Balancing Having Fun with Screwing Up Your Body

[Dukenukem117]

So I'm 26 and I started doing historical fencing about a year ago, but had to take a long break due to a shoulder injury. As I'm contemplating surgery, I started thinking about the people I know who have injured themselves over a hobby; be it climbing, fencing, martial arts, motorcycling, etc. Eventually I'll get to the age where things don't heal as well, and whatever I screw up is likely to stay with me.

So as I'm contemplating my ideal level of trade-off of risking my body and doing things I enjoy, I'm curious as to how other people approach it. Is it something you think about or do you YOLO it and consequences be damned? Has your risk profile changed much as you get older? Any regrets?

 

[Billb2]

It doesn't work that way, at least not for me.

If I avoided activities that had the potential to hurt me I'd be staying in bed all day. I do what I want and if something untoward happens then I evaluate continuing the activity. I quit racquetball after the second cortisone shot. I quit bike riding after my legs started to get overdeveloped. But then I didn't quit using power tools in my workshop after the $3k finger rebuild ( complete recovery).

 

[SlitheryDee]

I find that with most activities, there's a right way and a wrong way to do them. What I mean by that is that you can take the time to pay careful attention to things like form, equipment training, and body control and avoid injury in most hobbies. Barring freak accidents, you can generally point to the wrong thing someone did to get themselves hurt in just about anything, be it car accidents or exercise mishaps. The "YOLO" guys are the ones to get hurt not because they're up for anything, but because the dive into stuff without doing proper research and practicing building good habits in said activity beforehand. I would say that you don't really ever have to give up the things you love as you get older. What you will have to do is take things more slowly and make sure you have whatever it is well in hand before attempting things that could be above your experience level. If you truly love these things, that will just be an automatic prerequisite of engaging in them simply due to the fact that you want to continue doing them in perpetuity.

 

[Dukenukem117]

Did starting a family change anything? Motorcycles is the main one that comes to mind which most parents I know forbid.

 

[cbrunny]

I find that with most activities, there's a right way and a wrong way to do them. What I mean by that is that you can take the time to pay careful attention to things like form, equipment training, and body control and avoid injury in most hobbies. Barring freak accidents, you can generally point to the wrong thing someone did to get themselves hurt in just about anything, be it car accidents or exercise mishaps. The "YOLO" guys are the ones to get hurt not because they're up for anything, but because the dive into stuff without doing proper research and practicing building good habits in said activity beforehand. I would say that you don't really ever have to give up the things you love as you get older. What you will have to do is take things more slowly and make sure you have whatever it is well in hand before attempting things that could be above your experience level. If you truly love these things, that will just be an automatic prerequisite of engaging in them simply due to the fact that you want to continue doing them in perpetuity.

This is great advice. Add to it conversations with medical professionals and research.

My family has a genetic history of arthritis and joint replacements. My mom is terrified about my knees because I run a lot. I figure my knees are probably going to go anyway so I might as well do what I like in the mean time. That's not quite a YOLO though because I take every precaution I can when I do run, including tracking mileage in my shoes and measuring my cadence constantly. Lots of form work and tweaking. I know nothing about fencing, but if you really like it, figure out a way to keep doing it.

 

[Dukenukem117]

There are certainly people in historical fencing that's been doing it for decades, but I found out that even among people my age, shoulder issues, broken fingers, broken hands, etc are common. I know people who are professional artists that don't do anything that is likely to damage their hands because it's what their work is all dependent on (suddenly reminded of Dr. Strange). One of my partners in a startup I'm working on rides an old Harley, and we joke that we will need key-man insurance if we were ever to try to raise funding. But sometimes I wonder if it would actually be a good idea.

 

[SP33Demon]

Regarding motorcycles, it's a high risk activity and if you're a parent you should think about if you want your kids to have a parent. Just saw a baby boomer die because some young girl pulled out in front of him and forced him to the median where he dumped the bike and hit a hill of dirt. Died in the hospital 2 days later. So there are certain high risk activities that you need to think about. I love to lift heavy and joke that I'm going to die on the platform someday, but there will come a point where enough is enough and I'll have to dial back the weight as old age sets in. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop lifting, just going to lower the risk by lowering the weight a bit since I've seen guys die at meets deadlifting and it sux.