Parts start failing at 40
I felt that about many joints when I slacked off on working out for a few months in my 20s. I was still lifting enough to keep my muscles from too much atrophy, but my joints got… lazy? Dynamic motion and heavier weights suddenly felt (as suddenly as me taking exercise more serious again) like my joints were the limiting factor.
and then I overworked my arms and got something like tennis elbow and basically had to rehab myself back to being able to exercise, all without my muscles being the limiting factor!
Take care of your body, folks. You can go over 100% when you’re young, but your body makes you pay when you’re older!
Reminds me of the stories of the people who do crazy stuff on adrenalin rushes, like lift a car off their dying child, and then end up potentially hospitalized or otherwise extremely sore for months. I think I get it now…
I did the same thing recently with my elbow. I lifted in my 20s but I got busy with work and family in my 30s and tried to start lifting again at 39 and managed to injure my forearm/elbow. It’s damn near impossible to do upper body exercises when you can’t grip the bar or dumbell without elbow pain!
It’s been like 6 months and it’s finally starting to feel better. My cardio is pretty damn good though because while I couldn’t lift I threw myself at cardio extra hard.
Can’t let the old creep in! Exercise keeps the old out!
