To anyone under 35

Don’t play rugby for 25 years

^^^^^ this ^^^^

i’m 31 and my body is a wreck from a life of playing contact sports

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Gross, this sounds like a nightmare :rofl: Alternatively, support your partner’s hobbies as much as you want them to support yours, strap an emergency repair kit to your bike, launder your own kit, shower after your rides, and wear earbuds when you train indoors?

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Don’t be a jerk to your future ex wife (or husband), it’s bad for the kids & you’ll have to live with it til you’re no longer living; learn to say no at work occasionally; put down the fork & back away; get off the damn couch; kill your television; put down your cell phone & renounce social media except for strava; weed more, alcohol less: motorcycles cost more than bicycles (scratch that, no longer true); do not neglect injuries & try to crash less; concussions are no joke, if you’re knocked out for 20+ minutes, it’s not minor despite what a doctor tells you; be a better parent before you recognize you need to be a better parent

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Thank you, I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes & if somebody else can learn from them then they’re worth more than have been for me.

An emergency bike repair kit weighs LOTS.
Laundry … Would mean me finding where the washing machine is hidden (Any clues welcome is it indoors)
The other issue… Is finding that magic dust thats added that seems to get the smell away :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
My partner likes salty kisses … Well I think so… I do shower when i get back thats how I know there is 3 day old kit still in the laundry basket.
Talking of that, time to find that magic washing machine.

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StrongFirst has an online course: https://strongfirst.skilltrain.com/Pages/Public/Course?se=153 and that is go-to recommendation and costs $99.

My progression was something like this:

  • hip hinging and hip mobility (no kettlebell)
  • deadlift
  • learn to properly hike and park the kettlebell
  • swings

If you are looking for free instruction, I like this YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoxkEdc-LOCiqcViSFRmktA

Really focus on form/technique and not increasing weight. if you aren’t flexible enough, don’t hesitate to elevate the kettlebell off the ground. Keep the back straight.

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I’m not buying it and neither are you. I’m also 53 and also more fit than I was in my 30’s, like you. It’s wrong to buy into this ‘over 50 crap’. There is a decline in a ability, but it’s like a noticing a feather drifting in one direction when you couldn’t feel a breeze to begin with.

To anyone under 35, who isn’t a Pro and had a fairly average lifestyle to this point, your athleticism only gets better as you get more exposure to knowledge through having more years, listen to your body more, sleep more, loose weight and drink less.

Read “Faster After 50” by Joe Friel. The current data shows a decline in VO2Max increasing faster after about 68 years old FOR NORMAL PEOPLE that didn’t do Jack for exercise along their life’s way. Anyone in this forum this is not a NORMAL PERSON. Friel even calls that out in the underlying data set he’s using. The data isn’t there yet, but it looks like if you’re concerned at 53 and in this forum, you shouldn’t lost Vo2Max appreciably until sometime after 68 years old.

I set many PR’s in April 2020 after 3-5 session weeks on TR over the winter. My Strength to Weight ratio is 3.5. I have lots of room to improve too by lifting, being more consistent, cutting out alcohol and losing weight.

This idea is just BS and it needs to die. I imagine it because the pros we see in all sports are pretty done by 35. That’s an entirely different data set and level of competition. In this forum, we’re not Pros either, who when they retire, still look like supermen/women in their metric to regular TR users.

Screw this ‘Relish your youth’…just relish being alive and breathing deeply. Do what coach Chad tell you to and watch your body magically get stronger at 53, 63, 73, 83.

Get out there and COMPETE. My new favorite quote is now from Michael Jordan in The Last Dance “No, there isn’t an “I” in Team. But there is an “I” in win.”

Don’t go quietly into your night, waving to some 35 years old about the old crappy days. I’m out there beating up on them and you should be too. Get out there and win.

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On the whole i agree with your sentiment, however I thought my youth would last forever which on the other side of the coin meant no real appreciation.

As some old git said to my younger self, “before you can be old and wise like me you have to be young and stupid like you”.

My mind is still writing cheques my body is having trouble cashing which means a more informed approach is required.

Ha! Easy. You have plenty of time. I didn’t start running until i was 45. (5K record = 19:27)

If you want to be inspired do a big race like a HM or IM or 70.3 and see the age of the folks in the front 10% - there’s a lot of 45-50, 50 and above, 60 and above…

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Youth indeed does not last forever, but it’s also not as much of a downdraft athletically as people think. I ran 11 miles and 5k feet of vert with my 17 year old twin boys last Wednesday and we’re equally sore today, two days later. I’m surprised they aren’t recovering faster than I am, but they did go 8 minutes faster up and 32 minutes faster down.

Your old git quote reminds me of a John Steinbeck quote from Sweet Thursday from the 1950’s that says the same thing…it’s essentially “I could tell you what you need to know, but you won’t listen. Nobody listens. I don’t know. Maybe that’s a good thing.”

The Stoics say the same thing too about youth’s nonchalance about aging, especially Marcus Aurelius in Meditations.

But more to the point, read “Faster After 50” to get the real data and more knowledge about what to do after 50 years old. Spoiler alert…almost the same thing as before 50.

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To anyone under 35:. You ain’t getting any advice from me. You are the enemy! :rofl:

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One idea for you then, leave the stress aside. The compromisse you have made is good, but when it is squeezing your good feelings out of you, instead of filling you in with it, it is time to start enjoying running, get yourself into the mood for run, then comes the harder achievements. :wink: after 35 just gets better !

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To everybody below 20: do not waste it. I started cycling when I was about 19 years old. Summer rider, was young, drank a lot. Usual stuff. But now that I am 32 I wish I would have been training for 10 consistent years already. I mean, I bumped my FTP from 140 to 220+ in about 9 months using TrainerRoad and 5 days a week training.

But When I was 19 I could just get up, ride 30-32 km/h in the wind for 100km after a small hangover, and do it again next day. Now I actually have to recover and am about 3km/h slower.

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Under 35 here. Overall good suggestions. Took up triathlon this year, looking for kettlebells (those buggers are hard to find, huh). I already have some stretch cords for some basic resistance training.

I only took up cycling about 2 years ago, this is now my 2nd season of TR. I’m hoping to gradually improve my swimming over next 2 years, and improve my running. Goal is a Sprint Tri next year, Olympic Tri the year after and perhaps even a half marathon. My tri club has plenty of much older and fitter men and women, so that’s an encouraging sign.

I embrace the mantra of “slow and steady”. Being desk-bound has taken a bit of a toll, and I’ve only recently begun to see progress in undoing the damage of that lifestyle.

BTW, I drink once in a Blue Moon :wink:

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During my childhood, my dad used to tell me he couldn’t keep up with my activities because he was getting old. He was only 40 when he first started saying this. He said it so often that it became his reality and he’s led a sedentary lifestyle for three decades.

Sure, things happen to your physiology as you get older, but that doesn’t mean you have to capitulate.

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Exactly. My dad taught skiing until 75 yrs old. He drove ~7 hours each way a couple times a month, while still holding a full-time job.

Only as old as you think you are…

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Getting old is gift needs to be highlighted and considered for a quiet moment by everyone. I am 77 years old, a TR subscriber for 5k or six years, a lifetime person involved in exercise of some sort with a current TSS on TR of about 600+/week plus some weight training. I am a retired heart surgeon with scoliosis who has undergone 21 orthopedic procedures including a partial knee replacement, 4 cervical discectomies etc etc. I have aches and pains all over during the day and at night; back, shoulder, wrists etc. I just try to keep moving, competing with myself, enjoying my 5 daughters and 11 grandchildren and eating in a healthy manner. And yes, for double-dog sure: GETTING OLD IS A GIFT.

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I meant in my reply 5 or 6 years, not 5k or six years. Weird

:metal: rock on!

Nothing but respect and huge kudos. :+1: