P90X and Insanity Awesomeness Aging me Gracefully My Fountain of Youth!!
I was training my client Mark the other day and I asked him if he thought any of his friends could get through the workout I had just put him through. He thought for a while and said, “Maybe a couple.” Mark is 48 and has dozens of friends who can’t begin to touch his level of fitness in their present state. Most of them would have never gotten through his pull-up and push-up routine without hurling or quitting half way through. At 50 I might have 4 friends who can get through most of my workouts. All younger than me. I’m not here to brag or boast, but I am here to let you know that as the clock ticks into the future so do your opportunities to improve physically, mentally and emotionally.
When I was training Mark I also asked him if he saw himself working this hard in his 60s, 70s or 80s. He said he hoped to. The truth is, if he kept it up, there’d be no reason why he couldn’t do most of his present day workouts in his 70s and 80s. Here’s a guy doing sets of 30 push-ups and 10 plus pull-ups for an entire workout, who couldn’t do that in college. I’m not saying that college linebackers are going to bench 375 lbs in their 70s, but I am saying that the human body is capable of amazing things well into your 70s and 80s, if the human mind is willing to show up too.
Quite often older athletes struggle because of their unwillingness to mix these up and stay consistent. If you have a one, two or no dimensional approach to exercise you leave yourself wide open to injuries and issues as you get older. With injuries comes disappointment. With disappointment comes fear. With fear comes less exercise period. The words “I used to ______” make me angry. The glory days are not over! They are right now. You just need to know what to do and how to do it. An example is when I see older folks running. At some point you have to realize that the thing that brought you, might be destroying you now. Bent over choppy strides is an indication that yoga never happened in previous years. The effort is there, but lack of acknowledgement that something is wrong is the problem.
If you’re reading this and you’re younger than 50 and haven’t made movement and healthy eating a priority yet, then do yourself a favor and get busy because the clock is ticking and the last third of you life will be bleak. Look around at the people in your life who’ve made it to 60, 70 and 80 who haven’t taken care of themselves. What do you see? Issues. Lots of issues. Is that any way to live your life? Trying to solve these issues with pills, potions and processed foods? I think not. Consistency, Variety, Intensity and Curiosity are the keys to lifelong health and fitness. If you mix it up, you’ll avoid the pitfalls of aches, injuries and the fear of failure as you get older.
The Future ~ Coming Soon. Bring it Now!
