Althouse: “I got hit with a chop block when I was a defensive end in high school. My ankles were weak for years. So when I became an exercise junkie..."

October 24, 2019

“I got hit with a chop block when I was a defensive end in high school. My ankles were weak for years. So when I became an exercise junkie..."

"... in my 20s, I used to turn my ankles a bunch. Anyway, I had a friend, a Shoshone healer. Rolling Thunder. I used to see him work on people with an owl’s wing and cedar smoke. I said, ‘Chief, would you consider doctoring my ankles?’ He stood me up and said, ‘When you’re running, have you ever thought about looking down at where you put your feet?’ Here he pauses for effect And I haven’t turned my ankle since.”

From "The Grateful Dead's Bob Weir Is 72 and Still Working Out Like a Beast/What do you get when you cross a Grateful Dead legend and epic, age-defying workouts?" (Men's Health).

Hey, that reminds me. I went out for a drive yesterday. I wanted to see some fall colors and meditate on the local landscape. I turned on the car radio — satellite radio — and just happened to hit the preset button that played this:

25 comments:

Rob said...: That required a Shoshone healer? Better he should have visited Dr. Kronkheit.; 10/24/19, 12:54 PM
Szoszolo said...: Great that he works out, but I can't say someone is aging well when he looks 20 years older than he is.; 10/24/19, 1:17 PM
Howard said...: About 10 years ago I read "Born to Run" and started running and hiking in vibram 5-fingers and taharamara style sandals. Makes your ankles "anti-fragile"; 10/24/19, 1:23 PM
Unknown said...: It amazes me that Bobbie has stayed so healthy for so long, especially considering the poor health of Jerry; 10/24/19, 1:25 PM
Ficta said...: I read a book about Rolling Thunder long ago. It was recommended by the history professor at my Adventist high school! I don't remember much about it other than that I found it fascinating.; 10/24/19, 1:26 PM
rehajm said...: Heh. Hey doc, it hurts when I do this...; 10/24/19, 1:30 PM
Limited blogger said...: Will see Bob and John perform next Thursday, Halloween, at Madison Square Garden.

Dead and Company.; 10/24/19, 1:46 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: I'm not sure exercise tips from an aging DeadHead is necessarily the way to go......; 10/24/19, 1:54 PM
Bilwick said...: I used to be friends with someone who knew Rolling Thunder. He claimed RT was something of a charlatan. He said whenever a "patient" came to him, RT would look the person intently in the eyes for a few seconds an then prescribe PABA. My friend, who knew something about nutrition, said that most people, due to a crummy diet, would be deficient in PABA anyway, so like as not the taking of PABA would do them some good.; 10/24/19, 2:16 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Great that he works out, but I can't say someone is aging well when he looks 20 years older than he is."

Only the hair and the beard look 92, but those arms and legs look better than those on most 30 year olds- well defined musculature is not something 72 year old men really have. He probably should have taken better care of his skin- looks like he has a lot of Sun damage that has accumulated- you see this too in a lot of older women who spent their youths Sunbathing.

Use it or lose it. He might die of cancer in the next ten years, or a heart attack, but I doubt he will spend any time enfeebled- that is the real benefit of rigourous weight training. I am a fanatic about working out, too, and if I am in that good of shape 19 years from now, I will consider it all worth it. I see a lot of men his age at the gym, but they are almost all of them there long after it is too late to salvage much physical robustness. The ones who do still have it are all life-long fanatics like Weir.; 10/24/19, 2:25 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "I'm not sure exercise tips from an aging DeadHead is necessarily the way to go......"

I am the exact opposite- that a DeadHead can do this should be encouraging.; 10/24/19, 2:25 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I spent most of my adult life as an avid runner. Yes- you do have to watch your feet on uneven terrain (grass, dirt paths)- if you don't, you will constantly trip over shit and turn your ankle. It isn't the case that you have to literally look down at your feet to do this, but you do need to be looking ahead at the ground you are going to be covering within the next few seconds and planning accordingly. I you don't want to have to pay this kind of attention, you need to run a track or on asphault- concrete sidewalks are terrible for your knees.; 10/24/19, 2:30 PM
Yancey Ward said...: I preferred well trodden dirt paths.; 10/24/19, 2:30 PM
purplepenquin said...: I'm not sure exercise tips from an aging DeadHead is necessarily the way to go......

Probably better than the tips you'd get from the band members who are no longer aging.; 10/24/19, 3:03 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: take a look at some of his short-shorts in live performances

...will the Prof overrule her objections?; 10/24/19, 3:12 PM
tommyesq said...: I saw Dead and Co. this summer. Bob looked pretty good, played pretty good, but seemed to have trouble remembering how some of the sons went.; 10/24/19, 3:45 PM
Nichevo said...: Yancey, is there really much difference between an asphalt or a concrete running surface? I wouldn't have thought so.; 10/24/19, 3:50 PM
Howard said...: Asphalt have some spring, concrete don't. Children's know this; 10/24/19, 4:23 PM
Fernandinande said...: the Grateful Dead, which he founded at 16 years old (16!) with Jerry Garcia

Weir was 18 when the Dead formed in 1965.

It’s easily a 45 degree incline

Actually 22 degrees.

Signed, The Stickler, or, Mr. If you get the simple things wrong why should we believe the rest of it?; 10/24/19, 5:47 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Yancey, is there really much difference between an asphalt or a concrete running surface? I wouldn't have thought so."

I wouldn't have thought so either, but the difference is very real, and noticeable in a surprisingly short time. If you put a blindfold on me and let me run on a surface, I can tell you within a few strides whether it is concrete or asphault- I can feel the jarring from concrete- it has no give at all, and within a few minutes it starts to be felt as discomfort in my knees and ankles.; 10/24/19, 7:53 PM
320Busdriver said...: At 54 I’m really diggin the group HIIT class at my local gym. It’s like orange theory, but waaay better. Stations are treadmill, dumbbell/bench, TRX straps, battle ropes, rowers, kettle bells, and med balls. If it’s a combat session you add the heavy buags. We all wear a myzone HR monitor and everyone’s HR and effort points are displayed on tiles on the big monitors in the room. Add some loud music and a good instructor and voila. 1000 calories in just under an hour. Feels like 10 minutes and your done. I don’t run outside any more, but do sprints on the treadmill. Sometimes with the elevation up very high. The platforms are very forgiving so no worry about turning an ankle, but the thought of a crash at high speed is always there because it will do major damage. Mostly women in the class, but a few die hard guys are seen regularly. I think I am in the best shape I have ever been.; 10/24/19, 9:28 PM
JamesB.BKK said...: Chop block? He's not sure he wasn't wobbly from all the Buds, Humboldt County bud, acid, shrooms, and whatever he used to energy up?; 10/25/19, 12:00 AM
Charlie said...: Time for a shave, Bob.; 10/25/19, 9:00 AM
Jessica said...: The Grateful Dead. Or as I call them, "Bob Weir and the Ugly Brothers."

(that's someone else's joke and i can't remember whose); 10/25/19, 12:32 PM
Nichevo said...: I wouldn't have thought so either, but the difference is very real, and noticeable in a surprisingly short time.

Fascinating. I wonder whether this factors into the choice of one or thw other for road construction. You'd think the sidewalks should be asphalt and thr the streets concrete instead of the reverse.; 10/25/19, 5:25 PM