[elicash]

I was running with the dogs and fell forward and stress fractured both elbows (using hands to not land on face). That was a couple months ago, so I'm mostly healed, but I want to improve both flexibility and strength.

At 40, I didn't think this kind of injury from a fall was a thing quite yet.

[dmoy]

Imo add balance to the list. Balance practice can be weird, but helps a lot in preventing falls (along with strength, also necessary).

There's a lot of balance exercises out there which will seem like they're too "easy", and that may be because it's focused on like 80 year olds. If you find it too easy you can do stuff that they do for e.g. 3p rifle (a sport which is a majority about just standing there perfectly balanced):

https://www.issf-sports.org/news.ashx?newsid=3215

(Don't dig too deep into that route though because it will quickly get hyper focused on the meta of 3p. E.g. if you find yourself looking at MEC or Heinz Reinkemeier through looking for balance exercises, you've probably gone past the point where it's useful for general balance exercises lol)

[elicash]

In this specific case, it was a dog running under my feet and me not wanting to stomp on her. But my balance has never been great -- also, as mentioned, interested in general stuff as I age -- so I'll definitely research that, too, thanks!

[amelius]

Go slowly. I started stretching my hamstrings a few weeks ago to work on flexibility, ramped it up too fast, and now I have lower back pain :(

[alphabettsy]

Had similar issues. Not necessarily that you went too fast, but that you didn’t also give attention to your back and abs. Weak abs can cause back pain.

[Fin_Code]

Muscle starts to atrophy naturally after 40. If you don't counteract it with some strength training, things get bad.