# Decline of an ability **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 9, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194 "2014-08-09T23:34:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194/21 "2014-08-13T02:31:04Z")
I’m 60, and becoming a parent at 55 has reduced my opportunities to exercise, so I’m losing some of my endurance. And all that getting up and down off the floor has played hell with my knees. My libido is way down from 15 years ago, and I’ve got a problem with a rotator cuff that I’ve been getting physical therapy for, so my fastball will never be the same. At work, however, I’ve really hit my stride in the past few years, where my cohorts and I are figuring out how to pull off stuff that we wouldn’t have dreamed of trying even three years ago. My driving is, AFAICT, better than ever, maybe because parenthood has made me just a little more careful. In my spare time (what little I have of it), I’m doing Kakuro (aka cross sums) puzzles, which I’d never seen before the beginning of last year. Now I’m hooked on them, and have worked my way up from easy to middlin’ to harder levels. They’re a great mental challenge. > [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Are we Dopers getting older as a group? Yes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194/22 "2014-08-13T03:46:19Z")
Getting up out of a chair? I do know that if I am in a position where I am ‘clambering around’ - say, around rocks on the beach, stepladders, over fallen trees on a bushwalk, maybe over a pile of junk in the garage - I know I often spend a lot of time planning my next move (particularly if it involves a small jump or drop) - because if I get it wrong, it’s gonna hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194/23 "2014-08-13T18:57:18Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Are we Dopers getting older as a group? > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Yes. 🙂 Cite? 😛 I don’t hit a golf ball quite as far as I used to, on average. ---
**Author:** ![Sterling\_Archer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Sterling\_Archer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterling_Archer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194/24 "2014-08-14T16:53:00Z")
Jumping. I am still fast. I can still run a long time if I work on building up endurance. I still have very quick reflexes. My accuracy is as good as it ever was. But man oh man, my jumping ability is the PITS. I am 6’3 and I used to be able to just barely dunk a basketball. It wasn’t pretty, but I could kinda bang it off the back of the rim and have it go in. With a girl’s ball, I could dunk it every time fairly easily. I am 37 now and I can just barely get my finger tips on the rim. That’s about a FOOT I have lost on my vertical leap – a HUGE difference. It is embarrassing even trying to jump like I used to, these days. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194/25 "2014-08-14T17:11:18Z")
> [@Sterling\_Archer](#): > > Jumping. I am still fast. I can still run a long time if I work on building up endurance. I still have very quick reflexes. My accuracy is as good as it ever was. But man oh man, my jumping ability is the PITS. > > I am 6’3 and I used to be able to just barely dunk a basketball. It wasn’t pretty, but I could kinda bang it off the back of the rim and have it go in. With a girl’s ball, I could dunk it every time fairly easily. > > I am 37 now and I can just barely get my finger tips on the rim. That’s about a FOOT I have lost on my vertical leap – a HUGE difference. It is embarrassing even trying to jump like I used to, these days. I started experiencing the jumping decline about the same age. I was a really good jumper in high school and held the standing broadjump record. At 5"7" I couldn’t dunk but I could almost get my wrist to hit the rim. At 65 I doubt I can jump a foot anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194/26 "2014-08-14T17:50:11Z")
64 here. I still would like/enjoy sex, but my partner cannot – his system is wrecked/wracked by Type II diabetes. And I am a loyal person. Won’t cheat for the thrill. Masturbation is … OK, but not the same ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/decline-of-an-ability/695194.md?page=1)