As I am going to be 46 on Friday the ‘Wall of 35’ certainly explains the last 11 years. When I was 35 I weighed 40 lbs less than I do now and I did not have a double chin or jowls. I used to be pretty…really…I swear.
Face it, eventually we all wear out.
It was after 35, but when I waas on my honeymoon (married late), I got my first case of gout. I thought I broke my foot. We went to the local emergency ward (fun honeymoon!) and there was a woman there with a broken foot. I’ pretty sure she was in less pain than me. I didn’t find out the cause until much later. Shortly afterwards, I felt the first twinges of my knees starting their decline.
I still ski and play racquetbball with a much younger opponent (who I almost always beat), but walking down stairs is getting to be a real pain.
I know many people who have worn-out ankles and kness-from running! I think the hyuman knee is NOT meant to be used for hours of running on hard surfaces. Which kinda justifies my conclusion-you are better off walking and hiking. I walk my dogs about 1.5 miles every day-no knee or joint pain! plus, i don’t have to worry about getting hit by a car!
WALK (don’t run!)
Yeah, those hunter-gatherers (emphasis on the hunters for this post) obviously just walked around and hoped they’d find slow-moving prey. After hours of slow stalking, I’m sure they’d just say “Oh well, that’s a bummer” if the prey was startled. After all, they wouldn’t want to run anywhere; that’s crazy talk!
Don’t scare 'em, Trouble!
I think 35 is when I hit the wall initially, but 40 is when the bricks starting falling on me. The worst part…I no longer recover from anything as fast as I used to. I used to shrug off minor bumps, falls and bruises, but now, man, they last. As in I usually say "Yep, thats gonna hurt like hell in a few hours." (I hope i’m wrong, but i’m frequently right when I say that, too). Sometimes I even need a nap in the middle of a day. Gettin’ old sucks, I’ve been hoping someone would tell there can be only one, teach me how to sword fight and inform me that I’m not going to get any older. Of course the downside is people would want to cut off my head. 
I hear ya. It also goes for running. I tried to push it a little last week and ended up using a lot of Flex-All later in the day.
My doctor told me to stop eating spicy foods a few years ago. I don’t listen to him all of the time and I too, pay the price. But i’ve noticed that since I 40 spicy food cause me to…well, fart a lot more. Really bad farts too. I cleared out a room last week at work. It was bad. I really did think something crawled up my ass and died.
I avoid anything like roller coasters, but its only because my high blood pressure is a concern. Well, that and the nausea
Its an achy hunched over death march. Made worse by the fact that its always COLD in the bathroom no matter how high you turn the heat. That horror show I see in the morning mirror isn’t doing my ego any good either, brother.
I actually don’t mind this part because its given me the opportunity to say “I toldja so” to my younger friends. Like I say to them “Yeah, I’m old by your reckoning, but I’ve been where you are…thats why I’m not throwing up in a toilet Friday night.”
… unless they have gout, in which case beer is like pouring shrapnel into your joints. Gout - yet another way males 40 to 50 can shoot themselves in the foot.
Cal, I’d seen your gout musings before… start a thread and marvel at all who come participate!
Around 35 I decided to get serious about my martial arts. Started training far harder, and lifted weights aggressively to add 20 pounds. At 40 I was in the best shape of my life. Then a couple of injuries made me stop fighting and my muscle turned to fat. I started running to lose that flab, but training for and running a marathon took a toll. So for me, it wasn’t until 43 or so that I hit a wall fitness-wise. I still run and am rather active, but various parts of me hurt all the time.
What I’m saying is, if you want to be in great shape at age 35-45, you can. But I would recommend choosing an activity that is lower impact than running and less likely to result in injury than martial arts. Maybe a combination of walking, biking, and swimming. Arthritis is a bitch, and once you get it, it doesn’t get better.
You are probably at the point where you aren’t a youngster able to eat whatever you want and avoid working out, yet able to turn it on for the occasional game of hoops or football. Unlike when you were young and immortal, you need to do a little ongoing maintenance - getting regular exercise and being aware of what you shove/pour down your gullet.
It takes relatively little effort to be in better shape than most of the other 30-50 year olds out there. If you want, you can be competitive with all but the best 20 year olds - but it is going to take you far more work than it takes them, and it will also be harder for you to bounce back from training sessions, injuries, etc.
I’m 36. last night at the gym, guys were asking what we’d change about our physiques if we could change anything. Tehy all thought I was going to want to be taller or have hair. But I said, “I just want all the little hassles to clear up. All the aches and pains, the strange itches, the discomforts that bother me day to day.”
It seems like I work out so much more than I used to but now even a little bit of food wrecks all the efforts I make. It has taken since February to lose 10 pounds and not that the holidays are coming, I had better clamp down tight and scroogy or I’ll gain it all back with change.
I’m going to hit 30 this January, and I tell ya: I fear nothing.
I say this because my grandfather turned 91 this year, and while he’s old and his body is weakened by age, I swear, he’s still mentally sharp as a tack, can still turn down metal on a lathe to a thousanth of an inch, and could probably weld the frame of a bus while laying on his back–the arc welder in one hand, and lifting the bus up with the other hand–if his back was guaranteed not to give him any trouble (his 1927-issue back only came with a 75-year guarantee. They built 'em good back then, but not as good as we do now).
My uncle is still in very good health. My cousin, ten years older than me, is still strong at 40. All the while through college, I was in AZ with my uncle and cousin, and seeing them at 35 happy and livin’ the high life, I realized that I’ve got good genes.
Compile that with the way I’ve beaten the crap out of myself the past 15 years and rebounded, I’ll be the first to say that yes. . . I’m still invincible.
Now ask me that same question in ten years. I’ll still laugh at you when I tear your phone book in half.
Tripler
What doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger.
I find that, sometimes, what doesn’t kill you only leaves you crippled, in great pain, and wishing it had killed you.
I turned 40 in 03.
I was sick 9 months out of that year.
I lost 30 lbs.
The bad way. 
Feh! That’s what straight whiskey is for!
Tripler
The body is a temple, but don’t forget your insides as well. 
To quote one of my own favorite sigs:
That which does not kill me makes me stranger.
Less than a month to go till the big 40. I’ve been in better shape - this year my genes caught up with me and gave me hypertension. I’ve lost, gained and lost some weight.
I play football with some guys from work - most of them have 15 years on me. I’m slow, clumsy, and not very good. But I have missed less sessions than anyone else over the past year due to injury. Hyperflexion of the joints is actually a good thing - I stretch joints, not tear tendons.
A few of us went to a snowdome this week. They have been taking snowboard lessons for a while. I have had 1 days skiing since I was 17.
I owned them. Balance, skill, speed. Not bad for an old guy. 
There is a wall, but if you are smart you will look around for an alternative to hitting it full tilt. It doesn’t have to hurt.
I don’t usually go for sigs, but I just found one I can live with. Thanks Eve
Si
For some reason, I thought this was going to be about car accidents.
My friend totalled her car when she hit a wall at ~35 last week (she’s fine). Not quite what you were after, though.
They were also dead by age 35.
Seems like they would’ve preferred the ambush, too. How many animals worth eating can we outrun?
I’m 25, so I don’t have anything else to contribute to this thread . . . yet :).
Woo-hoo! Immortality.