The important lesson I learned playing rugby at 40

I joke that 2 years ago I had a midlife crisis. I returned to playing rugby after a 12 year hiatus. I was 38 years old and the average age of the players on the team was 19 years old. I was tackling teenagers for fun. Or more importantly for this post, they were tackling me.

Rugby is a full contact sport, sort of a cross between soccer and football. We don't wear helmets or pads and we play for 80 minutes. In an average game I would estimate that I make at least 10 tackles in addition to doing other strenuous things like scrumming and rucking.

When people find out that I play rugby at my age they often respond with something like, "isn't that a brutal sport?"

Yes, we pride ourselves on how much physical intensity we can handle. We compare bruises and stories about going to school or work with a black eye.

So, choosing to continue to play into my forties is not a decision I take lightly. And I've had to approach it differently than I did when I played in college.

My biggest lesson has been this:

Recovery is Active

After a match, I now prepare for recovery and allow myself multiple days of specific recovery activities.

For me that looks like:

• Mobility flows
• Rice bag / heat pads
• Bruise gel (arnica)
• Epsom salt soaks or compresses
• Gentle movement
• Medical massage and physical therapy if needed
• Myofascial release with a ball and a roller
• Extra sleep
• Extra water
• Good nutrition - especially good proteins
• Taking the Monday after a match off from work

Then, once I am ready I do strength training and cross training (like swimming) to build my resilience.

In my work we often talk about self care and rest and in the past I thought of that as "taking a break" or stopping what I am doing. It was helpful for me to realize that taking care of yourself is actually an active process. It is not an absence of effort, but rather a focused effort on healing and recovery. This has spilled over into my work life and my personal life as well.