I can't believe I am writing an article about "Training in your 40s".....
I remember training in my teens and 20s. The saying Time goes fast is a severe understatement!
The Ultimate Warrior used to tell me that he would give a handful of his years to go back to his 20s and "Feel that f--in' Power!"
That being said, training in your 40s is different for everyone. I've been training since age 13 so the mileage of hard and heavy training has beaten me up. If you're in your 40s and haven't done any training since high school, your body is gonna likely feel better than mine.
And then we've got the many questions I get about being a Strength Coach. It is simply Awesome to see how so many people have had their lives changed through strength that they now want to help others.
I highly recommend you dig into my many "Strength Coach Business" blog posts and podcasts to really dig into my answers to the commonly asked questions on this topic.
I'll tell you this.....
Lifting weights never gets easier.
Getting stronger never gets easier, those weights never get lighter.
So, that being said, the ONLY choice you've got in life is to get stronger. STRONGER. It takes work, lots of work. If you're following a "6 week training plan" then you're gonna have to follow another 6 week plan over and over and over again.......
Until, forever.
That's right. The training NEVER stops. Not for the successful.
Being a Strength Coach? You are never "good enough". You'll have to keep getting better and keep on mastering your craft. If you're in the Strength Coach Business yourself, as an independent, like I am with THE Underground Strength Gym, then you're gonna need to learn business and marketing.
The Process never ends. Success is a Journey, NOT a destination.
Opportunity is knocking. Now go make it happen.
Live The Code 365,
--Z--
Z, nothing p-‘s me off more than hearing people talking about age like it’s a crutch – That’s BS. Attacking life should NEVER STOP!!! The people in our country are becoming lazy, getting soft, expecting everything to be handed to them, never having to fight for their milk (as Joe would say). What ever happened to valuing sweat & hard work? To self-reliance? To keeping yourself in the best physical condition possible? To staying dangerous? It starts in our schools, is promoted by our media & society, and it ends up becoming status quo. Any doctor who tells me to back down because I’m 50 will find himself with one less patient – I’m Red Lining the engine that the Good Lord gave me all the way to the Pearly Gates!! If only more people were built that way, what a different world it would be….
“My scars show I lived! My gray hair shows I survived!”
Only thing that has changed is being smarter about what I do. I have tempered the ego from my youth. Only time I listen to pain is when it occurs in a joint. I simply drop weight, focus on form and work back up again.
I feel better now than I did in my 20/30s. Sure up and down stairs can be a trick pending the day and how my knees feel but I still lift.
Also, I lift with my sons. That time is very special. Like a Warrior training his son for battle. I can’t stop lifting! That time is too important for bonding and learning. “If I die today what do I want them to remember!”
Love that you did an over 40’s. I turn 48 in April and I feel like it was a blink of the eye from age 25 to 47! crazy! Speaking of a different mindset- I am currently doing physical therapy for severe vertigo that had me in the hospital for 7 days. My PT doc says to me all the time-“man this is killing you not to work out more isn’t it?” i tell her well i am working out during the day. she is shocked. I told her I am not stopping tennis season is right around the corner and I am not missing my tourneys. That’s right at age 47 I am working on getting a ranking. Grind it Out daily!!!! No stopping us “older folk” 😉
I find the philosophy of life that comes over in your blogs and videos very refreshing and inspiring.
Im battling chronic fatigue and rheumatoid arthritis so appreciate all the inspiration I can get. Im 58 now but the iron is still there for me Ive just had to adapt my training protocols slightly.
Thankfully there are few chronic medical conditions that physical exercise doesnt have a positive effect on even auto immune diseases!
Its great to see many older individuals are now enjoying increased quality of life, still pushing their physical limits. I intend to remain one of them.
Stay strong
Keep up the good work
Shaun Thomas
It’s true time goes way too fast! I’m in my mid-fifties and my twenties seem like yesterday. Though I have to admit that my recovery is not what it used to be, I train with my 21-year-old nephew and he sometimes has trouble keeping up with me. Too many of the negatives associated with age are lifestyle related and have nothing to do with actual chronological age.