1 fitness trap Ryan Reynolds overcomes to stay super jacked at 47

I visited my dad recently and for some reason, the subject of my favorite self-improvement books came up.

I have 3 that stand above all others, and when people ask me about them, I recommend reading them in a specific order.

That’s a subject for a different post, but the reason I bring it up is that he texted me last night to say that he’d just finished the audio version of one of them — Can’t Hurt Me by former Navy SEAL David Goggins — and that he found it to be really inspiring.

He also clued into something extremely important about staying fit as you age.

My dad is 67 and has lately been dealing with shoulder and back pain.

He specifically mentioned how, in the closing chapters of the book, Goggins talks about one major adjustment he had to make after years and years of punishing military training and ultramarathon running.

He needed to start stretching. For hours. Every day. And then suddenly all his problems started to recede.

In Goggins’ quest to become a “savage”, he didn’t respect his body enough — and it started pushing back.

When he treated it with proper care, it became an ally again.

Dad said was inspired to re-introduce daily stretching into his routine after running into a spate of back and neck problems of his own and asked if I did the same.

I told him that, at 42, I need to do yoga every second day so I don’t seize up.

Whether you’re a Regular Joe 40s dad writer like me, a 67-year-old retiree who still tries to keep in shape, a hard-driving former Navy SEAL like Goggins, or a Hollywood star with literally a superhero body, at some point you need to act your age and adjust to your limitations.

Let’s talk for a minute about the latter example from Hollywood.

Deadpool dad

Earlier this week, Hollywood superstar Ryan Reynolds published a sweet post on Instagram about his personal trainer as the two work on getting Reynolds ready again to play one of his signature characters — Marvel anti-hero Deadpool.

Here’s the full text of the post:

As I get ready to shove myself into Deadpool’s Big Red Body Condom™️ again, I have to aim the light at @donsaladino.

My body’s been pretty f**ked from years of stunts and being more competitive than my bones and ligaments had ambition for. I push things too far sometimes. I mean, I push things too far ALL the time. Moderation’s never really been my friend. But thankfully Don has!

He’s always been there to help me get back to functionality. Mentally and physically. I realize how privileged I am to work with someone like him. I don’t do this stuff alone. I don’t take it for granted. I knew getting back to where I needed wasn’t gonna be easy.

And adding three months of strike limbo in the middle certainly didn’t help. Anyway… Thanks Don. Here’s to the home stretch. #MaximumEffort ❤️⚔️

I love Reynolds already as a funny and charming actor and a fellow Canadian, but this post really spoke to me.

“I push things too far sometimes. I mean, I push things too far ALL the time. Moderation’s never really been my friend.”

If ever there was a struggle for me, this is it.

And I’m not just talking about my 15-year struggle with alcohol.

Obsessions, good and bad

As a restless, ADHD, creative type, I get obsessed with things.

Sometimes they’ve been bad (booze, gambling), now they’re good (writing here, working out).

But that obsessive nature, that competitiveness and lack of moderation, can cause problems even with the good activities.

I did this with fitness and it cost me big time.

It was only after I developed herniated disc problems bad enough that my doctors were convinced I had MS that I started to accept that I had a 40+ body and needed to adjust.

Reynolds’ post provides a cautionary tale to the rest of us.

Marvel superheroes are fiction. In reality, even the buffest among us must manage our bodies as we age.

As Reynolds notes, he’s privileged to have access to a professional Trainer to the Stars to help get him back to functionality after pushing too hard when he was younger.

And even then, it sounds like the recovery process has been arduous, to say the least.

For the rest of us, it’s all about constant body management.

That means stretching, sleeping, and adjusting activities to match our waning abilities.

The main point is: when your body starts telling you it’s struggling … listen.

There’s no sense in trying to work out like a 20-year-old now if it’s going to keep you out of the gym for months due to injury later.

Thank you for reading this post all the way to the end! If you enjoyed it, please give it a clap or two so others can find it!

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