Anonymous wrote:A lot.

It is often tendinitis. I also often aggravate my back where I've had multiple herniated discs.

Best I can do is always take one week off completely every quarter. Over use injuries are a major problem for me.

This is my problem too. It is so very frustrating. I am always walking a fine line between staying strong/in shape and aggravating my back. It's pretty much impossible to find things that help me maintain my current level of strength and cardiovascular fitness without hurting my back. Running, jumping, rowing, biking, swimming all hurt. I have been to all the specialists and have tried various treatments. I know all the things I am supposed to do and not do. It's still so hard to avoid aggravating my lower back. My core and leg strength is very good and I have really good form when I lift. But it's not enough to keep me from flare ups. It is such a deep, bone level ache plus incredibly stiff muscles.

Sometimes it's just life stuff like having sit or stand too long that will trigger an episode. Currently going through this right now and no position is comfortable -- forget working out. That would send the muscles into even bigger spasms and I would be crawling on the floor.

I am jealous of the people at the gym who do things without having to worry about their backs. Some of them make me cringe with their form. But I guess people who are less prone to back problems can just get away with a lot more. Same way I can do things that would bother other people's joints or tendons. I don't seem prone to joint or connective tissue problems... just my stupid lumbar discs hate me.

I'm 38.... injuries from an accident/college sports are:
Narrowing and bulging of cervical and lumbar spine
R shoulder that easily dislocates
R kneecap that has dislocated several times and my knee is slightly misaligned

I work out 5 times a week with a mix of strength training, boxing (as a workout and sparring, not actually training to fight), and elliptical.
My back acts up every couple months but I can usually readjust it with physical therapy exercises. My neck is always in a low level of pain, working out rarely exacerbates it. As long as I pay attention to my shoulder and knee when weight lifting, I can avoid aggravating those injuries. If I push myself too hard or don't pay attention to a burn in my shoulder, I'll be in trouble.

That said , there are quite a few physical activities I just can't do at all because I know it will cause an issue. Any type of squat and a twist is out. Running and stairmaster is out. Sports with a racquet are out. A lot of ab exercises have to be modified.

Anonymous wrote:I started exercising more frequently because I was straining my back semi-frequently. The exercise has helped strengthen my back and now I'm injuring myself WAY less frequently and even when I do strain my back a bit, I recover much more quickly (stiff for a day or two vs. in pain for 6+ weeks).

What exercises do you do?

Level 3 groin tear doing squats.

Entire leg turned purple with blood over a week.
Still weak after about 8 months and limit squats.

It was terrifying when it happened.

from outdoor cycling and martial arts: Many, many, many broken bones and surgeries.

I don't do martial arts any more, and am extremely cautious on the bike outside.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now that I’m in my late 40s, I’m super cautious about getting hurt. So I go slower or lift less or just walk on a day where I am starting to feel twingy or suspect I might need a break.

+1

I don't feel "old" at 47, but I'm definitely mindful of hurting myself. I switched gyms because I was tired of getting hurt. My days of box jumping are over. My new gym specifies "no jumping" on their site and it's mostly women in their 40s-60s. Classes are still challenging and effective, but we don't do much that could injure us. And I have no problem just saying "nope" when the instructor shows us something that looks risky to me. Like if everyone's doing hard burpees I'll just stay down in a plank or something.

When I was at the other gym, I'd say about once every 2 months I'd hurt something. Nothing serious, but enough where I would feel pain (not just exercise soreness) for a few days. I work out to feel strong and healthy, not so that I have to hobble around for days afterward. I generally do 4 days a week at the gym and other days, I just take walks.

Was this a CrossFit gym?

Anonymous wrote:Now that I’m in my late 40s, I’m super cautious about getting hurt. So I go slower or lift less or just walk on a day where I am starting to feel twingy or suspect I might need a break.

+1

I don't feel "old" at 47, but I'm definitely mindful of hurting myself. I switched gyms because I was tired of getting hurt. My days of box jumping are over. My new gym specifies "no jumping" on their site and it's mostly women in their 40s-60s. Classes are still challenging and effective, but we don't do much that could injure us. And I have no problem just saying "nope" when the instructor shows us something that looks risky to me. Like if everyone's doing hard burpees I'll just stay down in a plank or something.

When I was at the other gym, I'd say about once every 2 months I'd hurt something. Nothing serious, but enough where I would feel pain (not just exercise soreness) for a few days. I work out to feel strong and healthy, not so that I have to hobble around for days afterward. I generally do 4 days a week at the gym and other days, I just take walks.

Strength training and appropriate volume/intensity is basically the key. And not being female. Being female is a good way to get injured as you get older, which is not something people want to hear. That's just biology.

On running - if you are running slower than 7 minutes per mile, it really isn't that stressful on the body. That is my experience. Once you are doing 30+ miles per week at 7 and below, that's where the forces really start to add up.

For cardio, you can use a bike. The bike is effectively impossible to get injured on (though unfit people can manage to get hurt, sure). On the bike, its basically the amount of time you have and how much you can eat back and sleep to recover.

Anonymous wrote:2 TBIs, one crushed knee, 2 broken ribs, 3 broken toes, a couple of fingers, slipped disc in my back, arthritis, muscle strains, hematoma I still have 2 years later…and I’m still out there every day.

Horse people are a special kind of crazy!

I started reading this list and even before I got to the end, I thought, “I bet she rides.”

My list is shorter, but all of the really noticeable ones have happened as an older and more cautious adult. I bounced much better when I was young and stupid.

Kick on, pro! This gravity-prone ammy salutes you.