How did you cope with injuries at a young age?
Ibuprofen or other. Turned toward surgery as a logical option (4 times right knee).
What do you do now that is differently from when you were younger when recovering from an injury?
I think water first, stretch second, diet third. Then ask if there are any related medical issues occurring.
Was there a time where you did not participate in sports? Or changed sports?
I stopped sports for about 4-5 years after college due to damages to my knee and tired of surgery. I completely stopped tennis and soccer following my 4th knee surgery.
How did resuming the activity affect your body?
I really struggled to do swimming and golf simply because I was not good at it. I just kept on doing it, but at very low participation levels.
Flexibility? Strength? Stamina? Has your exercise/activity regimen changed over the years?
Absolutely. I would say later in life 40-50, I began to focus on diet, water, stretch, and yoga. I found a great relief to pain and also increase in flexibility, strength and stamina. It is also when I was able to diagnose my food allergies.
Why?
I guess I finally learned physical limits of the body but also the benefits of water and stretch. Eliminating foods that triggered allergy responses helped a lot with my joints.
Describe a specific experience where you improved in your sport – how did that happen?
No doubt I doubled my swimming (20 lenghts to 40 lengths 3/week). My golf game dropped 10 strokes – (105 to 95 on average). My recovery time from weekend chores also improved.
What do you do to care for your body?
Nutrition, stretch, cardio, sleep, recovery. Yes to all. I target 8 hours of sleep. I even permit a weekend nap for 30 minutes after heavy work. Some kind of stretch is a daily event (depending on what hurts). I target 3/week of 30. min cardio each.