The older you get, the more you need to listen to your body. If your knee feels a little weird that day, skip the squats and lunges. If your shoulder felt a little funny going up on that shoulder press, skip that movement entirely. If your lower back is feeling a bit tight and it still doesn't feel right after warming up, back off the deadlifts. Too often injuries come from convincing ourselves that it's no big deal, you'll push through the workout.
Learning to tell the diff is prob one of the most impt things to learn about working out and fitness in general. And a big one I'm learning now in my 30s.
I pushed a lot before thinking I was just needing to break through a wall and then it'd be a new PR. Then I hurt myself. Now I'm more in tune. Esp with my shoulder and knee. If it doesn't feel right, we go down in weight a lot or just skip it. I crave soreness, but not pain. One means you did something and it fades, the other means you hurt something and can have lasting consequences.
Yeah, one big lesson I wish I learned sooner is that even though feeling sore the next day is good, any pain during the workout is a sign that something is wrong and you need to change your plans.
And after a certain age, you really do need to accept you can't do everything you did when you were younger. Plus you need to spent more time on stretching and functional fitness.
This advice is the other side of the coin of just pushing through the pain though.
Yeah, if youre having pain dont push through - but dont stop using that bodypart entirely.
You have to figure out why youre getting that pain, and usually its a form/posture issue combined with weakness.
You work around it, you build up the basic strength and mobility you need to do the movement safely again.
Knee issues when squatting can mean youre putting your knees too far forward with too heavy a load.
Lower back issues can mean youre not bracing properly or rounding your back too much.
Shoulder on a shoulder press can mean shoulder instability and weakness, or your arms arent in the right position going up.
Too often injuries comes from not lifting properly and lifting heavier than we should - even though we can.
Mid-40s here and my knees never feel right anymore. Basketball 2-3 days a week pretty much started it. If I skipped legs because my knees felt off I'd be so top heavy I'd fall over.
Most of the "knee experts" seem to be of the opinion that loading my knee ligaments is the only way to force them to get stronger and feel better. Now to just stop jumping on them so I stop making the problem worse...
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u/etham 11h ago
The older you get, the more you need to listen to your body. If your knee feels a little weird that day, skip the squats and lunges. If your shoulder felt a little funny going up on that shoulder press, skip that movement entirely. If your lower back is feeling a bit tight and it still doesn't feel right after warming up, back off the deadlifts. Too often injuries come from convincing ourselves that it's no big deal, you'll push through the workout.