Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Let yourself fall down more

ntietz.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 40 posts

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#31

Post by leetrout »

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #20

I picked up inline skating at ~39, I realized that for all my cycling and lifting my balance and propreoception was crap and skiing once a year wasn't going to solve that problem. I slapped on all the padding I could and it took me nearly a year to get my bodyweight outside of my feet and really carve at high speed. Why? Because my flexibility, strength and muscle activation all had weird gaps. I ended up getting a s…

Signed up to walk my first ever in my life 5K at the end of this month and I'm already getting some improvement in my balance with just walking more and faster.

Tell me more about the slackboard... any particular way you play with it? 41 and have lost what very small amount of snowboarding skills I had in my 20s before I was 30. I have looked at them and the balance boards because I know I need to do _something_.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#32

Post by cowlby »

bsuvc wrote: post #21

The thing is, falling down (ie. failing at things) can take a lot out of you, physically, mentally, financially, spiritually. For most of us, taking calculated risks is better than simply taking more risks. And the risk calculation changes based on your personal circumstances: physically falling has a greater impact on an old person than a young person, making a financial mistake has a greater impact on someone who h…

I did some napkin math the other day, and my kids at half my size prob hit the ground with 1/2 the stress that I do. Certainly could take more risks falling with a 50% reduction in harm. The extra rotational energy from 70" vs 40" will do it.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#33

Post by calmbonsai »

This really isn't useful advice since physically, economically, and reputationally, "falling down" when you're younger incurs exponentially less risk.

Virtually all legal systems make a clear distinction between "children" and "adults" precisely because of these sorts of external and embodied judgment factors.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#34

Post by verial-lab »

I was just yesterday feeling the perfectionism (what will people think) keeping me from releasing my first blog post.

Some comments are literal: "but I actually won't be able to get up again" and that's fair.

I would say a more complete version is: "take risks that won't end you and learn from the feedback."

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#35

Post by 00N8 »

svat wrote: post #29

This post rests on: > Falling doesn't have to be dangerous. You can fall a lot without getting hurt, if you learn to fall safely. With inline skating, you have protective gear (helmet, knee/elbow pads, wrist guards) which protect you, and you have techniques for falling which let you use this gear to its fullest potential. Is that actually true? Is it possible with enough protective gear, that falling can be safe, ev…

IME yes, it absolutely can be. I am approaching middle age & still comfortably enjoy pushing myself in physical activities where falls are likely, with zero significant injuries aside from a couple sprained ankles from playing basketball (& technically the ankle rolling came before the fall in these couple mishaps; letting my body roll/fall out of it just helped reduce the severity). Also it's more about technique & familiarity/reflex training than safety gear, although I do wear a Zamst ankle brace on my weak ankle whenever I play basketball & started wearing a helmet for snowboarding a few years ago. Jackie Chan & Buster Keaton were even better at this, although they pushed it a lot farther & did sustain major injuries in their stunt careers.

However, there's a big caveat: I've been practicing falling safely since a young age & really mastered it in my teenage years practicing martial arts & snowboarding. I'm sure it's much harder & more dangerous to learn if you first start in middle age, although I'd imagine it's still possible with the right training & appropriate caution.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#36

Post by nuancebydefault »

verial-lab wrote: post #34

I was just yesterday feeling the perfectionism (what will people think) keeping me from releasing my first blog post. Some comments are literal: "but I actually won't be able to get up again" and that's fair. I would say a more complete version is: "take risks that won't end you and learn from the feedback."

The blog made HN-popular, so congrats! And there's lot's of feedback to learn from. So what you wrote actually already has been proven itself!

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#37

Post by pasquinelli »

OJFord wrote: post #19
pasquinelli wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

question marks for non-questions drive me crazy. when i read them i hear an annoying tone, that's all. makes me vomit.

I hope you appreciate the irony of your distaste for people's mis-punctuation while also Altman-casing your objection.

that's not actually irony. i'm not bothered by only using lowercase.

hey, do you know that just because i don't like something you do, it doesn't mean you're bad, or even that i'm saying you're bad?

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#38

Post by antonyh »

Beestie wrote: post #30
antonyh wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Came here to say this. I don't want to fall down not because I fear the fall, I fear the not getting up.

I'm at a point in life where all the major forks are in my rear view mirror. But when you are young, energetic, don't have dependents and have time to recover then you should absolutely take calculated risks. Playing it safe will haunt you in your later years.

That's where I am too. Not sure why I've been downvoted when I've past the point of doing high-stakes risks and have people who rely on me to avoid injury so they get to have fun.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#39

Post by svat »

00N8 wrote: post #35
svat wrote: post #29

This post rests on: > Falling doesn't have to be dangerous. You can fall a lot without getting hurt, if you learn to fall safely. With inline skating, you have protective gear (helmet, knee/elbow pads, wrist guards) which protect you, and you have techniques for falling which let you use this gear to its fullest potential. Is that actually true? Is it possible with enough protective gear, that falling can be safe, ev…

IME yes, it absolutely can be. I am approaching middle age & still comfortably enjoy pushing myself in physical activities where falls are likely, with zero significant injuries aside from a couple sprained ankles from playing basketball (& technically the ankle rolling came before the fall in these couple mishaps; letting my body roll/fall out of it just helped reduce the severity). Also it's more about technique &…

Thank you. Yeah given the caveat I think it's probably hard then, unfortunately. (For context, I'm someone who's generally very uncoordinated, didn't play any sports growing up, etc, and a few months ago at 39 I fell from kitchen-counter height or possibly even just footstool-height and somehow managed to fall awkwardly on my side and fracture my hip (acetabulum), which took a couple of months to heal. I'm told that this kind of fracture is unlikely in people this age unless there's high-speed impact or osteoporosis involved, but well, I have a talent for awkwardness.)

The broader point of the post I actually agree with though, but the lesson I'd take away is to engineer environments such that it's ok to fall/fail safely.

Re: Let yourself fall down more

#40

Post by fellowniusmonk »

leetrout wrote: post #31
fellowniusmonk wrote: post #20

I picked up inline skating at ~39, I realized that for all my cycling and lifting my balance and propreoception was crap and skiing once a year wasn't going to solve that problem. I slapped on all the padding I could and it took me nearly a year to get my bodyweight outside of my feet and really carve at high speed. Why? Because my flexibility, strength and muscle activation all had weird gaps. I ended up getting a s…

Signed up to walk my first ever in my life 5K at the end of this month and I'm already getting some improvement in my balance with just walking more and faster. Tell me more about the slackboard... any particular way you play with it? 41 and have lost what very small amount of snowboarding skills I had in my 20s before I was 30. I have looked at them and the balance boards because I know I need to do _something_.

It's just time in for me, no games per se. I keep it intentionally in the open and in the way as much as I can, just hopping on and trying to stay upright while the tv is on or during a short break between meetings. Improvement is non linear and my skill cap is unknown so just spending time on it and letting my mastery/boredom drive how I evolve my use is good enough.
Post reply on HN