May 11, 2023

If we can get wiser as we age, why can’t we improve our fitness as well? I know, it’s not the same thing, and physiology works a little differently to knowledge acquisition. But heck, these days being older is no guarantee of wisdom, with the effortless and infinite access to knowledge, we now have thought leaders who are quite young compared to previous norms. Perhaps it’s a different form of wisdom. Maybe we should be looking at fitness differently as we age? At 30 I was much fitter than 20, because I was actively pursuing fitness, vs coasting on youth. At 40 I was much fitter than 30, focused purely on performance, culminating in an appearance at the CrossFit Games. But now, having just turned 48 and on the approach to 50, I don’t have anywhere close to the kind of sheer horsepower I had at 40, yet I still feel fitter. More mobility. Less stress. More muscle. Less aches, pains and injuries. More sleep. Less sugar. More walking. Less inflammatory and stressful workouts. More time to do other fun things outside of the gym. A lot of these things might seem obvious in hindsight. But that’s the thing, we often have to get to this point before we realise something needs changing. Worse, is that it’s all too common to phrase these realisations in negative, ‘ageist’ ways. “I’m getting too old for this...” “I can’t do what I used to do...” “Only young people can do that stuff...” Going forward, I want to keep promoting the message that fitness as we get older is an evolution and a journey. NOT a compromise, NOT a finite pursuit, and certainly NOT a step backward. #sustainablefitness #longevity #healthspan #realworldfitness #averageisexceptional #playthelonggame #mastersfitness #fitover40 #fitover50 #fitover60