![]() It wasn't until the baby-boom generation came of age during and after the Vietnam War that the term acquired its present peacetime connotation.Īlong the way, several presidents tried to prove their fitness for office by displaying their fitness outside the office, often with dubious results. Back then, weekend warriors were just that - men (and occasionally women) who went to war on weekends against invading British redcoats. One of the capitals of paintball games is a so-called Weekend Warriors Paintball Park on an Indian reservation outside San Diego, whose operators claim their field was named in honor of a 1991 Ted Nugent album.įor better or worse, today's weekend warriors are carrying on an all-American tradition that dates to the Revolutionary War era. Another warlike sport on the rise is paintball, which now claims 5 million participants nationwide. While sports ranging from inline skating, aerobics and fitness training to basketball, softball, bicycling, golf and tennis are still widely popular, the sports enjoying the greatest annual percentage gains in participation are kick boxing (65.4 percent), skateboarding (20.3 percent), muzzle loading (14.0 percent) and martial arts (11.8 percent). As one chiropractor observed, "They get hurt because they treat their sport like a hobby instead of a physically demanding athletic activity."ĭespite the documented risks, the art of weekend warfare has become more and more militaristic in recent years. According to an informal survey of chiropractors, orthopedists and physical therapists, a disproportionate number of overuse syndrome sufferers are men in theĤ0- to 50-year-old bracket who fail to warm up properly before they play their games, and almost never stretch out post-game. Their idea of fun is full bore, no holds barred, go at it until your shoulder separates, your lower back cracks, your tendons tear, your muscles cramp, your ankles sprain and your jock drops to your sweat socks as a result of what medical experts call ¿overuse syndrome.¿Īdvancing age and immature attitudes only increase a weekend warrior's likelihood of sustaining injuries. When weekends arrive, these desk-bound dilettantes take to the playing fields with reckless abandon. ![]() What really distinguishes weekend warriors from the rest of the sports-minded pack, however, is their lack of restraint and old-fashioned common sense, especially during the warm-weather months of spring and summer. ![]() Their last regular exercise regimens were either in high school or college, and they spend 60 hours a week working at jobs that require them to sit behind a desk. ![]() They are typically highly motivated, achievement-oriented male and female professionals over the age of 30, with a predominant number belonging to the baby-boom generation. Ubiquitous and injury-prone to have prompted the American Physical Therapy Association to disseminate an identifying profile. Weekend warriors are a special breed of recreational activists whose members are sufficiently abundant, The two leading sports - exercise walking and swimming - claim more than 138 million participants annually, or roughly one-half of the U.S. Not surprisingly, recreational activity is also at an all-time high. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, sales of recreational equipment, footwear, clothing and transport are a record $74 billion a year. Never before in history have so many been so well armed and well outfitted to engage in their favorite forms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They've also got sticks, clubs, bats, gloves, mallets, racquets, cleats, spikes, bikes, inline skates, barbells, boogie boards, surfboards, sailboats, power boats, wind surfers, rafts, kayaks, oars, paddles, pool cues, ATVs, SUVs, RVs, parasails, parachutes, bows, arrows, rods, reels, hooks, lines, sinkers and muzzle loaders. Softballs, baseballs, golf balls, tennis balls, volleyballs, basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, rugby balls, croquet balls, cricket balls, lacrosse balls, Ping-Pong balls, racquetballs, billiard balls, bowling balls, bocce balls, street hockey balls, even paint balls. One thing you can say for certain about the army ofĪmateur sports nuts commonly known as weekend warriors - they've got balls.
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