I just had a young PT clinician disregard my information because he discovered I work with the older age group 45 and up that he considers the elderly group.
I'm here to tell you your youth does not protect you from time.
Sure you are more resilient and are able to recoup faster from damage but none the less damage is being done. There are repercussion later in life from the damage you cause while chasing extremes in your youth. The two modalities of resolution that are prominent today are "stretch the pain away" and "lift heavy, get big" as we chase physical extremes under the guise of health.
The pain, swelling of joints, tearing of ligaments and muscles as you attempt to break an arbitrary record or personal best indicates that something is being done incorrectly. Sure Wolf's law allows for adaption but you have to ask at what cost.
In your youth injuries come and go but are often seen as a sign of weakness or just an accident. A pattern lead to that injury, especially the no contact injuries, and no one investigates what it is. Your told to take your anti-inflammatories, pain pills, go to cookie cutter physical therapy and get your surgeries then come back and repeat what got you there in the first place. Very irrational behavior.
Working with "the elderly" I have gathered the wisdom that "I wish I would have taken better care of my body and paid closer attention as a youth"
Here are some cautions. Overstretching will stretch your ligaments, tendon and muscles to lead to sloppy joints, degeneration and pain but the only thing that makes it feel better is to stretch. That puts tension back on the joint for a short lived relief that will go away. That balanced tension belongs across the joints and body, that's what holds us together.
Over training a muscle in isolation for the sake of hypertrophy will dis-integrate that muscle from the body as a whole and disregards the secondary, tertiary and structural support muscle that are needed to support daily movements, but you are big with ill timed neuromuscular sequences that de-stabilize and misaligned your joints. Not to mention hyper tonic muscles compress your cartilage, your circulatory system and nerves, full of stress and micro traumas as you age these things take a toll. the body is one big muscle that act as a unit, not seperated muscle that just lever a bone. Avoid the suffering by training full movement. Paying close attention to joint alignments, inertia, deceleration and acceleration patterns, full ROM in context of full body real movement. Strength and flexibility that respects the body for a lifetime of mobility.
If the Ego and cognitive dissidence can be overcome by the youth we can be preemptive to the injuries instead of reactive to them as we age. Lets train for life and not for the gym. MOVE
