This past winter the snow got so deep and heavy the snowblower wouldn't move it, so I had to resort to shoveling. What followed was 2-3 days of agonizing back pain that no amount of pills would relieve, and then almost a month of pain from groin pulls resulting in sore testicles. A few years ago that kind of work would be nothing. Bitching to my father, he just laughed and said, "You're getting older." I didn't think 37 was the beginning of the end. I know I'm not the only thirtysomething on here, so tell me... FOCUS: Are you starting to feel like you're falling apart ? Hangovers hurt more, going to bed earlier etc ? Alt. Focus: As you get older, do you find that it's hard to understand "kids these days" ?
I am 32 and of a small build. I spent ages 22-31 working jobs were I moved a lot of antique furniture. I also spent 2 summers during college unloading trucks at a department store. There were times when I had to carry tons of furniture by myself for days. My shoulder has come out of its socket, I injured my back many times and had many other minor injuries. My back and shoulder used to ache every fucking day and sometimes felt like I was getting stabbed between my shoulder blade for hours at a time. Then I got laid off a over a year ago because I made too much money (plus they paid 100% of my health insurance) and haven't abused my back since. It has taken over a year but my back finally feels almost normal again. I know that I have a price to pay as I age however as I still feel that twinge when I do move something.
I remember the days I could drink as much as I wanted and tear it up the next morning on the football or lacrosse field. When I was in the army I could go out get blacked out, and still do a PT run in the AM. Now If I go hard for a night or two in a row I feel it for the next 3-4 days, and I'm only 26, this is bull shit.
I'm definitely feeling it with the drinking. In college, my buddy and I would polish off a bottle of Makers and a 30 pack and have a beer with breakfast the next morning without thinking twice. Now, if I have more than a six pack and a glass of scotch I'll wake up with some kind of headache. Physically, I'm starting to find that I'm kind of a mess. My back is fucked in two ways: scoliosis and problems with my sacroiliac joint on the right side. My knees are also shit because I've got Osgood-Schlatters in both of them. I used to be able to run for miles, now I'm lucky if I can make it 3/4 of a mile without something hurting. At the gym, I do all my normal workout stuff, but I have to be careful with anything that involves my lower back or compresses my spine (like squats). The treadmill is fine for a little while, but running still screws me up, so I've started using a bike for cardio as well as my legs. I've found ways to work around the "old man" parts of me, but it sucks that, at 25, I'm already complaining about aches and pains like this.
At 22, I oftentimes feel like an old lady. I have chronic lower back pain and some things that people do effortlessly can cause me a lot of grief. Sleeping, the shoes I wear, exercising...everything can make my back painful. For whatever reason, it gets especially bad when my period is coming up. I've had days that are so bad that I can't walk, but it hurts to stay in bed, so I'm fucked regardless of what I do. It started in highschool. My mom, who always thinks that I'm lying about things, finally believed that I was in serious pain when I was walking at a strange angle while attempting to move a limb that she was having me move from a hurricane. The general practitioner though I had spina bifida and sent me to a specialist. It turns out L3 and L4 are screwed up and show a lot of damage on the Xray. It looks like I either A) had a severe accident, or B) was actually 85 years old. So yes. I feel very decrepit. But only on days that end in Y.
Anti-Focus: I'm 20 and every year I get stronger no matter what I do. I guess I just wanted to rub it in your faces because it's awesome.
I'm 33, and I have good credit and a career. Suck it. FOCUS: I don't drink like I used to, but I still can do it without a large hangover. The biggest problem I have is that people don't put up with the crazy shit I pull like they did when I was young. For example: Ten years ago, I could call my wife and tell her I'm too drunk to come home. She'd come and pick me up, and I'd get drunken sex after stopping at Taco Bell (out of the way). The next day, we'd go to lunch and get my car. Today, I call my wife and tell her I'm too drunk to come home. She berates me for 5 minutes before telling me I should have packed a bag and that I should just spend the night. I masturbate furiously until I cry, and eat stale chips off of the counter. The next day, I need to be home by 8 am because the kids will be up, and she wants to sleep in because "it's only fair". It also distresses me that drinking friends have nice things now. I've set mattresses, picnic tables, and other miscellaneous items on fire in the past, and the owners don't care (because it was "junk" anyways). Now, I have to take off my shoes when I enter their houses, and keep my voice down because I'll wake the kids.
Fixed that for ya... FOCUS: I woke up the other day in immense pain and realized my nuts had twisted up. I've never had that before, and I'm going to blame it on old age. My guess is that when I'm 60, I'll be able to tuck them in my socks.
Drinking is slowly becoming harder to deal with. My hangovers seem to get worse with age...although maybe I just haven't found the right way to beat them. I used to have no problem going up to my best friend's college for a weekend and throwing back shots of 151 before going out to parties, and then repeating the same routine the next night. At 27, it hurts to even think about trying to booze again after a night of belligerence.
The only sign I am getting older is that my bowels are becoming more and more like my dad's. I can eat the blandest food, and drop the nastiest farts. I also tend to go from fine to I NEED TO FUCKING SHIT RIGHT FUCKING NOW HOLY MOTHER OF GOD in about 2 seconds. Jägerette thinks I have celiac or something. I just have bad genes. And if I am not careful, bad jeans.
My last "real" hangover was a year ago, and it lasted two days. All night parties now hurt not from the drinking, (as that last hangover taught me not to do THAT shit anymore) but from the lack of sleep. Shit ! The back thing is just time and abuse catching up to me. I was in a bad car accident when I was a senior in highschool, one of those ones where it's a miracle no one was killed. Months of physical therapy later, I was told I would have to avoid too much heavy lifting but in my youthful ignorance I didn't pay attention. A career in EMS lifting fat asses all day for 10 years didn't help. Still I enjoy manual labor like cutting wood and stuff, and just keep a supply of pills on hand for when I'm walking funny at the end of the day. I now find myself bitching about music being too loud in the bars, and wishing people would pull their pants up. Kids these days...
I'm 40 years old today. I think it was Louis CK who said (paraphrased) that 40 sucks because you are too old to make mistakes, but too young for anyone to cut you any slack when you make them. My dad got me a job as a roofer the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college. Now, there is nothing like repetitive heavy manual labor to bulk up your body and I took advantage of that as much as possible with impressionable college girls, but I would hand back all that tail for my lumbar spine to be in the shape it was before I started. I'm sort of an anti "get off my lawn" type. You all need to relax. Seriously. You all are not the first people to have sex as teenagers, you're not the first people to drink as teenagers, and whatever you are doing/did as college kids was done well before you were even a gleam in your father's eye. I used to talk to girls in person without friending them first. My father used to tell stories of having sex with trashy girls in the 1950s. There is nothing new under the sun. Stop pretending you're doing something revolutionary.
I'm 35 and every year I'm getting stronger and healthier. I've also been playing rugby for the last 15 years and competing in strongman competitions for the last 7 years. That's a lot of abuse for these old bones, but I'm still kicking ass and taking names, often times on kids nearly half my age. My ultimate goal is to run the fuck over some kid some day in a match and as he's laying there gasping for air, tell him "I've been playing rugby longer than you've been alive. Bitch." Then and only then can I retire from the game with no regrets. I guess I just wanted to rub it in your 20 year old face because I'm beyond awesome. Report back to me in 15 years. On a sad note, though, I have to agree with everyone about the drinking thing. If I get fucked up, I'm out of commission 2 days minimum.
Yeah, what is that all about ? I love spicy foods, especially garlic. Now I eat more than a sprinkling of it on something and my house is a biological disaster zone.
Oh my God, yes. I'll drink water and shit raw sewage now. My farts could peel paint. I also used to marvel at the fact that once my father's feet hit the floor in the morning, his sphincter would begin to quiver. I never understood how his body worked like that. Now, if I make it to 9am without shitting, it's an odd day.
Pikers. All of you. I turn 50 this year. Physically, the issue for me has always been that as you get older you have much less margin for error. It seems that my physiology changes every few years such that I have to eat less, and exercise more, just to maintain. I can't speak for the women, but you men need to pay attention to your weight and fitness otherwise it can get away from you quickly. I was in the best shape of my life at 32 (weighed 145 and could bench 220 and do 40 pull-ups). Then spent years making partner and put on 35 pounds. Saw a photo of myself when I was 40 and lost the weight and got back in shape. I got very busy at the end of last year and let things slide and I'm currently 15 lbs overweight but I've been back on a 6 day a week gym schedule and I will soon be at my fighting weight. I've been doing essentially the same weight-training exercises for years (Bench [Smith machine now days]; military; curls, pull-ups, etc.). My wife uses a trainer with all the new fangled stuff but I cannot be bothered. I was never a big drinker in my 20s and 30s but discovered wine in my 40s. At my age its a double whammy. The calories seem to be worse and my work-outs are less effective. I need to cut down on the wine. With regard to "kids these days" I really don't subscribe to much of that. My one issue concerns the devaluation of talent. My 17 y/o daughter can't get enough of the reality shows (Kardashians etc.) These shows are scripted by people who can't write, for people who can't act. I cannot, for the life of me, understand the appeal. [Here's an example. I was at a dinner party the other day and was impressed to learn that the woman sitting next to me, a former Playmate, was a "writer" for television. "Wow", I thought, most of the TV writers I know are geeky guys, what a nice change of pace. Of course, she "wrote" for one of the reality show which really means she comes up with scenarios in which to place the "stars."] Reality TV is just one example of this, but I have gone on long enough (like we old folks tend to do.).
I'm not even 30 yet and my knees are junk. After all of the past motocross racing, snowboarding, skateboarding, running, rollerblading, razor scooter riding, extreme hopscotch'ing - my knees are that of a 60 year old, so says the Doc. They've gotten a bit better since taking Osteo-Biflex. But my knees, especially the right one, crackle when I crouch down/get back up. And still hurt occasionally like a motherfucker. Might have to hit up Hotwheelz in a couple decades. Maybe score a deal on wheelchair.
I don't know if I really count, because I'm only 24, but I already don't understand teenagers. I also can't drink like I used to. It used to take half a bottle of tequila to get me hungover. Now, I have more than three drinks and I wake up vomiting. My insomnia is starting to become a legitimate issue and cartoons are starting to not entertain me.
What the fuck is wrong with you people? I'm 32, so that puts me in the upper age category of people who post here and I've noticed pretty much nothing about my body that's going downhill - and I'm overweight and mostly inactive. Seriously unless you did five lines of blow every night in your teens how can any of you have seeming age-related health problems in your twenties? Personally the only changes I've noticed over the years are mental and psychological - some I appreciate, some I'm less enthusiastic about. I'm also a firm believer of inactivity = death, especially as you get older. My grandmother turns 89 in a couple of weeks and still pretty much does most of the things she did in her 60s. Some people think that she should slow down and "go easy on herself" but I'm convinced that as soon as she acts like an invalid that will be the end.