Asklemmy

Anyone replying "stretching" is basing their response on grade school gym class, not science.

Studies have not shown that stretching has a positive impact on injury prevention, and this has been widely known in the literature for over 20 years. Stretching can improve performance in some sports like gymnastics where increased flexibility is needed, but that is unrelated to injury.

Stretching has a negative effect on performance in other cases because it actually decreases muscle force generation.

Think about it, would you think that loosening all the belts on a machine would automatically make it less likely to break down?

So what does prevent injury?

• Good warm-ups. Walk before you jog before you run. Lift an unloaded barbell before a loaded one, etc.
• Strength. A joint surrounded by muscle is a stable joint. That means doing exercises that strengthen all the muscles, including minor ones. It's part of why most people who know what they are talking about will try to get you to do compound lifts with free weights over single joint exercises on machines.
• periodization/progressive overload. Basically slowly building intensity and then backing off to recuperate.

Big one is just walk more. If there's anything near your house that you regularly drive to, start trying to walk there as much as possible.

I have a lot of trouble motivating for the gym and similar self-directed activities, so I find classes or semi-organized sports much easier to do consistently.

Mid 30s, I gym, i've gymed for years, but now i have prehab warm up exersizes for the big lifts to activate all the supporting muscles. I havent pulled anything in a while so i guess they are working.

I plateued, years ago, i dont need to get any bigger. Instead i do much more rounded workouts.

From what i've read, rowing is super low impact and very good for your health from a cardio perspective and a muscle workout perspective. I keep meaning to give it a try, but my routine works for me. Maybe as i get older.

As a 54 year old who has just had two weeks of agony because he forgot his age and tried to deadlift a 225kg motorbike by himself, I'm going to skip this one because I clearly haven't learned anything.

Rowing and swimming (in a pool, not because the boat capsized). Both are non weight bearing, easy on the joints. Rowing is excellent for your core.

ITT: One half providing helpful insight into healthy physical activities, the other half total assholes ripping into this person for not being a jock.

Some people have been living sedantary life styles, the reasons for such can range from lack of interest to mental illness. Some people get a good dopamine hit from exercise. For others, exercise is a pretty miserable experience.

If someone is reaching out to seek advice on how to improve their lives, lend a helping hand. Please don't be an asshole.

I still lift weights, although now it is more about staying toned than getting huge gains. I also try to do cardio at least twice a week.

Injuries are harder to recover from so if something starts to hurt in a bad way I stop and do something else.

Ping pong / table tennis (depending on how seriously you take it) can be a VERY good way to get your steps in. In a 2 hour session I get about 8-10 thousand steps. This is 4 to 5 miles. It is low impact and you can really get a good sweat on.

Yoga. I started doing some distance running and besides learning to run in the correct zone so I am not maxing out my body everytime I have been doing this Post Run Yoga after most runs. It really helps and allows me to cool down and stretch well. The rest of her videos also rock

Just walk for everything under a mile. Eat one type of new fruit a week.

The less you weigh, the easier life becomes.

Drop alcohol completely.

Buy high quality shoes, beds, tired & brakes.

Nothing. It takes like five times longer for bruises and cuts to heal, but it's not bad enough for me to change my behavior to avoid them.

SWIMMING POOL

I've had to come to terms with taking things slower than I used to. I learned the hard way that I can't just train for a 10k in a few weekends.

The rule of increasing distance/duration by 10% per week is to protect our joints/bones/etc when they ain't what they used to be.

When I was that age my main exercise was commuting by running or biking. I got additional sporadic exercise doing miscellaneous sports. Having kids made it very hard to do more than that. I'm not working now and have the time and energy to do much broader and consistent exercise.

Turning your commute into your exercise regimen is great. Be warned though that the human body is great at optimizing and will quickly adapt to that specific routine. When you vary off that routine you'll find you're not in as great of shape as you thought. But you'll be miles ahead from where you'd be otherwise.

Walk 5km a day during the week, and 8-10km a day on weekends. Weights three to four times a week, and a cardio session afterwards. I like using the ski machine, as it gives me a serious workout without any impact.

Weights has had a huge impact on my quality of life, as I am recovering (recovered?) from a serious head injury. I was not active for nearly 18 months and am feeling good about my body for the first time in years.

58m here for context.

how badly do you guys treat your bodies that you are decrepit in your 30s??

as someone over forty: Have a hearty FUCK YOU, and buckle up snowflake.

Over the hill at 30? Damn. I'm 49 and have no issues. Stay active walking, biking, hiking, I work an active job also. I live that I stayed in shape as a younger man and it's worked well as a middle aged man. I plan on staying active for decades.

45M

I'm probably in better shape now, than when I was in my late 20's and defiantly in my 30's.

I go rock climbing once a week. And general running around with my 3 boys... For the exercise part.

But about 90% out the improvement is, I have a way better diet. If you can't identify it by eye, severely limit how much of it you eat.

If you can't confidently state "hey, that is a bit of broccoli" or "that's beef mince" etc...don't eat much of it.

Fruit, vegetables, meat, spices, simple grains, rice..... Keep your ingredients simple, it will pay dividends in health long term.

Go for a walk (outside) every day. I used to try different posture exercises, running, sprinting interval training, but as you get older, nothing is healthier and easier on your body than just daily walks.

We kinda are walking machines anyway:

Bonus points for mental health if you walk in nature, without any headphones or entertainments.

Also do strength training (you can get hand barbells very cheap if you don't have a gym close by), starting very light at first, and working up to whatever feels comfortable.

Stretching before exercises and good rests between activities and actually waiting to fully heal if I'm ever injured

I turn on a bubble pop playlists and move wildly (sort of 80s aerobics videos style mixed with dance) until I have tired muscles all over. It’s mostly to ensure that weird muscles get worked that don’t with standard exercises, which tends to help with stability and overall strength. It’s also good for my mood. Bubble pop is happy dancy music, and free-form semi-dance movement feels good.

I also practice balance -a lot- such as standing on one foot while I cook or wash dishes. Helps prevent tripping and falling and hurting myself, and helps when I have to juggle stuff because I refuse to set it down. Also impresses the hell out of people when I use my thigh as a table while standing on one foot.

I am 40+ and I just realized the huge importance biomechanics has in choosing a sport or, in my case, the right free weights exercises to do in the gym: if you get someone who ACTUALLY STUDIED Biomechanics in university or anyway an academic-level course, they can take measurements of your limbs and torso and suggest literally the kind of exercise that would have the most return while keeping the chance of injuries at a minimum.

Of course, personal preference/enjoyment will always have to play the most important role in your choices, but when not having strong opinions reducing your chance of injury so that you can be constant in your practice is the best long-term strategy.

As a Lemming, I walk over cliffs.

Today I went for a bike ride. I regret it. Exercise is for chumps. Now, my eyes are dry and they sting. Also I might have asthma.

My 94yo friend is still going strong. His advice is to keep moving. Even just going for a short walk does more than you realise.

Look after your eyes, ears, and back, and always wear the recommended protective gear. People who say you look stupid using the correct technique or wearing protective gear will either die first, or regret their decision after it's too late to do anything about it.

Most of all, learn from other peoples mistakes. You don't have enough time or luck to make them all yourself.

Best time to build muscle for the rest of your life was 20 years ago. Second best time is now.

Walk a lot with the dog, also stretch!!!! Before doing any big exercise. It would have been better to stretch when you were younger but it still helps. Also just exercise and eat healthy

Healthy Hobbies instead of Gym - stuff that's actually fun for me instead of just a chore

In my case, Sport Climbing and Yoga

At the moment biking, but i wouldn't say that stops booboo. I've flipped over the bike twice, each time damaging a different wrist (first one was when bike was new and a part wasn't as tight as it needed to be, so handlebars gave way braking down a hill. Second time anyway overly friendly dog leapt at me. As I lay on the ground it came over and licked me).

I generally still heal kinda well nowadays though, so first wrist is back to normal and second is like 90%, only pain when specific weight and angles are involved.

I want to get back into bouldering too, but that can also give injuries.