“For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying.”
Gandalf Greycloak
About a year ago I purchased “Built from Broken”, a strength training book by Scott Hogan Built from Broken: A Science-Based Guide to Healing Painful Joints, Preventing Injuries, and Rebuilding Your Body). The premise of the book is that all of us have weaknesses, imbalances and old injuries that prevent us from using our bodies to their full potential. Mr. Hogan lays out exercises and plans to help correct and compensate for our body’s ailments, allowing us to maintain our strength in spite of all our bodies flaws.
I started using the precepts laid out in the book in December of 2023. I’ve modified some of the exercises, simply because I cannot do some of the exercises he recommends. Especially the leg movements. I also passed on his warmup routine, because if I could do the routine as described I wouldn’t need his damn book!
Still, I have found that my strength and conditioning is improving by leaps and bounds. My knee pain has decreased by 30 to 50 percent, and I have gained back about 25% of my normal range of motion on my bad knee.
Avoiding injuries
More importantly, I have not injured myself yet. This is actually a pretty big deal for me. Since I have passed the 50-year mark, I have injured myself several times when taking up strength training again. And it’s always something different each time. Mildly tore each of my hamstrings, inflamed my right shoulder a couple of times, and locked me knee up good more than once. All because I refused to admit that my body was incapable of doing what I was asking of it.
Now that I have passed the 60-year mark, it is more important than ever that I exercise within the limits of what my body can handle. In the words of noted philosopher Harry Callahan: “a man’s got to know his limitations”.
Keep that ego in check
They say that wisdom comes with age. They also say that sometimes age comes alone. Maybe I am getting a little bit of wisdom, because after all these years I have finally learned to exercise intelligently. And a big part of that come from learning to put my ego in check.
It is a hard thing for a man to admit that he isn’t as strong as he used to be. It’s one thing to get old, it’s another thing to become weak. So, we manly men continue to try and do things that we could do when we were much younger, in an attempt to defy old age (and reason).
And it’s not just in the gym that we old codgers need to accept our new limits. We need to be aware of our limitations at work and at home. A couple of winters ago, at my job at the golf course, I was moving crates up a steep ramp that led to a loft. My coworkers and I were storing signs and traffic stakes for the season. After a few trips up and down the ramp, I was bushed. I was sweating like crazy, my legs were shaky, and my knee wasn’t feeling too good either.
My boss, who was 20 years younger than me, looked over and asked if he could take the last crate up. My first impulse was to say: “naw, I got this”. Don’t want to look weak in front of the younger guys, you know? Then a wiser part of my brain said “bullshit”. I told my boss “Sure” and handed him the crate without another word. It was, for me, a profound and disquieting moment. It was also the right thing to do.
I told a buddy this story a few days later and he pondered for a moment, then said “there are physical therapy centers all over the country full of people who said “naw, I got this””. Truer words were never spoken.
Gotta stick with it
The other part of my wiser workout routine is I’ve been more consistent at going to the gym or riding my bike (when warmer weather arrives). I freely admit that I have failed at being consistent down through the years. I start off gangbusters, and my motivation is high. Then comes a day I am tired, or life threw a curveball, and I skip a workout. After that, each time I run into a difficulty it becomes easier to make up an excuse. Next thing you know, it’s been half a year since I stepped foot in the gym. And failing to stick to a routine can also lead to injuries.
How about you? Have you gotten wiser with age? Or are you one of those types of people who learned all this early on, and I’m just a dumbass?
