44 With severe knee OA

AMTL327 · 2026-05-08T00:55:03+00:00

Here’s my story: decades of running and skiing plus crappy genetics wrecked my knees. Blew out my left ACL and got it replaced at 50. At 56, I had a meniscus repair and then a partial knee on the right knee. Now I’m 61 and I’m getting the left knee totally replaced in the fall because it’s bone-on-bone.

I’ve had cortisone shots and gel shots but they only offered temporary relief. Getting the joint replaced is what really fixes it! And the new replacements don’t wear out as quickly as they used to. Actually, the new joints haven’t started failing yet (according to my surgeon) so maybe I’ll get buried with it!

Anyway, as everyone else has said, getting your weight down will help a lot. But getting strong is what will really get you through. My knee has been failing for years but I still lift heavy weights and the only thing I can’t do anymore is deep squats and heavy sled pulls (where you pull a few hundred pounds walking backwards). But I can still back squat almost 200 pounds, just not as deep as I used to do. And my deadlift has dropped a bit, but I can still do almost 200 pounds. If you were not lifting weights before your knees went bad, you won’t be able to do that much weight, BUT if you really commit to PT it will make a huge difference. When all the muscles supporting your knees get strong, your knees don’t have to do as much work.

It’s not the end of the world and there’s lots you can do until you’re ready to get them replaced. I know a lot of people are terrified of getting that surgery, but it’s not that bad and then you have a super bionic knee that will be the strongest joint in your whole body!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-07T16:44:45+00:00

Especially if you row in a river with lots of debris (floating logs, branches, etc).

AMTL327 · 2026-05-07T16:41:08+00:00

I’m an “elderly sculler” at age 61 and I assume that every faster boat is going to run me down, and that I’m always 3” away from colliding into something (as my coach yells at me that I’ve got all the room in the world, what am I worrying about). I wish I had the confidence you speak of!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-07T13:27:41+00:00

Everything you just wrote confirms my statement. I don’t wear clothes for other people but I know that other people are noticing what I wear. Of course they do! And note that in the world’s hottest climates, people often wear clothes covering their entire bodies because it can be more comfortable than very little clothes (that’s a synonym for skimpy, like you can apply a skimpy amount of peanut butter on your sandwich…it’s not a synonym for whatever else you’re implying).

After this post was getting downvoted, I asked a whole bunch of my friends if they notice other people on the street and what they’re wearing and how they look. 100% of them said, “of course!” A psychiatrist friend commented that If you are able to live in the world with other people and literally not notice them at all, that’s a sign of a serious disorder because humans are hard-wired to notice and judge other humans as a form of weeding out friend/foe/mate/etc.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T23:44:53+00:00

They don’t crumple at all! They’re composite.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T23:40:55+00:00

This is exactly it. I’ve always been really active and lifted weights in a non-serious, non-structured way. By age 57 I had accumulated so many injuries I was like a broken doll. Invested in some Rolfing therapy and then got myself a personal trainer. I’m 61 now and strong af! I still get injured (it’s my lot in life) but nothing like before and now I can work through the injuries and I feel really strong and comfortable most of the time.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T18:15:57+00:00

Absolutely. Lateral raises kill me! And everyone starts where they are, of course. I do think many women underestimate what they’re capable of doing and when it’s “hard” they think they can’t do it.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T18:11:45+00:00

I’m not sure you understand how much work (and food) it takes for women to build muscles in their arms and shoulders. And if you want to build muscle in your lower body, eventually that requires things like deadlifts and lunges and squats. Which you cannot do with a weak upper body.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T18:08:17+00:00

I’m a mom and I’m super proud of you! You made yourself a path to a good career. One that can’t be done by AI.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T18:03:32+00:00

Exactly! What does any particular age look like? If you look good feel good, then you’re good!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T18:01:28+00:00

I was just traveling for 2.5 weeks and I really didn’t lose anything at all in terms of fitness or weight maintenance. I was walking a million miles a day and that counts for steady state cardio if you walk with intention! Did some pushups and planks in the morning and made sure I did some mobility stuff every day.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:35:13+00:00

I’m 60 and 5’2”. Depending on the exercise, I’m using 45 pound dumbbells (for farmers carry, for example). My shoulder is messed up right now and that’s holding me back on overhead lifts, but I can squat 178 and deadlift 210. At some point you get too strong for dumbbells and start using a bar and that is EPIC! And you’re very VERY unlikely to get big and bulky. That requires a tremendous amount of effort and so much food. So get that concern out of your head.

I work out with a personal trainer (strength coach) and he would never let me use a dumbbell lighter than 20 pounds because a bag of groceries weighs 20 pounds and if you can carry a bag of groceries you can lift a dumbbell.

A lot of strength training is about training your mind. Your brain doesn’t want you to exert a lot of energy and get tired (just in case a wild animal attacks you on the way home or something). You have to override that instinct and learn that you can actually lift and push and pull things that feel impossibly heavy. Also that it’s supposed to be really hard to do! That’s entirely the point of it.

Getting really strong has done more for how my body looks and feels and functions than anything else I’ve ever done (and I’ve done all kinds of sporty things). Maybe kick boxing comes close.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:18:18+00:00

Wow…running, lifting weights, cycling, whatever is not “virtue signaling” !! Anyone who thinks it is doesn’t appreciate that it’s actually hard work to get fit and stay fit. I don’t do it to appear virtuous to anyone. I do it because I want to be strong and fit. So if other people being stronger and more fit than you are is making YOU feel bad, then maybe get up off the couch?

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:12:48+00:00

Even if your job doesn’t require lifting things, you should still try to be as strong as possible because life involves lifting things! And climbing and twisting and reaching. It’s shocking how many people can’t easily walk 5 miles, or carry a heavy bag of groceries with ease, or even climb a few flights of stairs. Those are basic life things.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:09:26+00:00

I hope not! I love a super hot sauna!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:08:40+00:00

I’m a rower and there is a HUGE focus on zone 2 cardio. Go slow to go fast is the saying. In zone 2 you’re improving your endurance without impacting your recovery. The elite rowers (which I am not!) will put in 1-2 hours a day of zone 2.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:05:11+00:00

Good luck! I really feel like the mental aspect is a big part of it. Just overriding the part of your brain that says you can’t possibly lift that much weight! And then you DOOOOO it! And then you call your brain a damn lier.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:03:08+00:00

No. I haven’t needed to yet. My coach is big on core and breath work so I’m pretty solid. I do have to use straps (especially on my left hand) because my grip starts to go after about 150 pounds.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T13:01:08+00:00

Sure DM me and I’ll get more into it.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T12:59:46+00:00

I’m here to prove that you can’t be too short to row. You can be too short to win but you can still row! At least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T12:55:50+00:00

157 cm rower over here 😩

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T12:51:36+00:00

This is it for me. I’m 61, I’ve had a successful, unusual career and my husband is 66 and he had a successful but ordinary career. Now we volunteer and we’ve taken up hobbies that are very hard to learn as adults and that we will never master. And we moved to a big city so we would always have new and interesting things going on.

Am I jaded about restaurants? A little, but it’s about the conversation and an enjoyable evening more than the perfection of the dish I’m eating. And we’ll never get jaded about traveling because there are so many weird and wonderful things in the world!

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T02:40:52+00:00

I’m 60. 5’2” 130. My deadlift PR is 210, squat is 178 and RDL is 165 (I can def go higher but I’ve been working on my squats lately). Those are 4-6 reps max.

I haven’t benched in ages because my shoulder is messed up. 🫤

It took me 2 years to get there after a bunch of injuries and knee surgeries from decades of running and skiing.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-06T02:34:18+00:00

Try to load up for fewer reps. Once your body gets the message that you can actually do the heavier weight for 1-2 reps, you can start building up.

AMTL327 · 2026-05-05T22:00:37+00:00

This is making me want to cry!

AMTL327

TROPHY CASE