Fitness – Then & Now

Take a quick trip back in time with me. I want to share some personal reflections that might save you some of the mistakes I made.

I do not know how old you are. I do know you have heard enough about fitness to understand its role in staying healthy, sharp, and active.

People ask me all the time what the best exercises are. My answer is always the same. It depends.

You have to decide what your goal is. Weight loss, body composition, raw strength, endurance, mobility, general fitness. Pick one or two and build around them. Lately I have been telling myself a version of this. “You can have anything you want. You cannot have everything you want all at once.” Especially over 40.

What is actually true about training after 40

• Your body needs more recovery than you think. If you do not give it, it will take it from somewhere. Nutrition, supplementation, sleep, programming. Recovery is not a weakness. It is where the adaptation happens.
• You probably eat more than you need to. Protein matters. Fat is essential. But you will not see the muscle definition you want with a layer of carb fueled fat on top. I learned this the hard way in my twenties. As a young, testosterone-driven male I wanted to be BIG. I lifted heavy. I was 50 pounds heavier than I am now. Looking at those photos, I was indeed big. Big around the middle, too. I see this in young men all the time. Big chest and arms over a belly. Lean is healthier. Lean is more functional. Lean ages better. Omega 3 status helps here more than people realize.
• Manage energy, not time. Time management is overrated past 40. Energy management is what keeps you in the gym across years. Push and skip recovery and you will end up forced into rest by exhaustion or injury, neither of which is the rest you wanted.

There is no shortcut to general fitness

You can have great looking muscles and no endurance. You can be thin and an endurance monster with no strength. Neither one ages well alone. For long term health, the program needs three legs.

• Strength training, two to three sessions per week.
• Zone 2 cardio, three to four sessions per week, conversational pace.
• Flexibility and mobility work, daily, even fifteen minutes.

You may not be the biggest in the room. You will be strong. You may not set records in the half marathon. You will be running injury free into your eighties. You may not have a six pack. You will not have a keg either.

What to do tomorrow morning

• Pick your three legs. Schedule them like appointments.
• Track recovery, not just sessions. Heart rate variability, resting heart rate, sleep quality. They matter more than how much you lift.
• Eat for your goal, not your habits. Most older lifters eat too much. Most older endurance athletes eat too little protein.
• Get omega 3 status into a healthy range. Inflammation control is the cheapest performance edge available.

You have plenty to live for. Make sure you can show up for it with a clear mind and a body that works.

Doc