How To Keep Training Into Your Forties Fifties and Beyond

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As I find myself ever so close to the big 50, I feel compelled to pen this article to help as many of my fellow forty something blokes keep training when it seems to be ALL TOO HARD.  Yes it’s harder than when we were twenty, but there are some things you can do (and stop doing) that can make your training regime a whole lot easier.

 

I remember when I graduated from the Police College my first Sergeant said to me, “Son, I’ve got more annual leave owing than you’ve got service.”  And he was right.  All that experience and 27 years service had given him enough annual leave to take 9 months off work and still get paid.  I on the other hand had only been in the job for 6 months.

So using our SENIORITY, we can train smarter and still achieve the same results as those twenty somethings doing bicep curls in the squat rack.  Here’s four simple things that you can do that will ensure you keep training into your forties, fifties and beyond:

Give Up Alcohol

When I joined the Police, alcohol was a huge part of the culture.  I learned years later, it was simply a coping mechanism  for dealing with picking up bits of bodies at motor vehicle accidents, or telling middle aged parents that their teenage daughter has just been killed in a hit and run by a pissed gang member driving a stolen car whilst a disqualified driver.

We could bounce back and train after a big night out no problems at all.  Nowadays I hardly drink and every time a client spews in my garden while training because they’ve had a big night out, I’m reminded of the reason why I gave up.

As we age, it’s clear we can’t process the alcohol as we used to, so it makes perfect sense then to be smart and to drink less or even give up altogether.  I know I sound like a boring old fart and you may be right, but I can tell you now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my sex drive, in fact it is ragingly high ALL THE TIME!!! Giving up alcohol doesn’t mean giving up sex.  In fact it just makes you want it MORE.

Warm Up and Cool Down

I remember rushing to rugby training one night and jumping straight into the team session without a hint of a warm up jog or stretch beforehand and I coped no problems at all.  I can guarantee that if I tried that now, I would break something.

We now wake up with aches and pains with no idea how we got them.  I now use those first 10 steps to the toilet in the morning as a test to see which part of my body works well and which ones are suffering from DOMS.

Likewise the warm up is a great way to see if everything is ok.  It’s a great way to test yourself properly.  It also gets yourself mentally prepared for what’s about to come.  The cool down is also VITAL.  If you’re going to raise your excitement by smashing yourself in the gym or on the footy field, you’d better allocate some down time to calm yourself down.

As the S & C coach for the QRRA, one of the things we do religiously nowadays is finish the session with a 15 min cool down and stretch.  Officially they do some gentle stretches, unofficially, I’m getting them to lower their excitement levels, so that by the time they jump in their car to drive home, their heart rates are well and truly back to recovery levels.

I pride myself on the fact that I can still put the palms of my hands flat on the floor while bending over with straight legs.  It means the simple act of tying my shoes is still a task I don’t need assistance for.

Ditch the Junk Food

For years I ate fast food and the body seemed to cope well enough.  Then one day god flicked a switch and all of a sudden the massive amount of additives and preservatives, not to mention the high levels of sugar and trans fat started giving me headaches and I felt like I’d had a huge night out on the turps.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to suffer a hangover if I’ve given the alcohol a good nudge, but getting a headache from eating Maccas just isn’t on.  So I ditched the junk food and discovered that eating good quality clean food really worked a treat.

Where the twenty something had to do 10 sets to get that shredded feeling in the chest, I only had to do 5. BOOYAH!  Training smart, not hard.

Get A Good Nights Sleep

But by in large the best thing I ever did as I hit the forties was started getting a great nights sleep.  I’m in bed now religiously by 10.30pm at the latest and recently that’s crept to 9.30pm and sometimes even 8.30pm.  It’s so true that during our sleep time the body repairs and recovers itself from the daily activities you subjected it to.

Don’t get enough sleep and you risk getting injured.

Repeat this process and you risk getting sick.  I don’t get sick.  Sure I’m often carrying a niggling injury here and there but I don’t get sick.  Is my immune system better than most peoples?  Absolutely it is.  I see on Facebook how my connections are always sick from something, colds, flu, you name it.

So there you have it, four simple things you can do to ensure you keep training into your forties, fifties and beyond.