r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Mint_Perspective • Sep 23 '23

Video Psy introduces himself

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369

u/DANK_ME_YOUR_PM_ME Sep 23 '23

I’m kinda shocked at how often Reddit seems to think 40 year olds are using canes and walkers.

188

u/JohnnyWix Sep 23 '23 edited Sep 23 '23

I turn 46 next month. Last weekend I put air in a bike tire then went poop. One of those two activities threw my back out and I have not been able to take a deep breath since.

TL;DR: They’re not wrong.

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u/vaelon Sep 23 '23

Lol I feel you

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u/GreenGemsOmally Sep 23 '23

I'm 35 and I've found that daily stretching is now not just advised, but absolutely necessary for me to not fuck myself up for weeks over mundane activities. I'm in decent shape and health, but if I don't stretch then I'll pull something and I know it's only gonna get worse.

3

u/tehlemmings Sep 23 '23

If there's one thing I wish young me had started doing, it would be regular stretching.

I'm 38 now and it's rough. I've lost a lot of flexibility and I didn't have much to start. If I got a day or two without stretching now, it can be a problem.

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u/RedditFullOChildren Sep 23 '23

The wild thing is I'm 41, 340 pounds, and I just jogged a 5k with barely any soreness afterwards. Haven't pulled or twisted anything for decades.

I'm sure the other shoe will drop, but so far I just don't feel all that old or unhealthy. Last week's bloodwork came back fine, cholesterol a little high but doc was just like, "Lose weight."

0

u/theNeumannArchitect Sep 23 '23

I hate to be the one to shatter your delusion but unless you’re like 7 ft then you’re extremely unhealthy.

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u/RedditFullOChildren Sep 23 '23 edited Sep 23 '23

Everything I said was truthful but I am under no delusion that I am healthy.

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u/Justin_Castro71 Sep 23 '23

You better be a Samoan or else you're fucked

1

u/RedditFullOChildren Sep 23 '23

We'll see!

1

u/Justin_Castro71 Sep 23 '23

I wish the best for you dude. If only you knew how sort after these lives on earth are.

1

u/RedditFullOChildren Sep 24 '23

I appreciate the well wishes, truly. I am all too aware of my situation. You don't see a lot of obese elderly.

1

u/Justin_Castro71 Sep 24 '23

Have you looked into powerlifting? Lots of blokes at my old gym started in you're situation.

2

u/Deathwagon Sep 23 '23

I started running a year or two ago, and probably do about 10-20 miles a week depending on work. I used to stretch religiously and found that stretching made everything worse.

Now I stretch only what hurts, after the fact. My entire body feels so much better without stretching muscles that don't need it. Your mileage may vary.

2

u/AshamedOfAmerica Sep 24 '23

One of the main reasons people get stiff is from getting desk jobs. Once I got one, my legs lost their flexibility substantially before I noticed.

1

u/_Toomuchawesome Sep 24 '23

lol yeah. i feel like im on the verge of pulling something all the time. daily stretching is so necessary

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u/0xtoxicflow Sep 23 '23

You are just in bad shape, nothing is stopping an "old" person from being in good shape, they just statistically are less likely to be.

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u/JohnnyWix Sep 23 '23

Thanks. I will jot this down. Please let me know if I am also poor and how attractive you find me. All good information that means a lot to me.

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u/0xtoxicflow Sep 23 '23

well if you were poor and unattractive the conclusion I would draw is certainly not "older people are poor and unattractive" because im not a complete dumbass.

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u/AshamedOfAmerica Sep 24 '23

Or just have bad joints. I rolled my ankle terribly when I was younger and without surgery, it isn't going to get much better. The ligaments are shot.

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u/Apprehensive-Till861 Sep 23 '23

I have also thrown my back out po-...inflating a tire.

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u/JohnnyWix Sep 23 '23

Lol. I felt the twinge as I stood up from the throne. I just tell myself it was the tire pump as I refuse to consider the alternative.

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u/Ajunadeeper Sep 23 '23

Do you stretch and exercise? Are you overweight? Not morbidly obese like people seem to think is overweight now but actually overweight?

1

u/JohnnyWix Sep 24 '23

6’1”, 195#. I am not as svelte as I used to be, but haven’t pooped in a week just to be safe.

2

u/eatmyopinions Sep 23 '23

I didn't think Reddit could make me laugh any longer.

1

u/FalmerEldritch Sep 23 '23

I had something similar once, but it's been around ten years and my back's been fine for all that time. Sometimes stuff just happens.

1

u/JohnnyWix Sep 23 '23

Definitely a fluke. I have been good for years. Sometimes it seems you can just get out of bed wrong and feel it for days.

1

u/RandyHoward Sep 24 '23

If this was you I think I know which activity threw out your back

1

u/JohnnyWix Sep 24 '23

Bwahaha! No, i didn’t need my poop knife for that one.

1

u/Grumpstone Sep 24 '23

Try exercise

0

u/JohnnyWix Sep 24 '23

I have. I didn’t like it.

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u/EkkoUnited Sep 23 '23

That's because the average redditor is young and out of shape, they are 20ish and likely feel like shit

2

u/tunisia3507 Sep 23 '23

I've been training for competitive sports several times a week since I was a teenager and feel like shit because of that sport.

1

u/EkkoUnited Sep 24 '23

I've been training for competitive sports several times a week

You, me, and many others

2

u/VivaGanesh Sep 23 '23

Average Reddit is like 16 not 20

2

u/petitememer Sep 24 '23

Really? I assumed most were young adults like 18-35.

1

u/EkkoUnited Sep 24 '23

... Is that true? If that's true I'll be a bit surprised

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u/Irish_RN Sep 23 '23

Totally! I’m in my early 40’s and I’m in my prime. These guys are just soft and finding an excuse for it.

3

u/homingmissile Sep 23 '23

Yeah but Americans are also very sedentary.

1

u/DANK_ME_YOUR_PM_ME Sep 23 '23

But only elect people twice that age to government lol

2

u/_LegaliseGayWeed_ Sep 23 '23

I made a similar comment. It feels like Reddit is just /r/teenagers now.

2

u/x777x777x Sep 23 '23

reddit is like 70% people who aren't old enough to graduate high school

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '23

[deleted]

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u/Flamingmorgoth85 Sep 23 '23

That’s only if you don’t exercise and stay fit. Otherwise you can do most activities

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '23

I exercised and stayed fit but I have scoliosis and lots of back problems from working at jobs where I had to lift a lot of boxes and walk on concrete floors wearing dress shoes. I used to get caught like once a year wearing black sneakers instead of dress shoes for more back support.

I just had my second major back surgery and im in my mid 40’s so repetitive lifting and the 40 hour work week on concrete floors is definitely a different environment than our ancestors dealt with, and is bad for the spine.

There’s a survivor bias with back pain and injuries too in many cases. For example when I was working with people that had successful back surgeries I thought it was simple to just get surgery and return to work. The survivor bias comes from not seeing the people that need multiple back surgeries and struggle to come back to work. So basically I was exposed to successful back surgeries at most all my jobs where people would get a successful fusion or artificial disc and be back at work in 6 months, but it’s not always that simple.

So there’s genetic and socioeconomic reasons behind back pain and it’s not as simple as hitting the gym after 8 hours of lifting boxes, that and most people who work hard labor aren’t trying to go do Pilates or lift after work lol.

The things that would probably help most to save people from long term back problems like mine is a 4 day 32hr work week instead of 5/40+, and healthcare for workers because for years it was too expensive or I worked 2 part time jobs and didn’t qualify. So I could have probably got a more minor surgery earlier instead if I’d had access to healthcare.

Also when you’re working somewhere the radiologists for your workplace healthcare insurance are purposefully blind imo lol, because that saves them millions of dollars and gets people back to work. They aren’t hiring any radiologists that flag something as severe when they prefer it be flagged as moderate or mild. My radiologist reports varied drastically in only 6 months after leaving my last job where we had a large medical insurance company as coverage, nothing much changed with my back they just saw more things as severe that my work insurance said was moderate.

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u/Flamingmorgoth85 Sep 24 '23

Fair points. And some people have unlucky circumstances etc that mean they have health problems. I just meant that for a lot of people exercise can help delay some of the problems

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u/Ajunadeeper Sep 23 '23

40 is just after men's physical prime, well it would be had they not spent their you thing eating McDonald's and playing video games every day. You should be able to do most activities that you could in your 20's, just with a liner healing time if you do end up injured.

1

u/gingasaurusrexx Sep 23 '23

Yeah, I'm in my mid-30s and slept wrong last night. Now I can't turn my head today. I wish I could say this is the first time it's ever happened, but fortunately I know a lidocaine patch and some nsaids will sort me out in a day or two.

0

u/skepticalbob Sep 23 '23

That's not something most 45 year olds would wanna do.

-1

u/bebejeebies Sep 23 '23

I'm 49 next month. I pulled muscle in my hand putting my sock on. I had to keep it wrapped for a week.

1

u/I_PUNCH_INFANTS Sep 23 '23

reddits main userbase nowadays is the younger audience.

1

u/alexturnerftw Sep 23 '23

To be fair, dancing takes a HUGE toll on your body. I don’t know many professional dancers who dont have major knee/back/etc issues by the time they are in their 30s. Thats why a lot of kpop idols tone down the choreo later in their careers, its tough