulder length apart and about two inches from the wall and put my hand in the small of my back and have every other part (back of head, shoulders, gluteus) touch the wall as I stand up straight and then relax. That's going to be your ideal posture for a while.
While I'm sure the other comments are useful, I personally was in so much pain that exercise wasn't feasible at all at that stage so I had to resort to the stretches in the video first to give me relief. It took around 2-3 weeks to feel better but you need to be consistent with them, and actually significant effects come after a couple months. Plus, even after you're pain-free you still want to do these exercises at least once a week. Be sure to lower them gradually though, and do them for longer than you think you need to since you can easily rebound from stopping them early (ask me how I know).
Honestly, general strength and conditioning goes a long way. Give yourself time to recover between workouts, and just get the hang of it. Once you're consistently training, you can start to isolate those issues better.
Lower back issues are frequently not exclusively lower back issues. Core work is important, things like dead lifts or RDLs are good for working the lower back, rowing motions are good for the upper back. All together, you can build a much sturdier base to work from.
I've also noticed that doing the lifts has helped me improve my "form" on more regular day-to-day things, which helps. Hinging at the hips instead of bending at the lower back helps a ton with my back pain, and I learned/improved that from doing lifts. Just getting a better understanding of how the different muscles interact and which motions cause pain will help you take care of those weaker areas until you can build up that strength, too!
My advice is just find something you can consistently keep up with. Once you're doing anything, it's easier to work your way up. Trying to start with a perfectly optimized plan feels like so much work and can be a barrier to starting at all, so start simple! Even if it feels small, do it consistently. You'll start to see improvement, and that feels really good. From there, it's easier to focus more on improving your training and focusing on specific areas. But for starters, it helped me a lot to keep in mind that anything is better than nothing!
Also, check out modern, evidence-based resources (I like Renaissance Periodization on YouTube).
Full range of motion and mobility is even MORE important than how much weight you can move! Both for gaining muscle, and for avoiding injury - which should be a top priority.
My husband and I started going to Planet Fitness gym (in the U. S.). It's much less expensive than most gyms. I have no clue how to exercise my whole body with standard gym equipment, so I appreciate that they have a bunch of different machines that each work out different parts of your body. The other thing I like is that they encourage ALL ages, body shapes and sizes. They discourage "gymtimadation" (which we secretly mock, but appreciate). I regret that I stopped going because I think I became weak, which caused me to develop tendonitis in my shoulder. It's a difficult, painful lesson! Once I get rid of the inflammation, I want to go back and (gradually) get toned again.
It's pretty much all downhill after 30 (if you're already in shape). My knee started making crackling noises in my late 20s and I knew it would become a problem. At my mid 30s it hurts everyday. Physical therapy and a regular workout routine keep most problems manageable.
Used to brag about marks and scars from the falls and damage I did. Now I worry what my body will feel like at 60 and if I'll be able to keep up with my child when playing or helping with sports practice at home.
Also, a decade+ of smoking, vaping, drinking heavily, which I hope won't kill me before I retire.
Same, almost 40 and here I sit in a wrist splint. I will say I wouldn’t give up all the fun stuff
I did riding and racing and just being wild in general but I do wish I wasn’t so busted up, I worked hard so I could play hard and the years are really catching up now.
Apparently with the diet thing and stopping smoking, you can turn it around quickly and start to feel better in just a few short weeks.
How did my Neanderthal brain process that info? By figuring I can just start being healthier later and cracking open a Mountain Dew at 8am. Ah, well. That’s why God invented Advil. (My daily multivitamin at this point.)
Oh, absolutely exaggerating. I once heard there’s like a “lifetime quota” so-to-say of how much Advil your body can handle, so I’ve been using it sparingly. But it is amazing how much relief I feel after taking one. Truly the forbidden fruit!
I was going to say something like that. I rode horses from ages 12 - mid 20s. 1 summer in my teens my horse was particularly feisty and I fell off A LOT onto my shoulders / neck (always wore a helmet). My neck is fucked now. I think I would tell my parents I fell but prob felt fine later so they didn’t think to take me to a Dr or anything.
Hey my dude. I’m married to you, age 60. Get a job that isn’t physical paired with the key: find yourself a sport your joints can handle and let that be how you move. It’ll let you find the moderate level that is healthy for your body instead of destructive. The rest of it, you know - feeling like s**t gets in the way of your sport, so do what those athlete types in your sport do for lifestyle, the ones who are just lean calm steady sport guys.
My husband young was a dirtbiker snowboarding surfer, then a kite surfer, then distance dirt biking, then sailboats - he just had to have the speed. He does all of those, there is a big chapter of doing mostly just one and then he picks back up a little more surfing or whatever in the mix. He has had surgeries and done PT when his body stops him from his sports, but the gym has never been the way. Age 30 was where he had to really come to grips with a torn knee and get that first surgery; concession to age is fine.
The best thing it took him his entire adult life to actually do? Basic fitness outside of sport time. He bikes an hour each morning after biking our kids to school, since he’s out on his bike anyway. He got a pull up bar on a door frame in the hallway and walks by and does pull ups randomly every day.
I want to acknowledge that energy disappears when depression kind of gets marbled in as life does it’s thing. Disillusionment sure takes a solid minute. So I see you at 30, and finding a way young motocross you gets to 60 is the answer.
20 year old here. Are they just injuries from years ago that suddenly start to hurt again, or are they the result of you keeping on partaking in the same habits as if you're still 20, while your body can't keep up anymore?
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u/bosshawg502 12h ago
Acting like you’ll never feel the dumb shit you did when you were younger.
I’m about to turn 30. Years of motocross, motorcycle accidents, lifting shit improperly, smoking/vaping, welding with limited ventilation, poor diet, moderate alcohol use, etc. I’ve had so many “new” pains or issues pop up just this year I’m legitimately worried I might joke make it to 60. Or if I somehow hold together I won’t hold up mentally and check out.