COMMON EXERCISE MISTAKES WE MAKE AS WE GET OLDER AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

I’m in my mid 40’s now and people are surprised to hear that I still train and exercise everyday, difference is I’m not doing the same things that I was 20 years ago!

It is no surprise that as we age so too does our physiology decline.

We hit our peak somewhere in the mid 20’s to early 30’s and thereafter it is downhill – we take longer to recover from sessions, are more prone to injuries, lose strength, can’t go as fast as we once did and in general terms just can’t do what we used to.

These are the plain and simple facts of the aging process.

The upside is that we can hold the aging process at bay if we learn to “listen to our bodies” and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist or have a PhD in exercise physiology to do this.

So what do we need to do?

“Train smart” by applying basic training principles. You can train hard, but you also need to recover hard too as you age.

So let’s look at some specifics:

1. If the date of birth on your driver’s license says that you’re 50, stop trying to train like you’re 20! Older athlete’s still have the mindsets of what they could do 30 years ago. Aging slows us, we lose muscle mass and our hearts don’t beat as fast or hard as they used to when we were “back in the day”. This means that inevitably we lose speed and endurance. As such we need more recovery between harder training sessions and for such key sessions to be more widely spaced so that the benefits are derived without the downsides.
2. You can’t train a tired (or sick) body. The human body is a very adaptive mechanism. Slowly and progressively increase the training loads and your body will adapt and become fitter and stronger – regardless of your age – the problem with this principal with the aging process is that it takes a little longer, so work on developing a little patience!
3. Listen to your body it’s trying to tell you something. If you feel tired and fatigued, if it is a real chore to drag yourself out the door to exercise, if you’ve got a sniffle, if your performance is dropping off in spite of your training, then what you might actually need is to back off and change your training habits. Remember, just because something is written down on a piece of paper doesn’t mean you have to do it 100% of the time. We’re all individuals, as such you need to learn the telltale signs your body will convey to you.
4. Not training hard enough. If you really want to improve as you get older you have to train hard from time to time. After you’ve developed (or re-developed) a base of conditioning you have to be prepared to push yourself, be that with some intense cardiovascular exercise if you’re into endurance sports or some intense resistance training, if you’re in to speed/activities and a blend of both if you’re simply wanting to ensure all round health and fitness. They key is allowing adequate recovery time from these intense workouts to recover fully before loading your body once more. What may have taken you 36 hours to recover from when you were 25, may take 96 when you’re 50. Take the time you need between such sessions by building in more recovery workouts.
5. Do the little things. You can speed the recovery process by doing the “little things” in and around your training sessions. Be sure to warm up and stretch before your sessions and cool down and stretch after them. In fact about 10% of your total training time should be dedicated to stretching, warm up and cool down. Stay hydrated during your sessions and be sure to start the recovery process immediately after a training session by consuming some carbohydrate immediately post-exercise. Try ice baths, spas (alternating cold and hot treatment), massage and compression garments to enhance the recovery process. And remember, the best and cheapest form of recovery of all is sleep – aim to get 7-8 hours per night. With some experimentation you’ll find the combination of recovery strategies that works best for you.
6. Stress is stress. As a youngster often all you need to worry about is your training and school. As we age other things arise that create stress for us. Training is just another form of stress and our bodies don’t differentiate between different “types” of stress. At a certain point, when our ability to absorb stress is exceeded by the stresses being placed on us, our systems fail. This mal-adaptation presents itself as a cold or flu, a loss of sleep, falling performance (at work and in competition). The stresses we experience as we age expand (e.g. Relationships, professional, financial, etc.) and our capacity to absorb those stresses diminish with age. Recognize this and during periods of increased stress back off the one thing you can immediately control – your training loads and give yourself the opportunity to get back into balance.
7. Train/exercise with a purpose. Your circumstances differ to other people. We recognize this here at Guy Leech Fitness, that is why we ask you specific health/medical questions and what your specific goals are before you subscribe to our service so that your training and nutritional program(s) can be personalized to your specific requirements. Anything less at best won’t help you achieve your goals as effectively as you otherwise would and at worst is thwart with danger to your health. Remember there’s no “one size fits all” program when it comes to your health and fitness – particularly as you get older!

Look after yourself and train smart, we’re here to help were we can.

Leechy.