A Worn out body.

do you think a human body has only so many hours of exercise in it?
does it eventually become worn out and unable to carry on performing exercise without breaking down?

after 30yrs of playing rugby/cycling/triathlon/weight training, i think my body may have finally called it a day.
the past 2 yrs have been hell, with one illness after another, and the inability to fight illness off.
huge weight loss has not helped at all, i felt better when heavier.

do we only have so many hours in us?

I’ve just spent the last 2 days moving house, i now feel just like that!! 😳

Nothing lasts forever.

Possibly, but there are plenty of older chaps (especially in the cycling/triathlon/ultra fields) who have always been active and continue to be right up into their 70s. It might just come down to genetics and maybe diet/other lifestyle factors. Certainly now (in my 30s) I have to pay more attention to stretching, resting, good night’s sleep, etc with regards to recover than I used to!

Sometimes and to some extent.

I’ve trained for 10 out of the last 12 days and i’m feeling the pace i admit.

I’ve trained for 10 out of the last 12 days

I imagine thats exactly the sort of “pick me up” comment ton was looking for.

I suppose the real answer is it different for everyone.

looking at footballer it does appear that some players become worn and and just cant keep the pace. While other players just keep going and going.

I imagine sport like rugby are going to wear you out faster than road or XC mtbing.

I imagine sport like rugby are going to wear you out faster than road or XC mtbing

Aye, my current sport of Desk Jockey has kept me as fresh as a daisy….. 😕

No No and No in that order. Chin up.

Chin up.

Hes stuck at home, off work and bored.

Isn’t comparing cycling and rugby like a hillclimb and a destruction derby?
Not surprised the injuries and excessive effort have taken their toll after 30 years.
Lucky you have not needed replacement hips, knees and developed severe arthritis.

PaulD

Mind over matter, if you don’t mind it doesn’t matter. Ok so this isn’t always the case, but it does have an element of truth to it.

I am just on the wrong side of 30 and have spent most of my life with various musculoskeletal problems.

At times, in my twenties I have felt like an old man.

Now I train with weights twice a week, use a foam roller and do my physio exercises fairly consistently.

I feel better than I have for a long time.

A lot of it comes down to belief. If you believe your body is worn out and you can’t do anything then the chances are you won’t be able to.

If you think your body is worn out, look up Travis Pastrana. He has had more broken bones and operations than I have had hot dinners.

Also Jack Lalanne was exercising for two hours a day up until the day he died: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_LaLanne

So to answer your question, no, I do not beleive we have so many hours in us. The mind gives up long before the body.

Ton, watch this for some inspiration over a supposed knackered body

http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DqX9FSZJu448&sa=U&ei=rnDQUJa2E6u70AHv14H4BQ&ved=0CCUQtwIwAA&usg=AFQjCNGJVeXi-9fNHoYpsPntlmq4l0-Zug

Ton.

Why not just you and the Mrs bugger-off for a year travelling. Go find some Sunshine.
🙂

Weren’t you discussing that on here recently ?.

If you think your body is worn out, look up Travis Pastrana

In his 20s isn’t he?

This hippy bloke where I worked used to snear at us through his fag smoke when we went off to play badminton every lunchtime. “Limbs and joints weren’t designed for sport, you’ll wear them out”.
My shagged knees and shoulders tell me he may have had a point.
They hardly ever cause me jip when riding a bike though.

Chin up.

Hes stuck at home, off work and bored.

I wasn’t suggesting that he does chin ups ffs.

do we only have so many hours in us?

Possibly.
Joss Naylor seemed to have used em up many decades ago, but seemed to just carry on though.

46 year old body here with a mind that still thinks it’s 21. Did something different at the weekend because the roads up here were deadly so kept off the bike and went for an off road run. I can just about manage to walk down the stairs again without crying out in pain! 😉
It’s the same for everyone!

Hmmm, no, I think it’s a bit luck of the draw how much it takes to wear you out!

Re: weight loss – you can’t know that you wouldn’t be feeling worse without it. It’s v important you’re getting lots of minerals and vitamins though.

I wasn’t suggesting that he does chin ups ffs.

Stylish, total class.

Try the decafe.

😉

It gets harder as you get older I’m 50 and still try to do what I did when I was 25 and I can’t, I’m slowly giving up trying to and now just go and enjoy myself, if you push too far it takes ages to recover I have found, but I still push myself because its fun to do so, just not to the point of blowing up and injuring myself. If I enter a duathlon ,xc race etc I don’t go in to win ( I don’t train enough or have the lightest bike or the the best trainers ), I do it for me and to just get the best performance I can,with what I have, and most of all to have fun. 😀

I think that as we get older we just have to look at the way we train and be a bit more sensible, weight training to aid bone density, active stretching etc.

I’m not sure how old you are Ton, but Joe Friel is a very respected coach and this is a good book.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cycling-Past-50-Joe-Friel/dp/0880117370/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1355839017&sr=8-6

I think the body sometimes needs time to recover, and to recover it needs to stay active. Perhaps take a time to look and try more ‘restorative’ exercises?
If you are losing weight, it’s quite possible you are down on certian nutrients, so it’s worth investigating this also.

do you think a human body has only so many hours of exercise in it?

Not that you can measure specifically, but yes – in that, leaving aside other factors, humans only ever live so long and – on the whole – tend to fall into disrepair at the same approximate rate.

does it eventually become worn out and unable to carry on performing exercise without breaking down?

It does. And some things will wear it out faster than others. You have, I think, been unlucky with the ticker. Given the growing body of evidence to show that long term endurance exercise isn’t as good for people as we like to think, a lifetime of playing sport and cycling may have – for you – been too much.

This is where the difference in general trend and individual experience comes in.

Surely must have… The heart is apparently ‘designed’ for 1 billion beats so you’d imagine the rest has a similar ‘design life’ wouldn’t you?

Ton I think it depends on the exercize and the level you do it at.You might have to accept you can’t ride/ play / run like you used to .I have, but it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy activities , you just have to readjust your goals .I only started riding and swimming as I’d **** up my heel and ankles and am not supposed to loadbearing stuff .
The world will be a smaller place without you on the trails so get your arse back in gear asap Mart

Joss Naylor seemed to have used em up many decades ago, but seemed to just carry on though.

Joss was crocked before he was out of his teens! Bad back, wrecked knees etc. etc. Just decided he wasn’t going to let it stop him.

Astonishing bloke.

Horse
Shite.

Look at all those folks that work in fields picking rice until they’re 95odd. Or the 100 yr old Asian bloke that ran the marathon this year, or all those in their 40’s finding a “new life” doing something like riding around South America, Or
Or..
Or..
Eddie Izzard

Cheer Up, get out there and suffer the pain.

This year was the first year in a long time I tried off road running. Never liked X Country as a Kid, but this year due to work constraints I took up off road running (trail running) Fek I ached, but I ran through it and not too bad at it now.

I’ve always though that we must have a set amounty of hours in us all that can be altered slightly by the exercise/work we do, once you reach that point its not game over, more like take a well deserved break!

Same with the brain too……. its only got so much memory capacity and once you reach that level you just cant remember anyhting else! I havent reached that level yet and its a great excuse to use when Mrs Sib keeps saying ‘i told you a few weeks ago….’. All I’ve got to say is ‘I chose not to store that info, brain capacity etc’

I’m not sure of the question your asking

every one talks about injury are you talking about getting ill as in infections

My experience that stress including over training leads to a weakened immune system

My job leaves my excercise capacity quite low.

My body injury wise is way better in my 40s with more excercise than in my 30s with less excercise

Have you used up too many of your heartbeats too young? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbeat_hypothesis
Even if that were true, I’d think I’d rather live as a hummingbird and go out in a metabolic blaze, than live 150 years as a giant tortoise.

I don’t know what I mean really, I said goodbye to my mate Robbie this week, 70-odd and beaten by stomach cancer. Still winning prizes fell racing this summer, with the attitude of a teenager. I guess it was just his turn.

Go see the Dr and get a mot

Over the past six and a half years i’ve taken about four weeks off plus the Christmas shutdown.

This year i’ve caught more colds than ever before which have taken a good while to shift. On top of work I’ve been visiting the gym 4 mornings a week plus a good ride at the weekend. Hindsight is a wonderful thing as now I can see i was spiralling downwards and despite advice to the contrary I continued.

Then i suffered a seizure, 5 weeks later and im feeling much better but as my wife says i was heading for a wake up call and it was a pity it was so dramatic.

So your body is telling you something, listen to it and visit the vets and in the meantime throttle back.

And no your body is the best bit of engineering you will find but with most things it needs looking after otherwise it will break.

It may be to do with emotional and mental demands as much as physical ones?

Ton .. sounds like maybe the frustration of trying so hard to do a highly physical sport when you’re not well is taking it’s toll and i’m not surprised . could you /would you consider doing a different regime like yoga where both your mind and body will benefit without straining .
sounds like a little bit of inner stillness would do you good ..I know I certainly crave it…..and it does work ..maybe not macho but hey ..do you really need that anymore ?
All the best
bill

just wanted to add ..some very insensitive replies earlier on ..hope your attempts at getting cheap laugh / being clever were worth it for you.

50 here, lifetime of football leaving me with only a certain percentage of cartlidge in each knee – so I took up the mtb and stopped any impact exercise. I have accepted that I’ll never climb a hill like I would have done at 25, but I’m having tremendous fun pushing myself within new limits. I know it’s easier said than done, but you never know how long you’ve got.
Get to the Quacks and as long as all is ok, just get out there, don’t pressurise yourself and whatever you do, do it with a smile on yer fizzog. 😉

Ton, to be honest I don’t know, but don’t give up if you still enjoy it. The crap days will be crap, those are the days for other hobbies/interests. The good days however, run with them and thrive on the memories. And keep tell us about it, because I for one love reading about it.

Perhaps time to throttle back and let the young ones take the strain.Perhaps if you do get made redundant it might be a good thing(depending on money etc).Does early retirement/semi retirement not appeal to you?

Kaisers got a point ton.I think we all would benefit from Yoga and meditation.I know I feel better physically and mentally after doing both.Think it also complements the cycling to.

s’crap innit? mrs_oab spent a few years susceptible to everything and anything – it took a long time to get diagnosed with Common Variable Immno Deficiency. She injects a new immune system each week, but even then seems to have a body that is falling apart quicker than it should, and still is not resistant to all sorts of stuff (two chest infections this winter already).
meh.

This is why Sebastian Coe, for example, always looks so fit. Clearly not doing much exercise during his lifetime has done him a world of good.