7 ms·

Extreme Athleticism Is the New Midlife Crisis

73 points by dsr12 8y ago

lellotope 8y ago
I have mixed reactions to pieces like this. It's very salient to me because I fit the stereotype being discussed. At 43, I did my first triathlon and am, I suppose, training to do more (the season for them is basically over where I live, so I can't really do more this year). The problem with the idea of the midlife "crisis" is that it's more a period of change and not all crisis. And it's somewhat, but not all, about mortality. At that age, in your 40s, you've often had enough time to establish a career, and for many, realize it's not what you thought it would be. It has nothing to do with mortality; if you started your career earlier or later, you'd be reaching that point earlier or later. Also, you've reached a point of wisdom to realize, yes, exercise is good, maintaining your health is good, all these articles you've been reading about it for years are right, and so forth and so on. You might have a new family, which changes things at any age. And finally, speaking of kids, I do think there's something about the 40s being the new 20s, the 60s being the new 40s, and so forth. I could go on and on about many things that cause change, but don't have anything to do with death or even old age. If you knew me, for example it would be clear that I am in fact in crisis in many ways, and have been in recent years, in the ways that the author suggests. But that's not what motivated me to do a triathlon. It has nothing to do with some need to prove myself or anything like that. It was all about being prodded by friends to join them, and it was something I had always been interested in. I've always been a little athletic. It could have happened in my 20s or 30s but didn't. Why my 40s? I'm not sure. I guess I've just reached a point where there are many things like triathlon I've been wanting to do for years, and am now getting around to it. When you reach that age there are things that accumulate like that. I think midlife change is very real, and often comes as a crisis, but I think that focusing on the mortality issues that do arise is really missing many, if not most, of the other factors involved. In the case of athleticism, it stigmatizes exercising and wellness. So you're doing a triathlon or a marathon in your 40s? Now this is a bad thing? Can those of us in our 40s get a break? It's another form of ageism in many regards.
- MR4D 8y ago
  The most highlighted quote on his page is this: ...extreme fitness is less about being young again and more about building yourself up for the years ahead. In other words, getting better at getting older. That suggests to me a positive angle, not a stereotype. Being 48 myself, and having gone thru a less-intense version of what you’ve done, I think the quote nails it for me and the others that I know. I actually think Baby Boomer generation deserves a lot of credit for pushing the boundaries, and our generation is following up in our own way. I can’t wait to see what the millennials do with this time in their lives.
  - alf-pogz 8y ago
    > I can’t wait to see what the millennials do with this time in their lives. Maybe finally have a down payment for a house!
    - ghaff 8y ago
      In which case, they'll find themselves spending all their spare time fixing up the house and otherwise engaged in house-related work :-)
- jimmcslim 8y ago
  > In the case of athleticism, it stigmatizes exercising and wellness. So you're doing a triathlon or a marathon in your 40s? Now this is a bad thing? Can those of us in our 40s get a break? It's another form of ageism in many regards. HEAR! HEAR! I'm almost 43. I've just starting playing beach volleyball in a social league - after hardly ever playing any team sport ever. Will I ever be able to mix it with those in their 20's or early 30's? Hell no. Am I having a lot of fun and keeping fit? Absolutely.
  - astannard 8y ago
    I think it's just a bad title. The article itself encourages exercising
- 8y ago
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
tunap 8y ago
It's not 'new' for middle-aged persons to begin doing things they have been meaning to do but never made time to do so far. It's the onset of age-related symptoms that remind us we're not getting any younger & our abilities are on the wane. Some definitely wig out, but most do something about it in constructive ways. I have logged 100 miles of rugged terrain & paddled more so in the last year. Because of a mid-life crisis? Nah, the possibility that within a decade or less I will not have the faculties to do these activities is what motivates me.
- anothergoogler 8y ago
  I thought that's what mid-life crises were all about: Trying to make the most of youth and vigor perceived as fleeting, vanishing.
  - tunap 8y ago
    The key word, and marketable perception, is "crisis". Most don't go off the rails and even fewer go to 'extremes'. This is what I consider real fake news, in the same vein as fake Reality TV. MSM sucks in so many varied ways.
hawkice 8y ago
I am skeptical that even running 50km with good hydration and fancy shoes on well-maintained paths would be considered extreme if you roll back the clock more than a couple thousand years. Long distance running is a core competency of humanity -- I've run ten miles while being, objectively, out of shape. If you remove the claims of how extreme this is, all this really says is that older Americans adopt exercise as a hobby they enjoy with seriousness. This is... not a crisis.
- dman 8y ago
  You might have very low standards for being out of shape.
- 2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
  Key difference is that people are now trying to break records and timing themselves. Anyone can complete a marathon. But completing it in a good time is hard.
- dominotw 8y ago
  > if you roll back the clock more than a couple thousand years. Long distance running is a core competency of humanity - Hasn't this been debunked?
  - creddit 8y ago
    I think if the parent knew it to be debunked, they certainly wouldn't have made that claim. This was a fact (AFAIK) that I was aware of before as well. A quick Googling provides large amounts of resources suggesting it's true. Article in Nature: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123163757.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123163757.h... NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html Harvard: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/04/humans-hot-sweaty-natural-born-runners/ https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/04/humans-hot-sw... And, again, many more from a quick Googling.
    - dominotw 8y ago
khitchdee 8y ago
Speaking from first hand experience, I go to this gym in Bethesda, MD. Very well equipped, including a pool. You go there early morning and you find half the people there a middle aged. Fit bodies juxtaposed with natural signs of age-ing. If you correlate facial expressions with age, you will find a noticeable correlation between age and seriousness. The point of going to a gym is to enjoy the process of replenishing your muscular strength. If you take that too seriously, that points to age-related associations you've developed that do not belong in the gym. The best way to learn about this is to consult an experienced trainer. All trainers in private gyms are in the peak of their fitness years and hence better qualified to determine what is best for you.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- jl2718 8y ago
  Most trainers are worthless. Source: trainer. A good trainer is basically there to evaluate and fix problems. Programs are pretty much the same for each particular goal, available for free on the internet. Want to ‘get in shape’? Great. Get your HR above 120 for an hour every day. Doesn’t matter how. Snatch stuck at body weight and you want to get to 1.5? Okay, go see a trainer. But you need one anyway. Source: human. Most people do absolutely nothing of value in the gym. They’d be healthier using the time to get more sleep. Enter the trainer. Something about a human telling you what to do is comforting and allows you to put your brain away and just do it. People that train with a trainer will see results. People that don’t, might. A trainer is required to be the best in any sport. Lots of people that are pretty good don’t use one. But if you’re at the bottom of the pile in where you want to be, get a trainer.
  - mothsonasloth 8y ago
    Thats the problem with gyms though, they offer nothing of human value. I switched to doing BJJ instead and I am addicted because I have training, discipline and a social aspect. I never got any of that pounding on the treadmill or struggling to lift 16kg dumb bells
andrewstuart 8y ago
Here's an interesting video if you are an extreme athlete: it is a cardiac researcher and lifelong exerciser who identifies that such exercise patterns damage the heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U728AZnV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U728AZnV0
- skookum 8y ago
  For a longer treatment of the same topic, I recommend reading the book The Haywire Heart by Case/Mandrola/Zinn.
- jl2718 8y ago
  Can’t watch, but I’m pretty sure this is more due to caffeine and NSAID abuse than exercise.
- loco5niner 8y ago
  This may be unfair, but I've become disillusioned with Ted talks, especially TedX talks.
bbarn 8y ago
Let's not also ignore the fact that doing triathlon is very expensive. Those who are mature, set in their lives, and have disposable income have much more access to it. Sure, you can swim in 5$ trunks, ride an old hybrid on the bike, and jog in the shoes you wear every day, but that's not the segment the article is addressing.
- dominotw 8y ago
  Is it very expensive though? Pair of good nike swim shorts + goggles cost like ~100 Decent road bike around ~1500 Good running shoes ~150 My gym membership with pool is ~65/month Sure thats expensive but is its not for super wealthy you need to be well established expensive.
  - taneq 8y ago
    The amount of free time required to train for a triathlon also makes it less tractable for someone with a full time job and school-aged children.
    - dominotw 8y ago
      Wouldn't this be more true for middle aged though. I certainly had way more time in my 20's.
      - taneq 8y ago
        I guess it depends on your definition of "middle aged". They seem to be talking about people in their late 40s to early 50s who you'd expect to have grown-up (or at least high-school aged) children and a lot more free time, compared with 30-soemthings with small children.
    - killjoywashere 8y ago
      I've had two periods of "intense health" so far. The first was high school through college where I was racing and training year-round. The second was in my mid-late thirties when I had a "full time" job that wasn't terribly busy, and I had kids. I definitely think that the job has a lot to do with it, but geography does too. I move around a lot and can tell you it is much easier to train in San Diego than it is in New Orleans or Norfolk, Virginia. Another key element has been friends to exercise with. I may be entering a third phase with another job transition which came with a move to a new location with world-class diving opportunities and readily accessible pools with lap lanes, despite working about as many hours as I did at my last job where exercise was next to non-existent simply because of commute time.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
fractallyte 8y ago
I know someone who was engaged in various vigorous sports for much of his adult life: running, weights, badminton, ping pong. 'Healthy' in every sense. At age 46 he has osteo-arthritis in his hips and knees. Now: no more intensive sports. Weights are still in, but cardio is limited. He can hear/feel grinding when he walks; even 1-2 km can present a problem. He hasn't given up, though: his big project now is to try to regain the lost cartilage. Consulted doctors, did huge amounts of research, and became an expert in the field of regenerative medicine. His blog details the cutting edge treatments he's administering himself (including purchasing an ultrasound scanner and injecting drugs directly into the joints): https://myjourney2curearthritis.wordpress.com/ https://myjourney2curearthritis.wordpress.com/ In a separate conversation, my doctor friend confirmed that the cartilage in joints wears out inevitably, especially with prolonged and repetitive use (cycling, running). There's very limited blood supply to cartilage and bone, so the body has no way of regenerating what's lost. There has to be an equilibrium sought in the pursuit of fitness and the resulting wear to the body. To paraphrase James Hilton, moderation in everything, including moderation itself.
- googlryas 8y ago
  The person you are talking about could simply have bad biomechanics, or pushed themselves beyond what they should have and not allowed for sufficient recovery.
- HeadsUpHigh 8y ago
  Weights, especially if done in the extreme and with bad form can cause deterioration on the joints. Take an extreme example: Ronnie Coleman, 7-times Mr. Olympia winner( bodybuilding). Apart from the insane amounts of drugs these people inject themselves( bodybuilding competitions are the only "sport" that doesn't test the athletes for steroids), this guy was training with free weights at the extreme. We are talking about 800 lbs squats etc. He has had 8 spinal disk surguries and both his knees replaced. Compare that to Phil Heath, the current mr Olympia winner for 8 times in row( I think, could be 7). He is using mostly machines and so far( he is pretty old at this point) hasn't had any major injuries. So my point is that although machines are proven to not increase functional strength( due to the isolation of the joints), at some point weightlifting can be detrimental. I don't know if the person you are talking about took it very far or not but it certainly sounds like the type of person that would.
dsajames 8y ago
Hardly midlife crisis. At 40, your kids might be getting old enough to require less time. You have a stable job, etc. Most importantly, the massive amount of information on hand, connectivity of the internet, and some creative organizers have allowed people to do what many have always wanted! Why is athleticism not looked on for a 20 year old, but is for a 40 year old? When a woman returns to work after a decade and a half off because of kids, is she going through a midlife crisis, assuming working wasn't needed to survive? A crisis implies an impending sense of doom or mortality. It implies socially unapproved behavior. A 50 year old man buying a Corvette to hit on 20 year olds. Extreme athleticism is hardly risky behavior unless you believe live should be without any risk and limited to strolls in park. Sometimes life just gets in the way for a decade or two. Does a 50 year old who buys a truck for hunting or fishing have a crisis? Hunting and fishing can be a lot cheaper than flying all over the world on vacations. A 40 year old is easily young enough to handle an R1, so why not buy one? If he can handle ultra-marathons, go for it. My father did triathlons until 60. Guess what? He loved them. It was a great way to pass the time. As you get older, you find you may have automated a lot of your life away, or at least simplified it. You might also not be fighting to climb the ladder, but instead discovered where you are happy. You might find your day to day too cerebral, with the rest of your body semi neglected. If you have achieved a lot "mentally", why not see what you can do physically?
glangdale 8y ago
[ meta-note: why is this flagged? we seem to be rather haphazardly applying the criteria "that good hackers might find interesting", especially given the number of hackers into life-hacking, surviving middle age and athletic behavior] Not a fan of running, but I am picking up way more BJJ classes than expected at my advanced age (46). Another factor that might help (aside from more free time, money, and the psychological factors in the article) is the fact that once you hit middle age, sporting behavior "is what it is". No-one expects that you're going to tear it up and compete with people in their 20s. I have found it way easier to maintain a focus on intrinsic achievements ("today I will do X because I want to and it's my goal") than extrinsic factors ("what people will think of me", "what I will look like") once Old Fart status is achieved.
jghjg 8y ago
Women obsessed with all this shit are skinny and far away from sexy
z3t4 8y ago
Old mans strength.
teekert 8y ago
I feel this way, and it seems logical. We have kids late, from 30 onward, we had a free life before and we want it again, only we will be about 50-55 when the kids leave the house. Moreover, we want to do cool stuff when the kids get the age at which they become capable of doing cool stuff (hiking for days, mountain-biking through the alps, ...) And yet we are now 36 and we get back pains from sitting all day, the horror! We must do more sports to be able to experience freedom as we did back when we were 28, when circumstances allow us again: when the kids grow up!! If only we had kids at 23 when we were most fertile. They'd be 16 now and we would have had a lifetime to live in wealth and freedom. (I'm exaggerating of course, kids are great but man, I would have been able to handle those sleepless nights better when I was 23 ;))
khitchdee 8y ago
There are now apps available that help you to meditate. Since the app not only has knowledge about the process of meditation but tools to help you stay focused on the process, they offer a far more effective way to follow the process. What I'm trying to say is extreme athleticism is only a reaction to a lack of discipline that is probably experienced in that stage of life which leads to side effects that have to corrected. While athleticism is a possible way to treat the problem, it doesn't really get to the root cause, my hypothesis anyways, and using a meditation coupled with some yoga classes under an experienced instructor is probably a better way to treat the effects of age related decay. Note that many of the famous yoga instructors such as Mr. Iyengar and Mr. Bikram who started entire schools of yoga were practitioners and teacher well into their final years. Since most modern gyms now have yoga sections, the problems of extreme athlecicism in Midlife are clearly highlighted to the observers of this new phenomenon.

73 points by dsr12 8y ago

I have mixed reactions to pieces like this. It's very salient to me because I fit the stereotype being discussed. At 43, I did my first triathlon and am, I suppose, training to do more (the season for them is basically over where I live, so I can't really do more this year). The problem with the idea of the midlife "crisis" is that it's more a period of change and not all crisis. And it's somewhat, but not all, about mortality. At that age, in your 40s, you've often had enough time to establish a career, and for many, realize it's not what you thought it would be. It has nothing to do with mortality; if you started your career earlier or later, you'd be reaching that point earlier or later. Also, you've reached a point of wisdom to realize, yes, exercise is good, maintaining your health is good, all these articles you've been reading about it for years are right, and so forth and so on. You might have a new family, which changes things at any age. And finally, speaking of kids, I do think there's something about the 40s being the new 20s, the 60s being the new 40s, and so forth. I could go on and on about many things that cause change, but don't have anything to do with death or even old age. If you knew me, for example it would be clear that I am in fact in crisis in many ways, and have been in recent years, in the ways that the author suggests. But that's not what motivated me to do a triathlon. It has nothing to do with some need to prove myself or anything like that. It was all about being prodded by friends to join them, and it was something I had always been interested in. I've always been a little athletic. It could have happened in my 20s or 30s but didn't. Why my 40s? I'm not sure. I guess I've just reached a point where there are many things like triathlon I've been wanting to do for years, and am now getting around to it. When you reach that age there are things that accumulate like that. I think midlife change is very real, and often comes as a crisis, but I think that focusing on the mortality issues that do arise is really missing many, if not most, of the other factors involved. In the case of athleticism, it stigmatizes exercising and wellness. So you're doing a triathlon or a marathon in your 40s? Now this is a bad thing? Can those of us in our 40s get a break? It's another form of ageism in many regards.

MR4D 8y ago
The most highlighted quote on his page is this: ...extreme fitness is less about being young again and more about building yourself up for the years ahead. In other words, getting better at getting older. That suggests to me a positive angle, not a stereotype. Being 48 myself, and having gone thru a less-intense version of what you’ve done, I think the quote nails it for me and the others that I know. I actually think Baby Boomer generation deserves a lot of credit for pushing the boundaries, and our generation is following up in our own way. I can’t wait to see what the millennials do with this time in their lives.
- alf-pogz 8y ago
  > I can’t wait to see what the millennials do with this time in their lives. Maybe finally have a down payment for a house!
  - ghaff 8y ago
    In which case, they'll find themselves spending all their spare time fixing up the house and otherwise engaged in house-related work :-)
jimmcslim 8y ago
> In the case of athleticism, it stigmatizes exercising and wellness. So you're doing a triathlon or a marathon in your 40s? Now this is a bad thing? Can those of us in our 40s get a break? It's another form of ageism in many regards. HEAR! HEAR! I'm almost 43. I've just starting playing beach volleyball in a social league - after hardly ever playing any team sport ever. Will I ever be able to mix it with those in their 20's or early 30's? Hell no. Am I having a lot of fun and keeping fit? Absolutely.
- astannard 8y ago
  I think it's just a bad title. The article itself encourages exercising
8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

tunap 8y ago

It's not 'new' for middle-aged persons to begin doing things they have been meaning to do but never made time to do so far. It's the onset of age-related symptoms that remind us we're not getting any younger & our abilities are on the wane. Some definitely wig out, but most do something about it in constructive ways. I have logged 100 miles of rugged terrain & paddled more so in the last year. Because of a mid-life crisis? Nah, the possibility that within a decade or less I will not have the faculties to do these activities is what motivates me.

anothergoogler 8y ago
I thought that's what mid-life crises were all about: Trying to make the most of youth and vigor perceived as fleeting, vanishing.
- tunap 8y ago
  The key word, and marketable perception, is "crisis". Most don't go off the rails and even fewer go to 'extremes'. This is what I consider real fake news, in the same vein as fake Reality TV. MSM sucks in so many varied ways.

hawkice 8y ago

I am skeptical that even running 50km with good hydration and fancy shoes on well-maintained paths would be considered extreme if you roll back the clock more than a couple thousand years. Long distance running is a core competency of humanity -- I've run ten miles while being, objectively, out of shape. If you remove the claims of how extreme this is, all this really says is that older Americans adopt exercise as a hobby they enjoy with seriousness. This is... not a crisis.

dman 8y ago
You might have very low standards for being out of shape.
2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
Key difference is that people are now trying to break records and timing themselves. Anyone can complete a marathon. But completing it in a good time is hard.
dominotw 8y ago
> if you roll back the clock more than a couple thousand years. Long distance running is a core competency of humanity - Hasn't this been debunked?
- creddit 8y ago
  I think if the parent knew it to be debunked, they certainly wouldn't have made that claim. This was a fact (AFAIK) that I was aware of before as well. A quick Googling provides large amounts of resources suggesting it's true. Article in Nature: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123163757.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041123163757.h... NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html Harvard: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/04/humans-hot-sweaty-natural-born-runners/ https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/04/humans-hot-sw... And, again, many more from a quick Googling.
  - dominotw 8y ago

khitchdee 8y ago

Speaking from first hand experience, I go to this gym in Bethesda, MD. Very well equipped, including a pool. You go there early morning and you find half the people there a middle aged. Fit bodies juxtaposed with natural signs of age-ing. If you correlate facial expressions with age, you will find a noticeable correlation between age and seriousness. The point of going to a gym is to enjoy the process of replenishing your muscular strength. If you take that too seriously, that points to age-related associations you've developed that do not belong in the gym. The best way to learn about this is to consult an experienced trainer. All trainers in private gyms are in the peak of their fitness years and hence better qualified to determine what is best for you.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
jl2718 8y ago
Most trainers are worthless. Source: trainer. A good trainer is basically there to evaluate and fix problems. Programs are pretty much the same for each particular goal, available for free on the internet. Want to ‘get in shape’? Great. Get your HR above 120 for an hour every day. Doesn’t matter how. Snatch stuck at body weight and you want to get to 1.5? Okay, go see a trainer. But you need one anyway. Source: human. Most people do absolutely nothing of value in the gym. They’d be healthier using the time to get more sleep. Enter the trainer. Something about a human telling you what to do is comforting and allows you to put your brain away and just do it. People that train with a trainer will see results. People that don’t, might. A trainer is required to be the best in any sport. Lots of people that are pretty good don’t use one. But if you’re at the bottom of the pile in where you want to be, get a trainer.
- mothsonasloth 8y ago
  Thats the problem with gyms though, they offer nothing of human value. I switched to doing BJJ instead and I am addicted because I have training, discipline and a social aspect. I never got any of that pounding on the treadmill or struggling to lift 16kg dumb bells

andrewstuart 8y ago

Here's an interesting video if you are an extreme athlete: it is a cardiac researcher and lifelong exerciser who identifies that such exercise patterns damage the heart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U728AZnV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U728AZnV0

skookum 8y ago
For a longer treatment of the same topic, I recommend reading the book The Haywire Heart by Case/Mandrola/Zinn.
jl2718 8y ago
Can’t watch, but I’m pretty sure this is more due to caffeine and NSAID abuse than exercise.
loco5niner 8y ago
This may be unfair, but I've become disillusioned with Ted talks, especially TedX talks.

bbarn 8y ago

Let's not also ignore the fact that doing triathlon is very expensive. Those who are mature, set in their lives, and have disposable income have much more access to it. Sure, you can swim in 5$ trunks, ride an old hybrid on the bike, and jog in the shoes you wear every day, but that's not the segment the article is addressing.

dominotw 8y ago
Is it very expensive though? Pair of good nike swim shorts + goggles cost like ~100 Decent road bike around ~1500 Good running shoes ~150 My gym membership with pool is ~65/month Sure thats expensive but is its not for super wealthy you need to be well established expensive.
- taneq 8y ago
  The amount of free time required to train for a triathlon also makes it less tractable for someone with a full time job and school-aged children.
  - dominotw 8y ago
    Wouldn't this be more true for middle aged though. I certainly had way more time in my 20's.
    - taneq 8y ago
      I guess it depends on your definition of "middle aged". They seem to be talking about people in their late 40s to early 50s who you'd expect to have grown-up (or at least high-school aged) children and a lot more free time, compared with 30-soemthings with small children.
  - killjoywashere 8y ago
    I've had two periods of "intense health" so far. The first was high school through college where I was racing and training year-round. The second was in my mid-late thirties when I had a "full time" job that wasn't terribly busy, and I had kids. I definitely think that the job has a lot to do with it, but geography does too. I move around a lot and can tell you it is much easier to train in San Diego than it is in New Orleans or Norfolk, Virginia. Another key element has been friends to exercise with. I may be entering a third phase with another job transition which came with a move to a new location with world-class diving opportunities and readily accessible pools with lap lanes, despite working about as many hours as I did at my last job where exercise was next to non-existent simply because of commute time.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

fractallyte 8y ago

I know someone who was engaged in various vigorous sports for much of his adult life: running, weights, badminton, ping pong. 'Healthy' in every sense. At age 46 he has osteo-arthritis in his hips and knees. Now: no more intensive sports. Weights are still in, but cardio is limited. He can hear/feel grinding when he walks; even 1-2 km can present a problem. He hasn't given up, though: his big project now is to try to regain the lost cartilage. Consulted doctors, did huge amounts of research, and became an expert in the field of regenerative medicine. His blog details the cutting edge treatments he's administering himself (including purchasing an ultrasound scanner and injecting drugs directly into the joints): https://myjourney2curearthritis.wordpress.com/ https://myjourney2curearthritis.wordpress.com/ In a separate conversation, my doctor friend confirmed that the cartilage in joints wears out inevitably, especially with prolonged and repetitive use (cycling, running). There's very limited blood supply to cartilage and bone, so the body has no way of regenerating what's lost. There has to be an equilibrium sought in the pursuit of fitness and the resulting wear to the body. To paraphrase James Hilton, moderation in everything, including moderation itself.

googlryas 8y ago
The person you are talking about could simply have bad biomechanics, or pushed themselves beyond what they should have and not allowed for sufficient recovery.
HeadsUpHigh 8y ago
Weights, especially if done in the extreme and with bad form can cause deterioration on the joints. Take an extreme example: Ronnie Coleman, 7-times Mr. Olympia winner( bodybuilding). Apart from the insane amounts of drugs these people inject themselves( bodybuilding competitions are the only "sport" that doesn't test the athletes for steroids), this guy was training with free weights at the extreme. We are talking about 800 lbs squats etc. He has had 8 spinal disk surguries and both his knees replaced. Compare that to Phil Heath, the current mr Olympia winner for 8 times in row( I think, could be 7). He is using mostly machines and so far( he is pretty old at this point) hasn't had any major injuries. So my point is that although machines are proven to not increase functional strength( due to the isolation of the joints), at some point weightlifting can be detrimental. I don't know if the person you are talking about took it very far or not but it certainly sounds like the type of person that would.

dsajames 8y ago

Hardly midlife crisis. At 40, your kids might be getting old enough to require less time. You have a stable job, etc. Most importantly, the massive amount of information on hand, connectivity of the internet, and some creative organizers have allowed people to do what many have always wanted! Why is athleticism not looked on for a 20 year old, but is for a 40 year old? When a woman returns to work after a decade and a half off because of kids, is she going through a midlife crisis, assuming working wasn't needed to survive? A crisis implies an impending sense of doom or mortality. It implies socially unapproved behavior. A 50 year old man buying a Corvette to hit on 20 year olds. Extreme athleticism is hardly risky behavior unless you believe live should be without any risk and limited to strolls in park. Sometimes life just gets in the way for a decade or two. Does a 50 year old who buys a truck for hunting or fishing have a crisis? Hunting and fishing can be a lot cheaper than flying all over the world on vacations. A 40 year old is easily young enough to handle an R1, so why not buy one? If he can handle ultra-marathons, go for it. My father did triathlons until 60. Guess what? He loved them. It was a great way to pass the time. As you get older, you find you may have automated a lot of your life away, or at least simplified it. You might also not be fighting to climb the ladder, but instead discovered where you are happy. You might find your day to day too cerebral, with the rest of your body semi neglected. If you have achieved a lot "mentally", why not see what you can do physically?

glangdale 8y ago

[ meta-note: why is this flagged? we seem to be rather haphazardly applying the criteria "that good hackers might find interesting", especially given the number of hackers into life-hacking, surviving middle age and athletic behavior] Not a fan of running, but I am picking up way more BJJ classes than expected at my advanced age (46). Another factor that might help (aside from more free time, money, and the psychological factors in the article) is the fact that once you hit middle age, sporting behavior "is what it is". No-one expects that you're going to tear it up and compete with people in their 20s. I have found it way easier to maintain a focus on intrinsic achievements ("today I will do X because I want to and it's my goal") than extrinsic factors ("what people will think of me", "what I will look like") once Old Fart status is achieved.

jghjg 8y ago

Women obsessed with all this shit are skinny and far away from sexy

z3t4 8y ago

Old mans strength.

teekert 8y ago

I feel this way, and it seems logical. We have kids late, from 30 onward, we had a free life before and we want it again, only we will be about 50-55 when the kids leave the house. Moreover, we want to do cool stuff when the kids get the age at which they become capable of doing cool stuff (hiking for days, mountain-biking through the alps, ...) And yet we are now 36 and we get back pains from sitting all day, the horror! We must do more sports to be able to experience freedom as we did back when we were 28, when circumstances allow us again: when the kids grow up!! If only we had kids at 23 when we were most fertile. They'd be 16 now and we would have had a lifetime to live in wealth and freedom. (I'm exaggerating of course, kids are great but man, I would have been able to handle those sleepless nights better when I was 23 ;))

khitchdee 8y ago

There are now apps available that help you to meditate. Since the app not only has knowledge about the process of meditation but tools to help you stay focused on the process, they offer a far more effective way to follow the process. What I'm trying to say is extreme athleticism is only a reaction to a lack of discipline that is probably experienced in that stage of life which leads to side effects that have to corrected. While athleticism is a possible way to treat the problem, it doesn't really get to the root cause, my hypothesis anyways, and using a meditation coupled with some yoga classes under an experienced instructor is probably a better way to treat the effects of age related decay. Note that many of the famous yoga instructors such as Mr. Iyengar and Mr. Bikram who started entire schools of yoga were practitioners and teacher well into their final years. Since most modern gyms now have yoga sections, the problems of extreme athlecicism in Midlife are clearly highlighted to the observers of this new phenomenon.