More Time To Get Fit - 2025

[Climber]

My wife and I are both in our 60's and I work out 7 days a week (4 days bike, 3 days in gym) and my wife works out 6 days a week (11-12 miles walking 3 days, 3 hours in gym 3 days). We're both far healthier than most other people our age and nobody guesses even close to our age.

 

[Holeshot]

Beast mode!

 

[two wheel tramp]

i get pushed around in a wheelchair like a big baby.

we picked up a different wheelchair with more outdoor oriented pneumatic tires that should be a little easier to scoot around on. surgery is tomorrow. i’ll have some shiny new hardware when i come out. i am so grateful this shit didn’t happen 70 lbs ago, if that makes sense.

wish me luck.

 

[Holeshot]

Luck wished R!!!! You'll do great. They may be able to equip you with the index finger switch blade bionic if you ask, too.

 

[littlebeast]

So you are going to do it again after a few days recovery?

Improving weak links often produces large benefits. Ez-pickings, almost.

yeah, excellent advice. in this case it was a footwear question. i have nerve and bone damage in my feet (too many years of ballet & stilettos). the place where we were looking at the trees was super muddy and swampy, so i wore boots for that. if i’d known ahead of time we were going hiking, i’d have brought other boots to change into.

 

[two wheel tramp]

Luck wished R!!!! You'll do great. They may be able to equip you with the index finger switch blade bionic if you ask, too.

i had a certain date in mind that i hoped to be back on a bike. it was ambitious af but… if i am diligent i may be able to pull it off. its keeping me motivated.

i need a prize to keep pushing.

 

[Holeshot]

You'll get there, just don't go too hard to fast. So many people seem to do that. When I was out for like 6 months, I figured if I couldn't work out (much), I'd do something with the time slot, so as to not get used to something else/ get lazy. Worked decently for not totally killing my motivation. Eventually, I transitioned to core work, stretching etc. Meant to try Yoga and never really did...

 

[stangmx13]

Doctors and recovery are a tricky mix. IME, they don’t volunteer the best recovery - they give you the safest one. If your goal is to be back to some activity as fast as possible and/or to come out stronger than before, you may have to go against medical advice. Not moving or loading some injury will cause atrophy, scar tissue, and maybe bone loss. But knowing how hard to push something without causing setbacks is difficult. Sometimes a frank conversation with the doctor about the “best” vs “safest” recovery can work. I’ve literally asked surgeons “ok but seriously, how hard can I actually push this because I’m not screwing around?” . Because I’m male, look like an athlete, and said “pro athlete” many times, they told me what I wanted. But others may have to advocate for themselves even harder to not get the geriatric recovery plan.

 

[Ridley]

^^^very true. When I had my hernia surgery the dr was fairly middle of the road and said you’ll be uncomfortable for a few days and can slowly return to normal activities based on your pain tolerance. I asked when can I start lifting weights and running again. He said seriously, I challenge you to undo what I just did. Challenge accepted and I was running a week and a half later. Kept in contact with him and he was cool about it all.

You need to set realistic goals and be honest with yourself, the Dr and your PT.

 

[Holeshot]

Sport med docs / physical therapists = win.

 

[Climber]

Best course of action with surgery is to get it as soon as possible if you were in really good shape before. The better your conditioning just before surgery, the faster your recovery and resumption of previous activities.

The worst thing you can do is languish for 4-6 weeks doing very little while waiting for surgery.

 

[littlebeast]

Sport med docs / physical therapists = win.

+1

my first injury related shoulder surgery (to repair an almost fully severed bicep tendon at the joint, plus grind a channel through the compressed bones to correct the bone-on-bone compression), the first ortho surgeon told me it would involve a 2 each 4 inch long incisions, and he could repair it well enough for me to push a grocery cart. wtf?!?! i was riding hunter / jumpers competitively at the time. i asked him how long until i could ride again. never. i walked out. a friend hooked me up with the ortho surgeon who worked with the warriors and giants at the time. he did it all arthroscopic (3 each 1/4 long incisions), and then he sent me to a sports therapist for rehab work. between them, they had me fully repaired and back on my horses in less than 6 weeks.

 

[littlebeast]

Best course of action with surgery is to get it as soon as possible if you were in really good shape before. The better your conditioning just before surgery, the faster your recovery and resumption of previous activities.

The worst thing you can do is languish for 4-6 weeks doing very little while waiting for surgery.

great advice also. i waited too long on my second shoulder injury (high speed moto tumble). thought i could tough it out, but was also dreading the lecture from my ortho. ended up with frozen shoulder. most painful thing i’ve ever experienced. ended up getting the lecture after all. and i think he told my sports therapist (associate of his) to teach me a lesson. dude kicked my ass. i felt like an enemy combatant being tortured to reveal my sources. i screamed more than a few times (and threw lots of f-bombs). that one took many months.

 

[two wheel tramp]

Doctors and recovery are a tricky mix. IME, they don’t volunteer the best recovery - they give you the safest one. If your goal is to be back to some activity as fast as possible and/or to come out stronger than before, you may have to go against medical advice. Not moving or loading some injury will cause atrophy, scar tissue, and maybe bone loss. But knowing how hard to push something without causing setbacks is difficult. Sometimes a frank conversation with the doctor about the “best” vs “safest” recovery can work. I’ve literally asked surgeons “ok but seriously, how hard can I actually push this because I’m not screwing around?” . Because I’m male, look like an athlete, and said “pro athlete” many times, they told me what I wanted. But others may have to advocate for themselves even harder to not get the geriatric recovery plan.

doc and i discussed my goal to be active again soon. i have a knee scooter up in oregon and once i am back up there i may start using it for short walks. i may do a little wheelchair walking, too. there’s a stop sign 0.6 miles from my house. if i can manage that on my own (and on the incline i have) i’ll be impressed with myself.

Sport med docs / physical therapists = win.

i will be getting PT after this. i got multiple comments today from surgical and nursing staff re: how well i am getting around. i think their expectations are low.

Best course of action with surgery is to get it as soon as possible if you were in really good shape before. The better your conditioning just before surgery, the faster your recovery and resumption of previous activities.

The worst thing you can do is languish for 4-6 weeks doing very little while waiting for surgery.

i haven’t been languishing since coming to placerville but my first two weeks were pretty darn sedentary. i didn’t have much choice for the timing on this.

 

[Sharxfan]

great advice also. i waited too long on my second shoulder injury (high speed moto tumble). thought i could tough it out, but was also dreading the lecture from my ortho. ended up with frozen shoulder. most painful thing i’ve ever experienced. ended up getting the lecture after all. and i think he told my sports therapist (associate of his) to teach me a lesson. dude kicked my ass. i felt like an enemy combatant being tortured to reveal my sources. i screamed more than a few times (and threw lots of f-bombs). that one took many months.

I did the same thing with my shoulder I let it ride forever and it got to the point it would just pop out if I sneezed. Finally got surgery and was mad at myself for waiting so long.

 

[stangmx13]

Welp, here's my setback.

I crashed out of 2nd in my local MTB series. I took 1min off my PR lap time from last month and then was holding great pace to pass and pull away from 3rd. Maybe I was on track to finish the 6 lap race ~8min faster. But I lost the front on an off-camber section and didn't have enough time to pull the shoulder in.

I havent heard from Ortho yet. I suspect they will say surgery isn't needed and to wait 6-12wks. I agree on 'no surgery', but I'll definitely be back on the bike in 2-3weeks Sea Otter (tons of bicycle races at Laguna Seca) is only 5.5wks away.

 

[Climber]

There are some good shoulder braces that will support your collar bone. Unfortunately, I think you're going to find out just how much force you actually put on your shoulders and how important the collar bone is in those dynamics.

I know that roadracers just get a plate put in and are back on the bike in a couple days to avoid losing too much in their standings.

 

[Mike95060]

Damn. What tires and pressure were you running? Getting hurt really blows. I think you have a really exciting season coming up Robert. I hope this won't set you back too much.

 

[two wheel tramp]

Welp, here's my setback.

I crashed out of 2nd in my local MTB series. I took 1min off my PR lap time from last month and then was holding great pace to pass and pull away from 3rd. Maybe I was on track to finish the 6 lap race ~8min faster. But I lost the front on an off-camber section and didn't have enough time to pull the shoulder in.

View attachment 573291

I havent heard from Ortho yet. I suspect they will say surgery isn't needed and to wait 6-12wks. I agree on 'no surgery', but I'll definitely be back on the bike in 2-3weeks Sea Otter (tons of bicycle races at Laguna Seca) is only 5.5wks away.

clavicles are stupid.

in all seriousness, i am sorry to read about your injury. i hope that your excellent overall health helps you recover rapidly.

#crashingsucks

 

[stangmx13]

Damn. What tires and pressure were you running? Getting hurt really blows. I think you have a really exciting season coming up Robert. I hope this won't set you back too much.

Schwalbe Ray/Ralph combo in 2.35/2.25 at 16/19psi. Lots of people love and recommend this combo. But I am not friends w the front tire. I may buy a Rocket Ron.

SoCal is of course tons of lose over hard and I am not a fan. I know my skills need work. I’m also now looking into more optimizations like suspension. I got the fork done already - prob time to do the shock too.