It's amazing how every so often, I gain new insight into a line from this song. I recently hit 40, and "be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone" is starting to make sense in a way that used to be more abstract.
1) Don't stress about your age. And don't stress about approaching an age. Enjoy whatever age you are. Instead, consider your condition. Should you improve it? Can you improve it?
2) To help with #1, find a hobby that gets your heart rate up and uses a good portion of your body. Better yet, find multiple hobbies that exercise different areas of your body.
3) For me, the key to #2 was finding a hobby that actively engages my mind at the same time. I needed the rush and challenge of riding on trails that mountain biking offers. But for kayaking, I thrive on the opposite. The tranquility of the water and being out on a date with my wife is a sort of meditation. In both hobbies, I come home refreshed and energized. If you haven't found such a hobby yet, keep trying different things until something clicks. You'll probably know it when you get there.
I agree with all this! Great list. I'm considering taking today off from doing hills on the mountain bike, but maybe I'll still go out and ride some flats, not sure it's more healthy to take a day off from it right now. I felt great for hours after both rides.
Do you do a 2 person kayak or 2 separate 1 person kayaks?
The best way to do this is squats with either no weights or just a couple of pounds. You may need to wear knee braces when you do this (in my case I was able to skip the braces after about 10 years)
This is actually true for most any joint in your body -- the stronger the muscles surrounding the joint are, the better that joint will perform.
Take it slow, and start off preferring more sets of fewer reps. If 4 or 5 reps is all you can do, that's fine!
Work your way up over a period of weeks or months, increasing the depth of the squat and number of reps. If you're using something to support some of your weight, slowly wean yourself off of that. Eventually you'll want to be doing fairly deep squats, 10+ reps per set, while holding some light weights. But it's ok if it takes you months (or even over a year) to get there.
(This is of course not medical advice; you should speak to a doctor who knows your specific situation before starting a new exercise regimen, especially if it's something you're already having trouble with.)
My sister has been having foot and hip problems, and her PT has been taking a whole-musculature approach to healing those issues. It's really nice to see these kind of thoughtful interventions, rather than immediately getting prescribed a steroid shot, or, worse, surgery.
https://dotwatcher.cc/race/tcr-no8?post=34p4cOKwoPRSffwYwnBw...
Enjoy your 30s to the fullest, because it gets worse and it's completely out of your control to make it better. The best you can expect in your 40s is to slow down the decline.
There is a point when significant mental and physical deterioration becomes inevitable, but for most people that's well past 50. I suspect that most people complaining about issues in their 40s haven't put sufficient focus on fitness and nutrition, or have damaged themselves though substance abuse.
I sorta followed the advice of the song and spent around 10 years in California (LA + Bay Area). Have spent the following 10 years living in the NYC area (mostly, there was a short break in the middle). Wish the song gave a suggestion after you leave both! I tried the “live in a large RV” life in 2021 traveling all over and it was great, but it isn’t something that would be a multi-year thing for me I don’t think.
And the number of people trying to self-fund their full time lifestyle on Youtube...holy smokes.
That wasn’t the problem as much for me, the issue was hassle. It was a hassle finding campgrounds with availability. It was a hassle ensuring the campground had sufficient cell coverage (every coverage map is a LIE) for me to continue my full time day job (less problematic now with Starlink RV, but still an issue with their network capacity in that area somewhat). It was a hassle maneuvering a 38’ camper everywhere I went (I bet I can back up through a complex obstacle course after all that practice though!). etc. etc.
"Be kind to your niece", what?