Playing sport, getting old

[seand]

Apols, not sure if this should go in football, world or sport, so here we go!

Anyway, I'm still playing football, just about, at 40 and I'm starting to feel the effects. I've never worried too much in the past about warming up, warming down, recovery times, hydration or anything like that. In fact I'm not too worried about it all now, but I'd like to prolong my 'career'.

So a couple of questions for any fitness enthusiasts. What I do: One hour of fairly intense 7-a-side or 5-a-side on a Monday and Wednesday evening with 2-3 minutes warm up jogging and stretching.
What should I be doing for warm up? Is there any point in doing 2 minutes of warming up, or is two minutes better than nothing? Should I be doing anything after playing to ease stiffness and soreness the following day? Should I be doing anything in terms of hydration (bearing bearing in mind that just about the only hydration I get is 10 or so cups of tea a day) and/or food intake before or after?

cheers,
Sean

[San Bernardhinault]

Playing sport, getting old

As a 44 year old who stopped playing football about 4 years ago but still cycles hard and runs occasionally and does other sports terribly, I've had to begin to follow the general advice which is:

(1) Warm up. You don't need more than 5 minutes, really, but 5 minutes of gentle build up to warm the muscles is good. Jogging is good. Even cycling to the footy (which I used to do) was enough. 2 minutes is much better than nothing.

(2) Hydrate like hell. Before, during and after. Beer is delicious, but it's not good for hydration, so if you can, try and drink something else before you start on your beers. It doesn't really matter what you're drinking - but I think tea is a mild diuretic. I drink those electrolyte based things, but that's almost as much for the taste as because it's actually better. Water does the job, I just can't drink it as quickly.

(3) Ideally eat bananas or avocados to get potassium back into your system. That's the thing you sweat out most of, the lack of which makes you cramp, and help the muscles feel shitty.

(4) Stretch afterwards. There's no point in stretching before hand unless your sport involves massive flexibility and you'll be extending your muscles to their limits. But stretch afterwards. There's scientific reasons for this, although I've forgotten them. Really, just stretch the big muscles. 10-20 seconds on each hamstring, quad, glute and perhaps the lower back is enough to really help with feeling less crappy the next day.

That's about it. Your questions actually suggest you already know all this. It's very simple. The hard part isn't knowing what to do. The hard part is the self-control and willpower to do it. I usually just go for beers and don't stretch and as a result I feel like crap the next day.

[Mumpo]

Playing sport, getting old

I play an hour of football each week but it's on hockey astroturf - more like velcro than grass - and the impact effect is getting to me, mostly in the form of lower back ache. I suppose I should give it up before something critical twangs, or at least try to not hare around every part of the pitch like I did ten years ago. I warm up in the pre-match kick-about but my playing style doesn't exactly rely on agility, so stretching isn't so much of a necessity.

Funnily, I seem to have less rather than more energy on the pitch than I did before I started doing a lot of cycling. I suppose I'm developing a different set of muscles on the bike.

[My Name Is Ian]

Playing sport, getting old

My sister is 52 and plays walking football. Considers it to be very good exercise.

[treibeis]

Playing sport, getting old

San Bernardhinault wrote: (2) Hydrate like hell. Before, during and after. Beer is delicious, but it's not good for hydration, so if you can, try and drink something else before you start on your beers. It doesn't really matter what you're drinking - but I think tea is a mild diuretic. I drink those electrolyte based things, but that's almost as much for the taste as because it's actually better. Water does the job, I just can't drink it as quickly.

Some of the blokes I play football with swear by a half-litre or two of non-alcoholic wheat beer (sorry, "isotonic wheat beer", at least according to the label) before getting stuck into the proper stuff.

Funnily, I seem to have less rather than more energy on the pitch than I did before I started doing a lot of cycling. I suppose I'm developing a different set of muscles on the bike.

In the last year and a half, I've been doing much more physical work than I used to, and appear to have developed shoulders and chest muscles that make me look like a nightclub bouncer.

This has affected my ability to get round the pitch. I used to be a marauding midfielder. Now I'm just, well, a nightclub bouncer who never leaves the middle of the field. This may have something to do with the "new" muscles, or it may just be that I'm an old fart.

[treibeis]

Playing sport, getting old

My Name Is Ian wrote: My sister is 52 and plays walking football. Considers it to be very good exercise.

My father (77) has taken that up. He says it's a good complement to his crown-green bowling, which he took up two years ago.

He describes himself as a "just like Brian Tinnion, only less slow".

[My Name Is Ian]

Playing sport, getting old

I'm thinking of doing it when I hit fifty, should I make it to that age.

[seand]

Playing sport, getting old

Cheers. Hydrating is a challenge. As mentioned I don't really drink anything apart from tea, but may try and to take on a bit more before during and after. I wasn't really aware of the whole stretching after exercise thing!

Walking football sounds great in another decade or two. I can't imagine how difficult it must be not to break into a little jog every now and again though.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Playing sport, getting old

My Name Is Ian wrote: My sister is 52 and plays walking football. Considers it to be very good exercise.

I'm 53 and still play 'proper' football. I don't think I could consider taking up any alternative. My hips hurt like a bastard the next day, but it's still worth it for the joy of playing with people younger than me - and for the ten minutes after I chipped the keeper from 25 yards last Friday, I was walking on air. Saturday is cricket, which hurts more, weirdly enough. I think it's the combination of time time spent on feet and still trying to bounce the openers.

[KGR]

Playing sport, getting old

About to become a Rusty Returner tonight (football for 40+).

Haven't played for 15+ years, apart from the odd (once a year if that) game where I've barely lasted half an hour.

My recent sojourn into running (couch to 5k) was fine, so I am hoping that this will be ok too. Just praying that it's not full of guys who are ultra-serious who think they are 'rusty' as they haven't played for six weeks, having had a 20-year career kicking people round the parks of Nottinghamshire before that.

Equally, given the lack of publicity I have seen about it, I could be the only person to show up.

[KGR]

Playing sport, getting old

Fifteen of us.

Viv Anderson was there promoting it.

Aching all over legs (and groin), much worse than last week's 7k run including long hill climb.

It was ace.

[KGR]

Playing sport, getting old

Second-week realisation sets in. I remain crap at football, and am distinctly worse than most of the other Rusty Returners, some of whom are very good indeed.

But I'm not the worst player there, so that's something.

I ache again.

[jameswba]

Playing sport, getting old

I'm 46, still playing 5-a-side football for 2 hours or so a week, and not feeling noticeably worse after games now than I was ten years ago.

The standard isn't up to much, and I've never really been any good anyway, but as long as it doesn't get too embarrassing I want to carry on.

The warming down thing makes sense, as does hydration - I do always feel the effects if I have a couple of beers after a game but not enough water.

But the one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is missing games as little as you possibly can. If I'm ever forced to miss two weeks in a row, I suffer the day or two after my first game back.

Swimming a day or two after a game seems to help me too.