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I hesitate to start todays show with, “When I was younger…”

Because it makes me sounds so old!

I’ve found myself starting many a sentence like that recently although it’s not because I’m wishing I was back in my 20’s.

It’s more that I’m noticing a lot has changed.

For one how I like to spend my free time. This weekend I had a bit of a girls night out scheduled.

However, as it happened on this particular stunning Sydney evening our plans had to be changed to a girls night in.

Which absolutely ROCKED. I really wasn’t up for missioning out to some bar.

It’s not the way I want to spend my time or energy and that highly likely result of the following-day-wasted is certainly not what I’m after either.

Today I’m weighing in on:

Changing Your Training As You Get Older.

If I ever hear “I’m too old for this” muttered at the gym I’ll passionately disagree. In fact I’d argue the older you get the more important exercise becomes, to maintain both body and mind. And not just golf!

Generally the things I’ve changed in my training over the past 20 years have been related to getting better information rather than getting older. There are of course a few exceptions.

Here’s what has changed:

One: Training now is purely about RESULTS for me and not about the social aspect.

I’m not going to lie to you, aesthetics is still a HUGE part of why I train. As is energy and strength and absolutely because it helps keep me calm and happy.

However, training also used to be about the mates I went to the gym with and the delicious eye candy we’d happen to see at the gym. Now I’d prefer to keep exercising and socializing separate.

Rather than the experience of the social aspect of exercise I now see it and crave it as: Precious ME Time. 

I actually consider the calm I feel as a result of Precious Me Time as equally important to the confidence I feel as a result of creating a body I love.

Two: Training now must be time efficient.

It means I’m more focused. I time my sessions and I use my time effectively.

I don’t have 2 hours a day to spend at the gym like I did when I was younger… (!) and I imagine you don’t either.

Although I love training, I’m also aware of the opportunity cost. Everything that I can’t be doing while I’m choosing to train. So I want to make the most of my time.

To a degree I used to try and out train a bad diet. Can you relate?

A key indicator is: if your exercise quota is reactive to your eating… rather than a training regime you follow because that’s the plan devised with your goal in mind, and you sometimes find yourself slogging it out in cardio land because you fell into a tub of Ben and Jerry’s last night.

The thing is you’ll never out train a bad diet… more likely you’ll just fuel the vicious cycle of overeating => cardio-land-punishment => carbie-OVER-refuel => cardio-land-punishment…

Three: I’ve removed EGO from training.

Well pretty much. I really don’t care what I lift or how much I lift compared to someone or anyone else. I might joke about it occasionally however I really don’t care.

If you’re on the treadmill and you’re running faster than me? That’s cool. Go for it!

I have my goal in mind not yours… and you know what’s really good?

I’m happy for the person who’s fitter or stronger or even more buff-yet-lean than me… because years on – now – I know how hard they work for it. 

I’m focused on living to train another day. Ideally tomorrow. By that I mean I’m not going to lift the heaviest weight I possibly might be able to or inflict box jumps on myself or sprint up an incline faster than I need to because I’m actually pretty happy with the minimum effective dose to get a result.

It also means I’ve now made friends with the foam roller. 

Definitely I could – and will – get better at working rolling into my weekly routine however perhaps the biggest thing I notice with myself and with my clients is that training as we get older is not just about stripping fat, building muscle – tightening and sculpting. It’s also about maintaining mobility, improving balance and stretching as well as strengthening to fight or at least minimize those aches and pains we all seem to accumulate as the years go on.

To get actionable today, is there a component of your training that needs to move with the times a bit?

=> Perhaps a good 30% of your gym session is wasted discussing your weekend… or that HOT-yet-self-obsessed-dude who loves himself too much to notice anyone else anyway? I can comment because I’ve absolutely been there.

=> Maybe the amount of cardio you have to do each week is a completely-unsustainable-exhausting-time-EAT literally because after each attempt to out train a poor diet you again spiral into a vicious carb OVER-refuel cycle?

=> Or possibly you’re still a tad too attached to EGO and your body is not bouncing back from the demands you put on it every single session?

There’s a time for that amazingly kick-butt strong hard-core session. The session you both LOVE and HATE at the time… and certainly LOVE the second it’s over! That can’t be every single session though. I don’t think it ever could however as I age I know the majority of my sessions are decent, hardworking yet not amazingly kick-butt strong hard-core.

That’s ok though, because I’m focused on living to train another day. Ideally tomorrow.

Talking of which I’m off to train right now. Glutes, Quads and Hammies today. My total fav.

Thanks so very much for spending this time with me. I hope you can join me for the Friday show where I’m covering: What Fat Loss Advice Would You Give To Your 20 Year Old Self?

If you liked this you’ll also like: 6 Reasons To Not Be Scared Of The Weights Floor.

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.