Less Over the Hill Thread

[ShaolinDan]

For those of us that may or may not have spent our youth in MA and are now suffering with nagging injuries and other ailments. This is for MAists that are under 40. I know lot's of us (myself included, also have chronic injuries/health issues).

How do you train now? Can you or do you still fight? How do you keep your skills up with your injuries?

Have you gained weight with age? How do you keep in shape? Can you run or do cardio? Have you tried supplements for energy or weight loss? Has your diet changed? What do you eat?

How many injuries do you have and what types? Torn ACL's? Meniscous? MCL's? Ankle's or feet? Hips or back? Head, Neck or Spine? How do you deal with them?

Have you retired from competition? Are you just teaching now? What are your future plans as you age in MA.

shaolindan

P.S. Sorry Gino, I seem to have contracted a mild case of the 'wise guys.'

[ginosifu]

no problem

LOL

ginosifu

[ShaolinDan]

Thanks. So far your you're thread is kicking my thread's butt anyway.

[Drake]

I'm 36, and I am still in really good shape. I do have the occassional IB band problem with my left knee from all the running in the Army, and some residual elbow hyperextension pain from one too many zealous arm-bars, but strength and endurance training are mitigating the effects.

For having been shot at, blown up, being infected with every nasty third world crud known to man, being forced to conduct physical training with people who think 8 miles is a "fun run", and falling off virtually every piece of equipment in the US Army's arsenal, as well as an Iraqi palace, I think I'm doing ok.

[Fa Xing]

I've done MA since I was 12 (I'm 29 now), and never really had an injury until a year ago from training; I injured my right shoulder, and developed bicipital tendonosis as a result.

Other than that, I'm doing good. Some aches and pains here and there, I definitely don't recover as fast as I used to. After chiro school is done, I would like to compete a little bit before hitting my forties just to say that I have that experience.

[ShaolinDan]

Yes, Drake, I'd say you've done very well.

Fa xing, 28 is a magic year...that was when I had my hernia... gained 15 lbs, but for me that was a Good thing, had been 125 since I was a freshman in high school. My body fat is still very very low...

29 was when I got (more like re-activated) my plantar fasciitus...lost a lot of training time...reduced to either nothing or tai chi for about a year and a half...wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to be on my feet all day to earn my living. it's pretty frustrating to be under thirty and unable to run or jump.

Now I'm 32 and I am doing well. had to exchange my feiyues for sambas and inserts, and have to keep my hamstrings stretched and give myself foot massages, and I have to keep my 'stomping' light, but for the most part I can do everything I used to now as long as I don't try to do it without arch support. 'course, that rules out ever getting into 'the cage,' but in my case that's probably a good thing.

Also have nagging pain in my knees ever since high school x-country, but so far nothing has 'blown out.'

[Pork Chop]

34

have had various issues come and go for a long time.

currently nursing:
-left shoulder has some pain on the top. it comes & goes. gets a little better with stretching.
-left knee hurts on the side of the leg, somewhere between the tendon for the hamstring and the outer edge of the kneecap. my driveway is a steep hill and I seem to torque it a lot getting out of my car. pushing off of the leg for front kick can also aggravate it. doesn't pop like it did for a little while, but never quite goes away.
-back. I get back pain a lot more frequently than I used to. definitely gets worse with inactivity & too much time sitting with bad posture. I don't think my bed is particularly back friendly. Flares up on the lower left side, just above the booty, and the center of my back; about mid level.
-stiff neck. the bone (vertebra?) at the base of my neck got really swollen from barbell squats earlier this year; to the point that it kind of looked like a hunch back. Taking some time off of heavy weights altogether and working on my "neck" posture.
-feet. my right foot is clubbed (corrected). both fleet are flat. I will always have foot issues. running is unfeasible until my weight drops significantly.

just getting back into a normal workout routine now that school's finished.
i had been doing pretty well over the summer, prior to my last semester; but the workload of my last class was overwhelming. It really crushed my spirit to have to put everything on hold once again; had a bit of a tailspin and hit the booze way too hard.