As a 54 year old who has just had two weeks of agony because he forgot his age and tried to deadlift a 225kg motorbike by himself, I'm going to skip this one because I clearly haven't learned anything.

Nothing. It takes like five times longer for bruises and cuts to heal, but it's not bad enough for me to change my behavior to avoid them.

I've had to come to terms with taking things slower than I used to. I learned the hard way that I can't just train for a 10k in a few weekends.

The rule of increasing distance/duration by 10% per week is to protect our joints/bones/etc when they ain't what they used to be.

Walk 5km a day during the week, and 8-10km a day on weekends. Weights three to four times a week, and a cardio session afterwards. I like using the ski machine, as it gives me a serious workout without any impact.

Weights has had a huge impact on my quality of life, as I am recovering (recovered?) from a serious head injury. I was not active for nearly 18 months and am feeling good about my body for the first time in years.

58m here for context.

how badly do you guys treat your bodies that you are decrepit in your 30s??

as someone over forty: Have a hearty FUCK YOU, and buckle up snowflake.

I road bike, try to do yoga regularly, and incorporate strength training when I have time (never). Don't try to ramp up too fast with activity because not getting injured is the biggest priority. The more mindful activity you do, you'll become more resilient and less likely to get injured.

Trying to eat healthy (really just avoiding ultra processed foods and not drinking too much) also helps. I normally check to see where stuff falls on the NOVA scale. If it's higher than a 3, I try to avoid it all together.

Just walk for everything under a mile. Eat one type of new fruit a week.

The less you weigh, the easier life becomes.

Drop alcohol completely.

Buy high quality shoes, beds, tired & brakes.

Go for a walk (outside) every day. I used to try different posture exercises, running, sprinting interval training, but as you get older, nothing is healthier and easier on your body than just daily walks.

We kinda are walking machines anyway:

Bonus points for mental health if you walk in nature, without any headphones or entertainments.

Also do strength training (you can get hand barbells very cheap if you don't have a gym close by), starting very light at first, and working up to whatever feels comfortable.

Healthy Hobbies instead of Gym - stuff that's actually fun for me instead of just a chore

In my case, Sport Climbing and Yoga

Over the hill at 30? Damn. I'm 49 and have no issues. Stay active walking, biking, hiking, I work an active job also. I live that I stayed in shape as a younger man and it's worked well as a middle aged man. I plan on staying active for decades.

Cycling is great. Not hard impact. Can really push yourself if you want to. Cardio and strength training. You get to be outside feeling the wind against your face. And you can cover a lot more distance than walking or running so you can make a trip out of it.

I raise my standing desk. Occasionally.

My 94yo friend is still going strong. His advice is to keep moving. Even just going for a short walk does more than you realise.

Look after your eyes, ears, and back, and always wear the recommended protective gear. People who say you look stupid using the correct technique or wearing protective gear will either die first, or regret their decision after it's too late to do anything about it.

Most of all, learn from other peoples mistakes. You don't have enough time or luck to make them all yourself.

As a Lemming, I walk over cliffs.

ITT: One half providing helpful insight into healthy physical activities, the other half total assholes ripping into this person for not being a jock.

Some people have been living sedantary life styles, the reasons for such can range from lack of interest to mental illness. Some people get a good dopamine hit from exercise. For others, exercise is a pretty miserable experience.

If someone is reaching out to seek advice on how to improve their lives, lend a helping hand. Please don't be an asshole.

SWIMMING POOL

When I was that age my main exercise was commuting by running or biking. I got additional sporadic exercise doing miscellaneous sports. Having kids made it very hard to do more than that. I'm not working now and have the time and energy to do much broader and consistent exercise.

Turning your commute into your exercise regimen is great. Be warned though that the human body is great at optimizing and will quickly adapt to that specific routine. When you vary off that routine you'll find you're not in as great of shape as you thought. But you'll be miles ahead from where you'd be otherwise.

I know this guy, did judo for at least 20 years. Stopped doing that, but kept doing the bodyweight training every other day. Push ups etc.

He's now 70. I hope I can be as fit and strong as he is by that age. He still does his exercises every other day, and he still works in the garden etc.

So, what I do is even if I don't go to the gym anymore, I try to do bodyweight stuff every other day or so. Push ups, belly exercises, squats, pull ups on something. Yes, the gym is more intense, but if I can keep this up for the rest of my life the gains will be there.

I also try to be careful about what I eat, and I'm failing hard at that. I do walk a lot though, I have an active job and also a dog.

Strength exercise keeps your joints working well long-term

I turn on a bubble pop playlists and move wildly (sort of 80s aerobics videos style mixed with dance) until I have tired muscles all over. It’s mostly to ensure that weird muscles get worked that don’t with standard exercises, which tends to help with stability and overall strength. It’s also good for my mood. Bubble pop is happy dancy music, and free-form semi-dance movement feels good.

I also practice balance -a lot- such as standing on one foot while I cook or wash dishes. Helps prevent tripping and falling and hurting myself, and helps when I have to juggle stuff because I refuse to set it down. Also impresses the hell out of people when I use my thigh as a table while standing on one foot.

Rowing and swimming (in a pool, not because the boat capsized). Both are non weight bearing, easy on the joints. Rowing is excellent for your core.

First of all, stretching. The same stuff I learned back in gym class. The same stuff my soccer coaches made me do in elementary and middle school. Having a morning routine is good, but also taking a moment to stretch before physical activity helps. Whether that's working out, mowing the lawn, moving the Christmas decorations down from the attic, having sex, or whatever else.

Then there is exercise. I have had a basic structure for years that I landed on in high school, and I keep changing it as my needs change. I've also gone through years of my life where I have stopped exercising and faced the consequences.

The core structure is a super set of arm workouts with free weights. Curls, front raises, overhead extension, hammer curls, lateral raises, overhead press. The amount of weight, number of reps, and number of sets varies. If I haven't worked out in a while and just want to get my joints used to moving again, I might not use any weight and just do 20 reps of each for 2 or 3 sets. If I'm strength training that might be something like 5-10 reps at 25lbs each hand (honestly higher weight/lower reps would be better, but those are my biggest weights and I don't want to spend the money or dedicate more space in my house for bigger ones right now).

Of course, arms alone is a terrible workout. If I am in a hurry, I'll do what I consider a "focused" set. I start with pushups (using my 25lb weights as hand holds), then upright rows (with the 25lb weights I still have), then situps (using the 25lb weights as footholds, often grabbing extra weights to hold in my hands). Then I stand up and do the 6 exercises I mentioned earlier, and end with a handful of squats. Then repeat one or two more times. This is usually between 15-45 minutes depending on how long I take to rest, how many reps, and whether I'm doing 2-4 sets. My biggest complaint is that I get bored. I can put in music but that only does so much.

If I want a longer workout with more cardio, I have other options. Until a year ago I had a treadmill and a 10" Fire tablet I got real cheap and hacked to allow regular android apps. I installed Steam Link and used a MayFlash USB adapter to connect joy cons, and this let me play games from my gaming PC while on the treadmill. Not all games work- I found a lot of 3D games disprorienting, and fast-past games were hard because I wanted to time my inputs with my walking pace. But stuff like emulating Pokemon games, visual novels like Ace Attorney, and other turn-based games like Wargroove were great. Playing games and working out made me really enjoy working out, it was great to make progress on my backlog, and it was overall blorerty great. Did that for years and went through a couple of treadmills that broke.

Last year when the treadmill broke my wife and I discussed other options. I have a bad knee and so I wanted to try something lower-impact. The treadmill was also really loud- headphones were required. So instead we got an exercise bike. It's been even better than the treadmill was, but being more stable means I'm more comfortable with lifting weights while I use it than I was while walking on the treadmill. Which is great multitasking, but instead of playing videogames I just watch videos on the tablet. Still good, but I do miss the gaming time sometimes. But it's also really nice to get arms and cardio in at the same time.

Ultimately it's a balance in constantly tinkering with. The beauty is that once you have the core movements down it's very easy to customize. Strength, cardio, endurance, muscle mass, time, entertainment value, whatever it is I need. It's good to alternate throughout the week. At my peak I workout every day, but that's rare to sustain because life gets in the way.

Nutrition... I'm sure some vegans and vegetarians are going to hate on myself for this, but I've found the best results come from a nearly-carnivorous keto diet. Eggs for breakfast. Zero-carb protein powder smoothie for lunch (with a bit or orange juice, peanut butter and ice. Some banana if you can spare the carbs). Chicken or pork with leafy green veggies for dinner. Cheese and nuts for snacks. I don't do it all the time, but every time I've done it i usually lose about 30lbs in 2 months. I've tried other diets and general CICO and it just doesn't work the same- I can actively feel my metabolism change as I enter ketosis. And once I'm there, I can shove as much protein into my face as I want and still lose weight.

Which brings me to my final tip: marijuana. Other people my age swear by Tylenol or ibuprofen, but THC is my drug of choice, especially for my bad knee. I can still feel the discomfort in my knee and know that something is not quite right, it just stops bothering me. I feel less likely to accidentally do something that damages my knee further, plus it's better for the kidneys and liver and stomach than those other drugs. Plus it's fun to get high... On the exercise bike... And then snack on a bunch of cheese and nuts with no consequences. It really feels like what my body wants to do.

Final tip: Pedialyte makes freezer pops. It's basically Gatorade as a freeze pop form, and they're only 4 carbs each! Great frozen treat in the summer when you're doing something that involves sweating.

Swimming, going on long walks is a good start. Doesn't stress the joints that much.

Dance dance revolution and weight training

Keep moving

I lift weights, however I do not avoid boo-boos. I’m a clutz

Sleep is the top priority. Warm-ups and active recovery has become mandatory

I still average about 10K steps per day, but if I take it easy and just sit around the house for a few days too long I instantly get punished with a gout attack. Apart from that 500% daily recommended dose of vitamin D seems to be enough to keep this decrepit old husk going

I bent over this morning to scoop out some feed for the chickens and threw out my lower back.

So, not enough it seems.

I'm a big cinema fanboy, so up until last year I went to the cinema every week. It was 14km away from me, so I had to cycle on my bike a lot. That was really healthy!

But now I've moved into a new apartment right next to the cinema and I've grown quite large. I'm still figuring it out being a lazy bastard now.

I still lift weights, although now it is more about staying toned than getting huge gains. I also try to do cardio at least twice a week.

Injuries are harder to recover from so if something starts to hurt in a bad way I stop and do something else.

45M

I'm probably in better shape now, than when I was in my late 20's and defiantly in my 30's.

I go rock climbing once a week. And general running around with my 3 boys... For the exercise part.

But about 90% out the improvement is, I have a way better diet. If you can't identify it by eye, severely limit how much of it you eat.

If you can't confidently state "hey, that is a bit of broccoli" or "that's beef mince" etc...don't eat much of it.

Fruit, vegetables, meat, spices, simple grains, rice..... Keep your ingredients simple, it will pay dividends in health long term.

I'll be 55 this week. I just keep doing what I've always been doing and accept that cuts and bruises take a little longer to heal. What else should I do, cover myself in bubble wrap?

I'm 57 and I started running this year. Overtraining is the biggest issue for me. I'm up to about three miles maybe four times per week, but most of those miles are zone 2 HR, really slow and easy runs. On the weekend I'll do a tempo run, or intervals, alternately. If I maintain that schedule for more than a month or so I end up a little more sore every time I go running and my time starts to drop. So I have to take most of the week off every four or six weeks. I also take a lot of supplements; creatine, L-carnitine, Beta-Alanine, protein, etc. They help. I feel I can exert myself more since I started taking them. I also take EFAs for joint health, collagen for connective tissue recovery, and sometimes MSM, though evidence on that one is spotty.

A lot of people here are saying walking, but walking doesn’t actually do that much for you unless you’re really inactive or out of shape. Gotta get your heart rate up at least a few times a week at our age. Gotta be something you at least kind of enjoy or you won’t do it. I do a running club and go jogging 3-5 times a week at around 5k each time. Also keep track of your calories intake, I try and keep mine around 1800 a day.

Age 57 here. We kind of blobbed up a bit during the pandemic. About a 18 months ago we started walking every day at lunch, about 2.5 miles. Not huge distance but just being consistent with it I think has helped us a lot. We did a few hikes this year that I don't think we could have done (or not without more injury risk) without the consistent walking.

For me tendonitis has been a thing. Got my first case of it in my late 20s and have had several bouts of it since - achilles, hip flexors, wrist, etc. Learning to recognize that as a problem and what to do to recover is important, as repetitive stress injuries can keep you from doing a lot of things.

Big one is just walk more. If there's anything near your house that you regularly drive to, start trying to walk there as much as possible.

I have a lot of trouble motivating for the gym and similar self-directed activities, so I find classes or semi-organized sports much easier to do consistently.

Mid 30s, I gym, i've gymed for years, but now i have prehab warm up exersizes for the big lifts to activate all the supporting muscles. I havent pulled anything in a while so i guess they are working.

I plateued, years ago, i dont need to get any bigger. Instead i do much more rounded workouts.

From what i've read, rowing is super low impact and very good for your health from a cardio perspective and a muscle workout perspective. I keep meaning to give it a try, but my routine works for me. Maybe as i get older.

Best time to build muscle for the rest of your life was 20 years ago. Second best time is now.

I delude myself into believing I'm young still and just deal with the consequences.

Disc golf. Standing and walking a lot. Keeping a strong back. I have a bulging disc and strong back really helps. Not being crazy overweight.

My job is super active. On top of that, I walk, run, and practice martial arts. I eat healthy af meals (vegetarian). I don’t drink. One cheat meal a week, I guess. Top-rope rock climbing once in a while. 5’, 118 maintaining…which sounds fat, but I’m pretty much just muscles if you don’t count the bewbies.

My vice is candy though. And it’s peppermint bark season. Send help.

over 30s

avoid boo-boos

lol I hurt myself in my sofa watching a movie

Yoga. I started doing some distance running and besides learning to run in the correct zone so I am not maxing out my body everytime I have been doing this Post Run Yoga after most runs. It really helps and allows me to cool down and stretch well. The rest of her videos also rock

at 50+ with an active job (I can plow through 12,000 steps a day) and two preteen kids - don't really have time to do shit all else during the week.

After I broke my shoulder 18 months ago I did notice I became a lot less fit and put on 3 or 4 kg

Ping pong / table tennis (depending on how seriously you take it) can be a VERY good way to get your steps in. In a 2 hour session I get about 8-10 thousand steps. This is 4 to 5 miles. It is low impact and you can really get a good sweat on.

jerking off 3 to 5 times a day keeps the doctor away, especially if you don't shower afterward

I ride to work

Bikram yoga weekly. And even biweekly, whenever I can.

Restored me from the incredibly bad health situation, and so far was the easiest way to maintain the body.

All other activities are too stressful in the organizing.

Cycling. I was too heavy and out of shape to jump straight to the deep end so I went with a pedal assist ebike, it allows me to move at a rapid pace while still keeping in the cardio range. I live close enough to work to cycle to and from, gives me an extra 30 minutes of high intensity cardio per day. That and cooking at home using fresh ingredients as much as possible. Also, less garbage carbs, more complex carbs (also learned I have celiac disease so I also had to go gluten free, though you might not have that particular issue)

I walk to work 5.5km everyday

I am 40+ and I just realized the huge importance biomechanics has in choosing a sport or, in my case, the right free weights exercises to do in the gym: if you get someone who ACTUALLY STUDIED Biomechanics in university or anyway an academic-level course, they can take measurements of your limbs and torso and suggest literally the kind of exercise that would have the most return while keeping the chance of injuries at a minimum.

Of course, personal preference/enjoyment will always have to play the most important role in your choices, but when not having strong opinions reducing your chance of injury so that you can be constant in your practice is the best long-term strategy.

Bicycle to work and gardening regularly has helped but I still feel the aging, and take longer to recover from injuries.

I'm also on zepbound and lost almost 100lbs which makes exercise and everything else easier than when I was fat.

Walk up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator at my office (4 floors)

Walk parts my commute where I could take the bus or an extra train. (About an hour walking per day).

I wish I did more but my aging body is too tired 🙃

Just dying slowly really.

I walk my dog.

I haven't quite hit thirty yet, but my friend has. She's taken up boxing, which might seem counterintuitive, but building up your strength is a great way to avoid having a weak core and knees. It also means she does regular stretching.

I recognize I’m over the hill and my joints sound like pop rocks

I had that start when I was a teenager, maybe even earlier. It sounds gross, but so far it hasn't done anything else.

CICO (it's not going well)

Gym most mornings before work

I have a balance board at work, and if weather permitting take my dog on a 10 min jog every day... I hate jogging but 10 mins is less than 1% of your day (15 mins is 1% of your day)!

I also do daily stretches.

I have an app called Finch that keeps me accountable by gamifying habits.

I cycle when I can, I have a 20mi loop on trails I can do, but fell way short of my goal for this year. I also am trying to restart regular yoga classes with my partner at our gym, where we also climb and lift weights. Hiking is good too, or even just walking our neighborhood. Eating healthy (we focus on protein and whole food/plant based, but not completely vegetarian), and I've been tryin to cut back on the whiskey and beer but it's just so good and shit is just so depressing in the world lately...

I transitioned to an ebike.

Been in PT for the last 4 months due to my inability to remain 28 forever so I will let you know when I figure it out.

I started Shaolin Kung Fu at 45. 7 years later im getting my black sash and getting invited into the inner chamber.

Never underestimate the value of walking a lot. Add weights, cycling, and yoga to add strength, stamina and resilience, respectively. Eat healthy but don't forget to live a little too.

Stretching before exercises and good rests between activities and actually waiting to fully heal if I'm ever injured

Hookers and blow.

My heart is the size of a basketball. I'm going to live forever.

Stretch, start slow, build up gradually. Stretch again. Stretch a third.

At the moment biking, but i wouldn't say that stops booboo. I've flipped over the bike twice, each time damaging a different wrist (first one was when bike was new and a part wasn't as tight as it needed to be, so handlebars gave way braking down a hill. Second time anyway overly friendly dog leapt at me. As I lay on the ground it came over and licked me).

I generally still heal kinda well nowadays though, so first wrist is back to normal and second is like 90%, only pain when specific weight and angles are involved.

I want to get back into bouldering too, but that can also give injuries.

Today I went for a bike ride. I regret it. Exercise is for chumps. Now, my eyes are dry and they sting. Also I might have asthma.

I started playing tennis 1-2 times a week and it’s been great. Also stretching in the morning works wonders

Walk, hike, calisthenics.

I got really out of shape for a while after having kids. Everything was hurting and I barely had time anymore to go to the gym, so I stopped working out. Getting out of shape exacerbated the aches and pains. Eventually I saw some photos of myself on a family vacation and realized how badly I'd let myself go. I started working out again. Took baby steps at first, like walking, body weight exercises, and high rep, low weight exercises. Over time, the aches and pains went away. Got back in a routine and slowly increased my goals. Now I'm in pretty damn good shape. I only do 2 days on and 2 days off for lifting so I don't hurt myself, and it works for me. I've been doing a solid routine for 2 -3 years and I'm feeling a lot better. It was so crazy to see how out of shape I'd gotten. I was an athlete in the past, so it was humbling to see myself struggling doing like 10 body weight squats. Staying in shape is definitely easier than getting back into shape. Don't do what I did. Stay active.

I began working out heavily in my 20s because I was scared of being unable to in my 30s.

The key was discipline and training, your body remembers, and you age but you keep half.

I look at Arnie for inspiration, he was happy and still pumping iron in his 60s and 70s, proving it's all about a good mental attitude and consistency

Wtf is wrong with all your bodies if they're that shit during your 30's lol

Beside obvious recommendations from other posts (visit a doctor, do exercise, eat healthy, sleep well etc)...

The truth is - aging is a removed! It starts probably even before birth and start clearly manifesting itself usually in 30s. So welcome!

And the "best" part is - currently we do not have a medicine to reverse it, so at some point at the age of around 80-90 it will most probably kill you unless something else kills you first, or unless we develop effective cure. I don't want to be morbid here or spread anxiety. I am writing this to accent the seriousness of aging and the need to tackle it. You can request your government to provide grants to researchers to reverse aging or if you are European propose researchers to apply for already existing grant call from EIC, propose your medical universities to participate in XPRIZE Healthspan, etc.

As you are quite young, if you are generally healthy, the best thing you can do really is doing the basics (as your mom told you) AND ESPECIALLY campaigning for development of aging-reversal therapies! Those are the only hope to be still kicking well in 80s in good health, and beyond.

If you are more interested, there is a community !longevity@mander.xyz and I also recommend the book Ageless by Andrew Steele, which provides great balance between scientific rigor and entertaining approach to public.

How do you even get back into it.. So hard

Anyone replying "stretching" is basing their response on grade school gym class, not science.

Studies have not shown that stretching has a positive impact on injury prevention, and this has been widely known in the literature for over 20 years. Stretching can improve performance in some sports like gymnastics where increased flexibility is needed, but that is unrelated to injury.

Stretching has a negative effect on performance in other cases because it actually decreases muscle force generation.

Think about it, would you think that loosening all the belts on a machine would automatically make it less likely to break down?

So what does prevent injury?

• Good warm-ups. Walk before you jog before you run. Lift an unloaded barbell before a loaded one, etc.
• Strength. A joint surrounded by muscle is a stable joint. That means doing exercises that strengthen all the muscles, including minor ones. It's part of why most people who know what they are talking about will try to get you to do compound lifts with free weights over single joint exercises on machines.
• periodization/progressive overload. Basically slowly building intensity and then backing off to recuperate.

I have a herniated disc and bunched nerves, so not much.

Get a decent set of exercise bands. I have 5lbs all the way up to multiple 100lbs ones. They are relatively cheap, light and highly mobile.

Walk a lot with the dog, also stretch!!!! Before doing any big exercise. It would have been better to stretch when you were younger but it still helps. Also just exercise and eat healthy

Avoiding injury is kinda how bodies degrade. Obviously I don't me major injuries but the body heals in counter intuitive ways. So anyways, this is how.

I'm in my 40s and I'm really glad I got into martial arts back in my 20s and kept up with it.

I have been trying get back with jogging/walking. It works well for me.

Try not doing any stupid things that'll harm the body more.

Time to start paying attention to the protein content of your meals. Joint issues are often postural tho

Quite s bit older than you and I:

• Hike and/or backpack, anywhere from 3-12 miles and up to 5k ft elevation depending on the weekend (and weather, icy mountains are slow going)
• Gravel biking, or on the trainer with Zwift
• Running, though I don't particularly like it, so not much
• And days I just want to move around, archery

You are not old at 30, your body is just out of practice and your mind lacks motivation. Both can be tough to overcome.

If things are hurting, I highly recommend cycling of some form, as it's way less impact. Or hiking with poles, helps a ton. Just take it slow to start.

Military Service. I just don't have to pay for pain meds and I still get to fall apart over time!

Have kids. Try to be a good dad not just a father.

You will stay very active...

They keep me so tired.

I run 3 times a week, do yoga most days, walk to and from work, go to raves at the weekend. Getting close to 40 and feeling good still! I don't think we are old enough to be struggling in our bodies yet.

I'm 45 and topfit. If you really feel like you're declining at 30 you've never taken care of yourself. What makes you think you can do it now?

Preferably to remain steady: Eat a varied (mostly) plant based diet. Work up a sweat at least 3 times a week and do some light movement everyday for 30 minutes. You don't need to do anything crazy, you don't need to fucking start pumping iron, you don't need to become a protein bro. Just find 30 minutes a day and stop eating food that you already know is bad for yourself. Especially not too much.

And fucking go to a doctor when your joints hurt or it takes you 5 time's longer to heal. It's not normal. Stop normalizeing being unhealthy.

You are 30-something and you feel over the hill.... Ok...

Your joints should be optimal at that age so I have no idea whats going on. Are you American eating fast food a lot? I dont know otherwise what can cause that...