AIBU to wonder how non-exercisers cope with aches as they age?

[secretgoose]

This is a curiosity post not a judgemental post.

But those who don’t go to the gym and don’t do any exercises, what kind of ailments are you living with and how old are you?

I’m 32 and I’ve been going to the gym for 4 years. I have some problems with my health occasionally such as hip tightness. I went out with my friends who don’t gym and after so long walking they both complained their legs were aching and I wondered how they will cope when they’re 40,50,60…

this isn’t judgemental because I think we have a real huge problem with exercising for aesthetics rather than how it makes us feel (as proven by the uptake of weight loss jabs). My bmi is currently in the overweight category. To look at me, I don’t look like a “gym person”. But I know I feel 10x fitter than I did in my 20s and for me, that’s what counts. Just wanted to add a little explainer so people don’t roll their eyes at me.

Maybe having a gym free/weight lifting free life isn’t as bad as I think it would be in terms of health but yeah, judging by how some of my friends are in their 30s, I really worry about it.

Sounds like you're doing the hardest bit already, and if you didn't do many steps before then doing 4000 is going to make a massive difference. I'm guessing that at your BMI walking will take a lot more energy than at a 'healthy' BMI so don't underestimate what you're doing, that's work! Hopefully running* around after your child will start to feel easier soon too.

*Edited to say intended in the metaphorical sense! There's no reason to worry about running, walking is a great exercise for general health and far less risk of injury especially if you have knee or back issues.

Totally. It’s incidental exercise that counts.
gardening is excellent as it involves a lot of crouching, and crouching massively helps with leg strength, hip mobility and balance.
I spent years living in a hilly place with no car and could carry bags of shopping plus toddler 4 miles up hill- I was fit as a butchers dog!
I do weights and yoga now, but would never go running as I really think it’s bad for your joints and tendons to run in middle age.
No aches or pains, ever- so far, but I am a fidget and always outside, walking, gardening, or doing something.
Sitting all day is the thing to avoid.

50 here...never ever been to a gym in my life....walk alot daily and walk up the Malverns regularly. Might be pushing my luck but never had aches in any way. I do have a physical job. Gym be my idea of hell as it's artificial. I prefer to just walk..can't understand why anyone want to be stuck inside when they can judge be outside hearing the birds and just walking but each to their own.

57 - hate exercising - tried it so many times don’t get the endorphin rush! I do walk a lot and can run for a bus when needed - no aches to speak of!

I started at a gym 3 weeks ago . I’ve had a permanent headache and now an injured hip . Really wish I’d kept to walking my dog .

Yeah, I'm with you. Realised the question is about aches and pains. I know in about a month I'll be a bit achy because the weeds will come through on my allotment and I'll spend a lot of time bending and stretching while making sure I'm practically self sufficient in food. I can't imagine why I'd elect to do this (bending and stretching) looking at a wall.

When I was a kid I used to have a spoonful of cod liver oil and malt a week. It was disgusting. Hated it. But recently after noticing how much better my creaky old dog was on his oil (YouMove or something), I decided to start having a couple of spoonfuls of olive oil a day. Works a treat. That niggling thing in my knee (only when stupidly tired) has gone and I didn't have any problems sanding and painting my staircase last week.

Not unusual for me to do 15k - 20k steps on an average day, and I can walk a good five miles without really breaking a sweat. As an asthmatic, never ran, so haven't damaged my bones.

I used to exercise a lot, including cardio and free weights, and I felt aches and pains all the time, as well as pain from the occasional gym injury. I quit a year ago and I've never felt better. I'm saving so much time and I physically feel so much better as I'm never sore or injured.

It might catch up with me later though, I'm currently 40.

You haven’t really explained how far it is your friends are walking before their legs are aching so it’s hard to comment whether this is normal or not. Also remember that although you are going to the gym now at 32, changes in your life may mean you stop going and will be no fitter at age 50 than one of your friends who decides to take up exercise at a later age. I also don’t think fitness is just about the gym.

I went through a very inactive stage in my 30s. I would be so stiff getting out of bed. Hobbling to the bathroom.

I'm in my 40s now and a lot more active. That rarely happens now.

I think OP is meaning keeping active as opposed to just formal exercise.

You can build up functional fitness at any age, I think. Once you are not totally bed bound.

Exactly, you can exercise for decades and lose all that fitness in months if not weeks when you stop.

I've always until recently played a sport, swam, hiked and I'm stiff, have arthritis now and cancer (I'm 56). Used to joke with the friends who I exercised with that exercise just resulted in more problems - we all had our share of worn joints, frozen shoulders, plantar fascitis and random injuries, we'd had it all. Yet, none exercising often overweight friends would be fine.
I think once you are female and 50s your genetics take over too. Looking at my parents and their siblings, there isn't a lot of correlation between health and time spent active.

I got sciatica in my late 20s despite having the figure of a model due to not exercising and becoming sedentary after I bought a car

now I am a regular at reformer Pilates to save my back from toddler mum life

I’ve rasas that from late 30s you must do weights to train bones for old age

What’s DOMS?

Personally, I get the point you are trying to make. Unfortunately there are always going to be people that interpret things the wrong way.

I think you are completely right in that many people that are 30s, 40s, 50s should be making an effort to have an active lifestyle.

We all know that exercise is important for our bodies and to prevent fragility, and yes, for people that have more sedentary lifestyles it absolutely can prevent those aches and pains. For example, my work is quite varied in how much I move around. I get quite a back ache on the days where I am just sat at my desk all day, I can only presume that I would have moderate back issues if I did that 5 days a week.

Obviously exercise can be the cause of aches, particularly if people strain or have injured themselves, or did a lot of intense sport at a younger age.

I have noticed that a lot of PPs who are 40s/50s on this post say they exercise regularly and ache or feels stiff, do a lot of high impact exercise.

Baking from scratch, gardening, lugging shopping… lots more everyday exercise in those days

You appear to be preaching from the latest gym advertising angle, keep fit now to avoid needing care later. The thing is, humans 'best before date' is very dependent on genetics.

I'm in my 50s, I am not interested in going to a gym to be humiliated (because as an older, larger, disabled woman with a speech impediment - but not deaf- you'd have to be an outright liar to tell me they are inclusive, welcoming spaces). Full power to anyone who enjoys that sort of thing but it's literally safer at home.

I do move much better when I stretch regularly and do some light aerobic exercise. That's all it takes for easier movement, really, although being lighter is what makes the biggest difference. I know I actually need to work on strength, though, which is something different.

I do think yabu to talk about 'non-exercisers' as if the world is divided neatly into those who do and those who don't. Many people have moved in and out of and back into that category over the years, it's not some kind of fundamental character attribute that people either have or don't have.

I dont think aching in your thirties is normal at all, whether you exercise or not.

Especially at 32!

You may need a visit to the docs- vit.d deficiency for example can cause horrible aches and is easily rectified

A few years back I slipped a disc lifting a medicine ball at the gym. It's been on and off painful ever since - some days excruciatingly so.

I'm over 40 and had never had any aches or pains prior to this. I often wish I'd never set foot in a gym as I'd be far better off now!

I have a choice of fit and achey or unfit and achey, so fit and achey is a no-brainer to me.

Looking at my genes, if I can delay breaking bones in my 50s and using a stick in my 60s and struggling for 20+ years, that's worth a try. If it doesn't work at least I enjoyed being active and kept a healthy cardio system along the way.
I also don't want to die of avoidable cardiovascular health issues by my mid-50s if possible.

I've pretty much exercised from childhood. On starting professional working life and starting driving, by 2 weeks in I wondered why I was so twitchy at night and realised that in the last couple of weeks since leaving my high-step count student job and walking to/from work, I'd barely moved. I ended up going to a step class at the nearby leisure centre the next day and the rest is history.

My pelvis had an awful time in pregnancy/ birth/ post-natally and I had to rebuild fitness from a base of walking 100m. Exercising and getting stronger has reduced the legacy of that. For a couple of years motion such as digging with a spade would send shooting pain through my pelvis, but strengthening that zone carefully has restored functional fitness.

My knees were awful in my teens and 20s. They're much happier in my 40s for being surrounded by strong muscle including from running.

I'm finding amongst my peers that there's a gap opening between those who relied on youth and those who have kept active now we're into the middle-age zone.

You can combine books and exercise 🤣, I read on my exercise bike. But I get not wanting to...I certainly prefer exercise at home or in the park rather than the gym.

I don't think my arthritis is caused by exercise or lack of exercise. I am late 50s and it's agony. I can still walk a lot and am on my feet at work all day, but the aches are bloody horrible.

I'm 48, and I think I'm doing ok. I have minor issues with my knee but that's from an old injury, walking is usually fine, even briskly, but sometimes it plays up.

I do get achey shoulders but I think that's more from sleeping issues than lack of going to the gym.

I do want to get walking a bit more again. I don't have the time, inclination or money for the gym. Swimming would perhaps be good but I can't for other health reasons. I'd be interested in Yoga but time/money.

A big part of the issue is the very sedentary jobs so many of us do - myself included. I am in my late 50s and have returned to the gym to do strength based work over the last 4 months. It has made a difference to my general mobility and I am much less stiff and achy - so it is never too late to try and improve your strength and mobility. Much better to get into good habits early. The menopause also brings joint pain for some alas. Keeping active ( walking is fine) and maintaining strength and balance are the most important I think.