Parts start failing at 40
What are you all doing to your knees?
Rad tech here: most people who have this phenomenon have arthritic knees from being fat. Internet disclaimer: I DIDN’T SAY ALL. But a huge number of people get to 30s or 40s and are overweight or have been for a significant part of their life and have worn out their knees at an early age. Then they come to get xrays with “idiopathic” knee pain.
From a technical perspective, what part gets “worn out” when you see the scans? Is it cartilage, ligaments, tendons, or something else?
As other people have said it’s somewhat all of the above, though the biggest and most visible on xray is the narrowing of the joint space from deterioration of the cartilage. This causes arthritis, and also calcification of the joint which is also all worsened with age and varying bone density which can change based on things like ancestry, gender, habits (drug use/smoking) or medical conditions.
Edit: I also forgot to mention that occupation can make a big difference here. Being overweight AND having a job that is strenuous on the knees (construction/manual labor/heavy lifting) is a bad combo which can lead to joint deterioration and premature joint replacement as well.
Use them or lose them
To a degree. It will adapt only so far. If you give it more than it can handle on a regular basis you’re doing more harm than good.
I’m talking consistent effort over years or decades though. Thinking about how your bones are constantly renewing themselves and you have a completely new set every 5-10 years is the kind of consistency I mean. Of course this would be hindered by injury or over use before can adaptations occur. You need to give yourself recovery time no matter the fitness routine or athletic level.
It’s funny because it’s true! And also, my knees hurt =(
I’m way past 30 now. I’m no gym rat but do go a few times a month. This year is when I noticed that my ability to lift a heavy weight isn’t lack of muscle but instead strain on knees (and other joints). Its such an odd notion that I can feel my muscles extra unused capacity to lift, but I feel the risk of injury to the joint if I were to use that strength. I had never experienced that before this year. Before it was always the limits of my muscles. Not anymore.
Nobody told me this is how it goes when you get old. They say things like “my knees ‘gave out’ when I got old” but didn’t explain what that meant.
It’ll happen to you…
I absolutely love this reference, and I use it all the time. Hell, I’m a walking simpsons encyclopedia.
I’m 40 next year… So far, I’m lucky. I’ve gone from a extremely physically demanding job (hike through back country bush, dig to 120 cm when you get there) to sitting at a desk. Where I used to not even think about the gym, I now find myself in one 5 days a week, just for preventive measures. I’m never gonna be a freakbeast muscle man, but I’ll settle for not having a stroke at 60, like my dad did.
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!
Yeah, but at 50 you become an antique, which means people want you just as beat up and scarred as you happen to be, but they’ll pay less for you depending on how much scarring and beating you have.
