Risk and reward: Most guys on here are somewhat adventurous by nature. They might be of varying degrees, but I think we all have that. What level of reward do you need?

• Triggerman
  
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  Mar 07, 2016 11:30 PM GMT

  When I was younger, I loved a challenge. Anything. Boxing, mountain biking, jumping off bridges and cliffs. I paid for some of it. Some injuries in my youth limited me as I got older. I wonder? Would I still have done it knowing that a few minutes of fun would cost me later in life? Well, not a few minutes as I rarely got injured the first time I did anything. But you get the point. Adventure sports have grown. Injuries have increased but still who wants a completely safe life? I am curious what others do and won't do but would want to do if doing it might end up not so well. Not paralyzed or dead, but just seriously banged up later in life.

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  Mar 08, 2016 4:07 PM GMT

  Wrapped up in 9 knee surgeries, 5 broken bones, broken nose a few times, a couple good concussions.... and still doing all the sports I did when I was 25, I admit I've always relied on the docs to have the newest surgery or treatment to cover any problems from old injuries. So far they haven't failed me! My biggest concern lies with the concussions. Of all the injuries, those are the only activities I would reconsider at this point. About the only thing I don't take part in now is jumping off of high things and landing on my legs - admittedly, the knees will only take so much abuse.

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  Mar 08, 2016 5:16 PM GMT

  When i think about what i was doing between 20 to 40 , i am asking myself , how i didn't get injured more often
  I have slow down a bit in the last 20 years , no more crazy challenges , but i for sure enjoy the excitement of taking my truck and caravan on the challenging trails of Australia's bush trails ..lol...

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  Mar 08, 2016 6:04 PM GMT

  It's not quite what you mean, but about the time I turned 40 I quit a steady, decently-paying job I liked, to go work for the Biathlon Team - at a large drop in pay. That morphed into working for the Ski Team, then freelance ski tuning at an international level. In the process I banged up my ankles pretty badly - I'm 6 operations in. But do I regret it? Not one bit. It was glorious, I have great friends and memories, and I'd do it all again at the drop of a hat.

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  Mar 08, 2016 6:22 PM GMT

  I was in gymnastics during my teen years. Then pain on my left wrist became persistent. The orthopedic doc showed me in an X-ray that I had worn out the cartilage and that if I continued the sport, I would suffer permanent dislocation.
  
  I quit the sport then and I don't regret it. I'd rather spend a lifetime wondering on the what ifs on staying with the sport than go through multiple reconstructive surgeries.

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  Mar 08, 2016 6:37 PM GMT

  I'm already banged up from mountain biking, and still do it.

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• SilverRRCloud
  
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  Mar 08, 2016 7:49 PM GMT

  A total NO!
  
  I am a very rational guy, and the thought that my ability to work/run my business may be reduced has always been a very major turn off. No injury. No nada. Just perfect maintenance
  
  I neither speak nor wish to judge the others here. But I get my adrenaline highs out of achieving very complex work-related goals. That does it for me. And I am happy to know that other things do it for other people. To each his own, as they say...
  
  ---
  A guy I know has been boasting how he backpacked through each and every South American country by the time he reached 40. You know, the adventure, the mosquitos, and frankly lost of pose, too.
  
  I acquired a few marketable skills, and made enough cash to travel first class through the whole of the US by the time I was 21. Many other dudes went GreyHound & backpacking. I only raised the bar for one notch, in my eyes, that is.
  
  SC
  
  

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  Mar 08, 2016 7:56 PM GMT

  I'm a dancer, well I used to dance on a team so it's more of a recreational thing now, but I've sprained my ankle once. My hips sometimes feel too loose as if ima need a hip replacement later in life but I could be wrong because my balance is better than ever and I have a lot of thrust power. It makes for good sex.
  
  I've heard that dancing helps prevent dementia/Alzheimer's if you keep it up.

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  Mar 09, 2016 5:52 AM GMT

  Triggerman saidWhen I was younger, I loved a challenge. Anything. Boxing, mountain biking, jumping off bridges and cliffs. I paid for some of it. Some injuries in my youth limited me as I got older. I wonder? Would I still have done it knowing that a few minutes of fun would cost me later in life? Well, not a few minutes as I rarely got injured the first time I did anything. But you get the point. Adventure sports have grown. Injuries have increased but still who wants a completely safe life? I am curious what others do and won't do but would want to do if doing it might end up not so well. Not paralyzed or dead, but just seriously banged up later in life.

  
  Adventure sports wasn't really a thing when I was growing up. Skateboarding and mountain biking were the only "extreme" things I did.
  
  I did some risky things while skateboarding, but somehow never managed to break anything. Oddly, I got injured the most when I first started running. But I got over it as I got more experienced. As I get older, I do less risky things. As the body ages, it doesn't quite heal from injury as quickly/easily as it did in the younger days.

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  Mar 09, 2016 12:51 PM GMT

  BP201 saidI've heard that dancing helps prevent dementia/Alzheimer's if you keep it up.

  That's actually true of any physical activity.

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• beaujangle
  
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  Mar 09, 2016 1:05 PM GMT

  paulflexes said

  BP201 saidI've heard that dancing helps prevent dementia/Alzheimer's if you keep it up.

  That's actually true of any physical activity.

  
  
  Will that include sex?

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  Mar 09, 2016 2:06 PM GMT

  You don't have to be involved in extreme sports (e.g., motocross, snowboarding, etc.) to (i) sustain injury, or (ii) be challenged. I wrestled competitively for several years in HS and college, and I can tell you that wrestling is no less physically or mentally challenging than other extreme sports. The only difference is the level of imminent danger that inheres in extreme sports. In terms of injury, I can also tell you that my cumulative injury from years of wrestling is such that each time I go to the gym to work out I'm not sure which body part will break down or give me enormous pain the following day.

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  Mar 09, 2016 10:42 PM GMT

  I saw a forensics report that showed that Egyptian slaves (pyramid builders) had worn out bodies similar to today young Olympic trained athletes. As a physiologists once told me ," Your joints are good for 100,000 miles, how do you want to use those miles? "

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• bro4bro
  
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  Mar 10, 2016 12:53 AM GMT

  I started paddling whitewater when I was 12. By the time I was in my 20s I was making some extremely challenging runs. I got banged up from time to time, and was in some very hairy situations, but nothing ever turned out too bad. I loved it. For me, the feeling of being in a situation where you had to react quickly or get slammed, and never knew exactly what would happen next for several miles of river, was recreation at its finest. I kept at it for decades.
  
  I got into rock climbing. I was good at it, but before too long I realized the risk wasn't worth the reward to me. Not that I was all that bothered by risking my life, but the reward just wasn't there. I didn't feel as high on life as I should have after a successful climb to justify not only the risk but the hard work.
  
  I got into surfing. I got banged up a few times but once again nothing too serious. I decided I didn't really need it to be "challenging" and didn't need to chase the best waves to the ends of the earth; I enjoyed just walking my board down to the end of the street and catching a few waves on a mellow day.
  
  Through all of this, I've been a runner - the one competitive sport I was ever really good at. My shoebox of medals is getting way too full. I compete at masters' track now. I injure myself regularly - still trying to get over a pulled muscle from last August. I won't quit running, and I won't quit running hard, so I'm sure I won't quit injuring myself. If I can't get out there and go full tilt on the track, I might as well be dead.

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  Mar 10, 2016 7:18 AM GMT

  I'm sure it's different for everybody. Lots of guys like fighting and slamming each other around, while I couldn't care less about that. Rodeo guys seem to look like they're 70 by the time they're 30.
  I tried ice-climbing and rock climbing, but the pleasure to terror ratio just wasn't favorable. On the other hand, I love just about anything on the water. Broke a rib surfing (or attempting to) and couldn't wait to get back up.
  I've taken a lot of noobs scuba diving and watched their eyes. Some guys panic from the start, and you just take them back to the beach after five minutes for a hot cocoa. It's not their thing. Other guys are like fish coming home for the first time. I've got a bit of nerve damage that may or may not be from getting bent a little. Don't care.

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  Mar 10, 2016 4:59 PM GMT

  
  
  I've always been better at enjoying riskier physical situations when with someone I love & trust but on my own I lean more towards mental challenges.
  
  My first bud was such a risk taker that he wound up dead directly from it and even my second bud wound up dead indirectly by living as if he was indestructible. So while I might prefer on my own to snorkel while my bud wouldn't surface until he'd sucked his tanks dry, I've taken my mind deep into places in conscious dreaming on my own where most fear to tread and others wind up locked away or dead in the attempt, especially if they use artificial means to try getting there.
  
  It's a curious mechanism of knowing ourselves, whether by mind or body, however that spirit manifests. A way of defining, of exploring, just as we would in any other endeavor.
  
  Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.
  
  Let's see what this button does when we push it. Oooops!

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