As we get older anyone in awe of how athletic our parents used to be?

Posted by A_Stones_throw@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 37 comments

I mean this as a compliment really. I played four years of college football and came out with it with no major injuries luckily, just wear and tear on my knees that I had to get cleaned out. Plus I did mma for a number of years training for a while, and I used to do construction cell tower climbing so not a stranger to some hard work.

Yet my dad got cut up by a motorboat prop ar a young age, blew out his knee in high school football, got prearthoscopic Knee surgery done before college, still went to go play in college and then blew out his knee again and got prearthoscopic surgery done on him again all before age 22 This was before working for 37 years as an auto mechanic. Mom was no slouch herself working as an athletic trainer and practicing judo in my youth. I remember once it was kids vs parents youth soccer scrimmage kids lost 5-1, with 4 of them being by my parents.

Anyone else have parents that were jus unsung physical specimens back in the day?

[-]

flipnitch@reddit

My dad did gymnastics in high school and college; still rings and pommel horse. When I was a child he was in peak physical shape. He carried that into his 60’s until he had to go through chemo, he didn’t have any fat to lose when he got sick.

For most of the time I lived at my parents house after the age of 7, we were rebuilding the house we were living in, from the inside out (studs, electrical, headers, then windows/siding). My dad would wake up at 3:30 to get to work by 5. Get home by 3 and we’d start working on the house until 9pm just he and I…and I was mostly useless for the first few years. On weekends if we weren’t working on the house he’d pack up a shit ton of gear and take us all hiking/fishing/tent camping and had the energy to do all the carrying, set up, cooking, log splitting, etc. Then my parents would stay up partying till 4am but still be up in time to cook us breakfast by 8. He also put in the time and energy to clean and maintain every piece of equipment/tool he owned. He’s 72 now and he survived cancer so he doesn’t have as much muscular strength as he used to but he’s capable of the same energy sometimes still.

My mom worked at my dad’s lawn maintenance company (was just my mom and dad with a truck and some equipment). She’d get us up, feed us, get us to daycare, preschool, etc then meet my dad at their 2nd stop to work. After they got done working she’d take a nap until it was time to cook dinner…because she’d have to cook dinner, do laundry, cut grass at home, etc whatever my dad would have been doing if we weren’t rebuilding the house…and then she’d go work an overnight shift doing accounting for a small business! That nap was the only weekday sleep she got for years.

A lot of “boomers” are arrogant shitbags but my parents have every reason to believe they put in more effort than I do..

bikeonychus@reddit

Lol, no, because by the time I was born, they were both overweight and not active at all. They didn't really encourage me or my brother to be active.

Apparently they played rugby and cricket and netball for their schools as teens, and you could have fooled me.

I'm more active at 40 than I've seen them in their entire lives.

Mattimvs@reddit

I'm awed by how athletic I used to be. I was running 55 km a week before my daughter was born. Now I'm hoping to get 5500 steps a day...

jgv1545@reddit

Maintain some level of physical fitness. I'm back to playing rec soccer 2-3 times a week.

R005TER_85@reddit

I currently coach 2 soccer teams…ran marathons in my 30’s…and now I’m sitting at 40 and don’t have a third of the issues my peers have. I’m not in incredible shape either, but I built a good enough base and at least try to maintain it

ArtsyRabb1t@reddit

I feel this so much I was competitive right up to finding out I was pregnant.

illini02@reddit

I'm the opposite.

I'm 45 now. I couldn't picture my parents doing half of what I do when they were my age.

bcentsale@reddit

My mom was more or less spherical, and my father survived childhood polio. The world would be a better place if he hadn't, but here we are. My grandparents, though.... My grandmother had a vegetable garden the size of a 2 car garage until she was 97, and is still in fair shape at 100 1/2. In-laws are also in exceedingly excellent shape.

Turbulent-Pea-8826@reddit

Uh no. Both of my parents smoked like chimneys and are already dead because of it.

All of those physical injuries you described? That was me. Except it was the military. Now I am broken.

SyllabubWeak@reddit

Ha, I think you are just flexing on your super athletic family.

That said, my parents are both is pretty great health and active into their 70s, so I am hoping that is genetic

Dampmaskin@reddit

My grandfather was born at the end of the 19th century. When he didn't work in the local mines, he would row the fjord to fish, or walk up in the mountain and shoot himself some grouse. I guess back in those days, you were either ripped, or dead from some now extinct disease like my uncle. No in between. I've got one photo of him, and man do I wish I had his physique. But alas, I've been a computer nerd all my life and it shows.

A_Stones_throw@reddit (OP)

Mostly my sleeper athletic family, they always encouraged us to be active but never tried to one up is or anything like that.

StandardStrategy1229@reddit

Grandparents not parents.

allawd@reddit

My grandparents were tough as can be, my parents worked sedentary jobs and shame exercise as a waste of time.

techieveteran@reddit

My parents were disabled

Appropriate-Food1757@reddit

Nope, I have never once marveled at the athletic prowess of boomers.

Zolty@reddit

My parents drank and smoked cigarettes, I can't remember ever seeing either of them run.

frooootloops@reddit

My father still plays tennis, I believe. He was a HS/college should-have-turned-pro baseball player, and he’s always been active.

Honestly I need to be more active- it’s good for my mental health too.

My mother, no, oh she’s just got a menu of eating disorders.

Brock_Savage@reddit

My father was as a stellar athlete and mathematician with an incredible memory. Sadly he squandered it all on drugs and alcohol.

Sufficient_Turn_9209@reddit

My dad was a rock star athlete. Played every sport in high school. In fact, one year he tried to sit out of football because he was worn out, but the coach called his dad, and they both walked into study hall and pulled him out. He went on to play SEC football and won a sugar bowl national championship. He was physically fit and athletically capable until his late 60s! His dad was recruited from a tiny town to play pro baseball, even though he was a homesick kid that hated it and went home after a few months. I played "girl" sports growing up and competed seriously as an equestrian in combined training, so athleticism just runs in the family, but my dad's had longevity. I paid hard for the horseback riding with my knees. In only my early 40s, I couldn't run or ride anymore which surprisingly had a big impact on my emotional will being! I finally adjusted to walking instead, and now I'm looking at having to get something done to keep doing even that.

Elevenyearstoomany@reddit

My dad was drafted by the Pistons, played pro in France for a year, and played in the World Master’s Game in Denmark. He also played on an over 30’s mens’a softball team for years where many of the guys didn’t realize that sliding into base in your 40’s in shorts isn’t a great choice. I saw the gnarliest injuries growing up watching those games.

GonnaTry2BeNice@reddit

Nope, my parents were not very physical. They didn’t age great either.

inko75@reddit

The older gen smoked, got tons of sun, and got exercise equipment from infomercials 👀

Funny you mention the sun, skin cancer is what killed my Irish-skinned dad. Always thought it would be his heart because he was the rotund business man type, but he ended up getting super horrible skin cancer that took over.

Lots of my fam were in Vietnam and camp legeune— the cancers 😳

SurfNTurf1983@reddit

My parents have always been active and fit. At 42 im the same and put health and fitness at the forefront. im still out there surfing, and in my home gym like I'm still in 20s. It just hurts a little more.

weeziefield1982@reddit

My parents were not super athletic but didn’t smoke or drink much. They have aged pretty well.

Top-Web3806@reddit

My parents were definitely not athletic or in good shape. I’m no athlete but definitely take care of my body more than them.

usernames_suck_ok@reddit

I love college football--cool that you played.

My father played sports growing up, in college and in the army, and he was in far better shape/condition at my age (and 10+ years later, too) than I'm in now. I can no longer play basketball because of my back and migraines, but I remember in my 20s my father and I used to play together and he is more than 30 years older than I am. Any time I was on the basketball court with him when I was younger, he got attention from younger people. He also used to be able to move me out of my dorm rooms by lifting and carrying stuff the average person needs a dolly or other moving equipment with.

Slownavyguy@reddit

My dad is 85. He spent 30+ years as a city mailman walking probably 7 miles a day. He’s still in amazing shape.

Ive_seen_things_that@reddit

I don't think I've ever seen my mom run or jump. She is only 20yrs older than me.

My fam had a lot of blue collar and working class types and I mostly just remember so so so many debilitating stress injuries and such and a life of pain

harrilal@reddit

My grandfather was a gymnast who would handstand walk up and down ladders as a party trick. He was a black belt in judo. He also lifted weights.

My dad played recreational football (soccer) all his life.

I only ran track for a few years and played a bit of cricket. Nowadays, my exercise is when I unload a truck, lift some pool table slate, and the many steps I take walking the sales floor.

I am not really in awe of them, though. We are who we are in this world. They can't handle a computer, professionally install a pool table, or repair pool cues or darts. Just like I can't walk up a ladder on my hands or dribble a ball as good as they could.

GonePhishingAgain@reddit

I’m in so much better shape than my parents. My mom used to compete in local runs into her mid 30s but after that she stopped. My dad smoked and would get winded playing catch.

bokatan778@reddit

Man, my parents were definitely not in great shape. My mom was always dad dieting and my dad was always overweight.

Just_call_me_Face@reddit

Same, im in WAY better shape than my parents ever were in their 40's

prosequare@reddit

Nah mine have both had flintstones bodies since I was a kid. I went the military route and can still outrun about half of my younger airmen. Have a calcified shoulder that can wait, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, but that’s about it. Never broke a bone, and I’ve only had three stitches put in because I was a dumbass when I was a kid.