Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire At what age did you lose your athleticism?

30 lbs and 10 years ago[40]

Never had any. Never cared for sports anyway.

Closest we came was competitive shooting... and thats a mental game which was much more challenging to me.

Wife was athletic, and did triathlons up until about 45, and simply didnt' want to keep investing the time in them for training year round anymore. But she still keeps in shape at almost 50 like I am.

I can NOT pull my fire department load like the younger kids either. My 25 year old nephew and I are often a pair on hoselines and I definitely wear out before he does. And I don't expect it should really be any different.

I have arthritis in one ankle, the other knee, and a shoulder. Not a lot you can do but I think balance is different. I work on balance a lot because it's most definitely something that tends to get worse as you age, just like muscle mass. I can feel an improvement in my balance over the past few years since I've been working on it.

Too many stories about people who get old, fall, and break a hip. For lots, that's when the steep decline starts.

The last time I really had to hump a line killed me for the rest of the day and 2 more after that. I was dreading wildland fires and even the training for it. Back, knees and 1 ankle took the fun out of it.
My long walk days are gone because of it.
I can still ride a dirt bike without hurting too bad other than muscle fatigue from a long ride.
I started feeling more and more aches at work at about 52 and knew I couldn't go on after 55.

around 50. things started getting harder to do. MS kicked my azz
and now if I do enough to break a sweat I'm done for. have to sit until I get twitchy then I can go again.

Kind of hard to lose something I never had.

One year my gym teacher tried to recruit me for the football team, but I think he was just trying to be nice since we had let him bow hunt our farm for years.

Was always strong for my size, but was never into sports. A little baseball but that was it. Could climb like a monkey, lift bare blocks off the engine stand myself....that all changed in my 30's. 32 was like hitting a brick wall. Then again at 40. 43 now and feel weakened by this damn acid reflux, but once I get it straightened out im gonna try to build myself back up. I hate to see what 50 brings!

I didn't pay much attention to when, but I knew it was gone when I went paint balling with a bunch of 20 year olds and tried running away...

I've never been super athletic - played a little ball in high school, have always been more into hiking and hands on stuff than sports, but I have noticed that I have to "warm up" and stretch alot more now to work past the aches and pains. Never considered stretching before just jumping into doing something but now I have to. I'm 47

At 66 I run almost every day, four to six miles. Have a few aches and pains...so what? Biggest difference is I can't last all day at physical work like I used to. Couple of hours with a chainsaw is enough. Some afternoons I lie down for an hour or so to recharge.

I'm 54 and still do all of the things I did in my 20's albeit a bit slower. I can still hump the mountains to hunt and regularly run and bike to stay in shape. I have been doing more on an elliptical trainer to save my foot (PIA) for the upcoming cross country season with the kids I coach. I try very hard to stay aerobically fit, since when the heart goes we all go. I do planks, and pushups to maintain my core and upper body strength. I can't wait till I retire so I have more time to spend on my fitness. I always seem to be racing through the day to get everything done.

8 yoa

Never had any and still got most of it left :-)

A couple years ago, at 44, I played in a basketball game where the parents and coaches played against the local 9th grade boys team that my son played on.

Those kids could run us into the ground. The lift that I used to have seemed pretty mostly gone and a quick first step was like moving in wet concrete. The only advantage we had was we could muscle the kids a round. Which worked, because we won. But I don't think the kids realized that they could have killed us if they fastbreaked and full court pressed the whole game.

Late 30's. That's when the strength of youth started slipping away...

Really never was that athletic, but try to stay in shape. I started having my body "talk back" to me at age 31-32. That was only 3-4 years ago, but my knees and elbows just aren't the same. I can't run/sprint anymore or the knees will kill me for weeks. I can still squat and it feels good, but too deep will have my knees hurting after a few weeks and I'll have to lay off and start over at square one. Pushups and pullups feel great to my chest and back, as they should, but my elbows get overloaded if I don't warm up a lot and really ease into things. No "drop and give me 50", as a few rounds of that will have me incapacitated for the next month. This wasn't the case 5 years ago.

In 1990 at age 43 I decided that running and gunning and SAR was not to be in my future for very long. It was weird that as my mental skills and experience were at their best, injuries and age combined to lessen my value in protracted scenarios. Teaching and consulting were OK but no more adrenaline rushes and that is a tough addiction to shake. Today at 67 I realize that my decision led to a decent quality of life now. I no longer climb but can hunt in the mountains and take great hikes in great areas. Like Wageslave I just don't cover as much ground. I teach a CCW class once/week that entails about 10 hours on my feet between the range and classroom and I love doing it. We run competitive pistol drills at work constantly and I can more than hold my own w/ the young studs. Daily exercise and a positive attitude overcomes the aches and pains that I always wake up with. Never stop being as active as your mind and body allows. Fun is important!

Old guy diatribe over.

mike r

I played all three sports in high school, but excelled at baseball, I played competitive softball till my early 40's, 5-6 nights a week. I'm 48 now, and my hand eye coordination is still as good as ever, but the strength and endurance is fading fast.

I got a shot for that in 68.

Started in 85 when i ruptured 4 disks in my lower back.
It sucks because i only had 5 horses green broke by then.
No more riding horses,motorcycles or 4 wheelers.

Haven't lost it yet...but I haven't had a 40 timed in a while either... Played football through college and got into MMA after that. I still lift, box, and wrestle. A little while back I got a call to play in an old timers football game. Practiced once a week for about 8 weeks then the game. I felt great except for a stinger. Played linebacker every play until we got up by 3 touchdowns in the 4th quarter...I'm already looking forward to doing it again next year. I'm the guy helping him up: