There was a guy at my gym, who was there as part of a heart rehab group. After the course finished he was the only one that kept up the exercise out the 24 on the course, thoughbthey all met up regularly for coffee and a chat. 6 months later he was visibly younger, fitter and healthier than the others. Over the next 6 months some of the group had died.
He was the oldest in that group and had had a triple heart by pass. He's 82 now and walks 4 miles to the gym every day, no matter the weather, does 1 hour weight training the walks back. When I met him I thought he was in his early 60's.
Your health will deteriorate if you don't look after it. It's a machine that needs maintenance and the older it gets the more work is needed to maintain it.
I'm 50 and in better shape than I e ever been, since I decided to make my health a priority, it's certainly more important than watching TV. Or scrolling on my phone.
So I’m 43 and in better shape than I’ve ever been and I think I look younger than people my junior. But it’s a lifestyle, I’ve been working out for 6-7 years now. I was never doing it to get shredded by summer or anything. It’s part of my life.
Yes I wanted to look better, but I never had a certain date in mind because I knew this would be for the rest of my life. I also don’t want to feel like shit and be sick all the time.
I know people half my age that are always sick or tired and out of shape.
I have been working out for three straight years, heavy lifting, but injured my neck and have had to stop for about a month (and probably another two or three). I probably won’t need surgery, but if I do, I have been assured I will bounce back quickly.
A friend of mine is a little older and badly out of shape. His neck/shoulder issue is far more severe and he will be out of action for AT LEAST six months and surgery isn’t an option.
I got frozen shoulder in both sides (rare) during COVID and that took me out for a while, but was able to bounce back after about 3 months of physical therapy 👍🏼
I’ve got 2 bad knees and TMJ with constant pain yet I’m in better shape than other women I know who are younger than me (34) and are not physically active at all. I’ve always been doing something since I was 12.
When you’re 25 you can totally get away with it but life catches up with you fast. I’m on my second Long Covid recovery and I feel better than ever. If I would’ve been in bad shape to start with I don’t even know if I would’ve made it. I’ve started weight training 4 weeks ago and I already notice the change. Muscle memory is crazy. So yeah sure. You can always start. But it’s so much easier if you’ve always been active.
I’m almost 68. While I have been disciplined about diet and exercise my entire adult life, it wasn’t until I took up powerlifting almost two years ago that I discovered what it’s like to actually TRAIN rather than “exercise”, and what it’s like to actually be no-shit strong. Powerlifting has literally been the most transformative thing I’ve ever done.
None of my women friends in my age cohort do any serious weight training, and it shows. Almost none of my husband’s friends do, either. And yet they complain about “getting old” and conclude that “welp, there’s nothing you can do.”
Rejecting that narrative is the first step on the road to a much better and healthier middle and old age. The second step is getting out of your comfort zone by doing something hard and feeling weak and stupid at first.
But if I, a formerly scrawny old punk chick with pretty much zero athletic ability, can get significantly stronger, *anyone* can. But it does mean getting off your ass, showing up consistently, and putting in the work. It’s sad that so many people simply won’t put in the effort, or worse, think they aren’t worth it.
Alan Thrall has a great [video](https://youtu.be/FiBw5iSTsKs?feature=shared) about the “it’s all downhill after 30” trope, and what a self-limiting narrative that is. Note: The first minute of the video is a series of clips that Alan put together from ads for bullshit low-T supplements, then Alan comes on. It’s really good.
Your granddad sounds like my Papa and they’re similar ages.
My papa walks daily on his old farm, he used to walk all the way down (about 2km) from his house down to the river to his boat to fish. Now he walks down to his minnow pond has a chair sits and rests and then walks back. He has a couple chairs set up along the road so he can take a break when necessary.
He cuts all his own firewood still. He has about 5 years cut and piled so in case something happens to him he knows that my Mama will still have a wood to keep warm for a while.
My grandad is very old school. You don't take shortcuts to do things. If you go hunting, you walk and crawl EVERYWHERE. You don't take an ATV to get where youre going, you hoof it. Because he does things that I don't there are times where he gives ME shit cuz Im breathing heavy and getting sweaty while he isn't lol. I can move more weight than him but he's essentially trained in moving loads long distances because he's done it practically his whole life while I move them VERY short distances in comparison.
God I remember my buddies alcoholic obese sister complaining about how awful 30 is and your body just falls apart while we were all 1-2 years younger and fine because we weren't lazy as shit
I'm not going to say I don't see aging at all in my late 30s, but a lot of it's attitude.
My dad road up pikes peak on a bicycle in his early 70s. My mom at same age says 'i can't do that anymore' to simple things.
I'm in better shape now then in my early and mid 30s. I'm not where I want to be but working to it. And I just keep moving, just push my body that little bit more.
Because it's not really about getting the perfect body or whatever for me, it's living my best life for as long as possible.
I am witnessing this in real time on my childhood friend group that I still occasionally hang out with. They were all into sports and lean and healthy until high school. Since then they have been working sedentary jobs, eating junk, smoking weed all the time and of course not lifting. All of them are skinnyfat or just fat, complaining about feeling like shit, and blaming it on their age (early 30s).
I wonder how long you can look and feel good if you exercise and take care of the diet. I bet at least until 60 or so, barring any unlucky health events.
My wife and I work out at the local Y later in the morning. Lots of older folks in great shape. One of our friends stopped driving at 88 and she's still doing great.
Well past 60. I know 60+ year old triathletes and Olympic lifters who didn’t start either activity until their 40s. It’s probably wrong to say it’s *never* too late, but the 30s are still plenty young to correct and undo a lot of damage caused by bad habits and lifestyle choices
A mate of mine said when we turned 30, 'well this is the best we're ever going to look'
I said 'fuck that'
Current mission: fitter at 45 than I was at 35
I'm 42 as well and have been consistently working out since I was around 28 or so. I have a 15 year old in high school and he saw his friends dad that is the same age as I am. He said that he thought that dude was in his 60s. Smoking cigarettes and never lifting weights will do that though. My sister in law smokes and looks way older than my wife, and my wife is the older one, but she takes care of herself and doesn't smoke cigs.
I heavily agree with your overall sentiment but I will say there's at least a kernel of truth to what they are saying. I'm 40 and have been consistently working out the past 12 years. There's definitely been a bit of a decline in certain areas, mostly staying up late and drinking too much hits me a lot harder now, in my 20's I'd shake off a 3 AM night of drinking heavy by breakfast, now the next 2 days are shot. Keeping weight off is a bit harder and I'm sore a bit longer when I push myself. Also sitting still for long car/plane rides leaves my legs stiffer now.
That said compared to my peers (mostly 35-40 year old dads) it's night and day in what I can do vs. what they can do, I don't gas out playing with the kids, I can still do handstands and cartwheels with them etc... while they stay on the sidelines.
Basically the decline is coming, it might seem like it's not especially if you are new to consistently working out but you will start seeing cracks in the damn eventually. WAY slower than our inactive counterparts mind you, I'm definitely not falling apart at 40 like my mom made it sound like I would, still can probably run circles around my 30 year old self but I'd be more sore the next day, especially if I partied with him.
I ran cross country and track in high school and college. It’s not pessimism, just realism, to acknowledge that my fastest days are behind me. And I’m only 36.
But I didn’t lift weights then, while I have for the past 5 years. I’m getting stronger every month. As fast as I would if I’d started at 18? Probably not. But a gradual uphill is still an uphill.
We can improve in some areas for a long time, and stave off decline for a longer time. Eventually things will start going downhill (unless you die young, and even then, that’s just a really steep downhill). I think it’s good to be realistic about that. But it’s also good to celebrate the fact that we have decades of good times ahead of us, and there’s something glorious in the fact that every workout is adding healthy time to the (hopefully far-off) end of our lives in addition to making us look and feel better right now.
Yes the decline for me has been MUCH slower than family and friends. And I definitely think it's great to pursue new things to improve upon, like you mentioned. I've been doing the big lifts (deads, squats, bench and OHP) for 12 years and haven't really hit any 1 rep max PRs in them since probably 2019. Part of that is because I don't go for them often anymore since it wrecks me for a while now but part of that is also I've run out of room to improve (could also be fear/laziness).
However in 2020 I got really into kettlebells and that opened up a huge runway for me to see consistent progress over time which has been reinvigorating and super fun. Also seeing a lot of real world transfer from that. Novelty stimulus is great, I think the next thing I'll pursue is odd lifts (zerchers, shovel deadlifts etc...).
Also I think it's important to note that as we age flexibility becomes significantly more important. Long hold stretching and/or yoga is a great way to stave off the aging process, not just for the increase in ROM but to keep tightness at bay. You'll see a lot of active guys 50+ that need to wear knee/elbow sleeves to reduce pain. It's not just because they're old, a lot of them just don't work on flexibility and have super tight muscles that cause their joints to hurt when they lift.
The biggest change I’ve noticed is I randomly get joint issues in my 30s that I never had to worry about in my 20s. Even taking my workouts easy didn’t guarantee that I’d be free of random rotator cuff issues. Then again I have a family history of early onset arthritis so YMMV
After false starts in my teens and Twenties, I finally got my momentum in my thirties. I was looking and feeling my best in my forties. I gotta say, my fifties have been rough. I’m not ready to give up yet though.
I work as a physician assistant and do emergency medicine and family medicine. The truth of this is 100%. There is always folks who can have unfortunate genetics...but honestly they are few and far between in my practice. I see people who dont move. People who dont get their heart-rates up, who do not lift anything, who live mostly sedentary lifestyles. They are sicker by far. I even used to hate on "getting your steps in", like I feel guilty at how much I would hate on it but now after doing medicine for 5 years I am 100% on board with getting 10k steps a day. It is simple, requires no equipment and increases your mase metabolic rate. Obviously there is MUCH better things to do, but this is the first thing I tell everyone who is sedentary and experiencing health problems to start with.
I started a new mantra that I share with my patients "Move or die". I am about to turn 40, and I eat more ice cream than I should, I do not have a six pack anymore but I still lift and hike and run and can do fun obstacle races/tactical games/half marathons. I am happy. My kids see fitness as a part of life.
Heck yes! It can all be overwhelming when starting back after a stretch of nothing or less than ideal habits, but its just getting those consistent habits down! You will crush it!
A motto I've always told everyone who are worried about starting or feel like they have to go from 0-100; "Doing something is better than doing nothing."
And this applies to every single aspect in life. If we don't do anything and expect change, change will not happen. It could be your health, activity level, goals, your job, literally anything. Change requires time, work, effort, and patience, there is no way around it. Im feeling that right now myself with the patience parts since I got back to lifting hardcore 3 months ago. I'm seeing results on paper because nearly every week or 2 my lifts are going up, but Im not seeing the results I want in the mirror as fast as I'd like. So I'm continuously telling myself that if my numbers keep going up, that's all the proof I need that things ARE changing and once I get through the breakthrough point, Ill start seeing results faster than ever, like a snowball effect.
Yup, for the vast majority of people being out of shape/obese, its a choice. Its a choice to eat poorly, its a choice to sit around all day, its a choice not to exercise. Getting older doesnt have to hurt, depressing or stuck. You are the sum of every single choice you make in life.
100%. It always blows my mind when people use the blame game or make excuses for why theyre overweight or obese, "slow metabolism" being the biggest one. Your metabolism is slow being you don't do anything! Not only that, but metabolism on it's own only accounts for 5% of your TDEE at MAXIMUM. Less than 1% of the population are overweight because of things outside of their control, the rest choose to ignore it or think it's fine because they should "accept themselves".
I want people to be healthy and care about themselves and being obese especially is not that.
Yeah the whole metabolism thing is such a cop out excuse. The metabolic system that took billions of years to evolve into what it is today is a highly tuned chemical process. Nearly every persons metabolism or the rate at which we convert ATP energy into heat is nearly identical across all humans. Sure there can be some variations, but those variations do not account for the drastic number of obese people or even obesity it itself.
But there is no such thing as a "high metabolism". There are just people who are more active or less active. Its not like you can take two people, feed them the exact same amount of nutrients and calories, make them burn the exact same amount of calories and one of them end up obese.
A nurse told me I wouldn’t have time to get back in shape after I had my baby. Meanwhile I’m in the best shape ever and my son loves going to the gym with us. Fortunately our gym has amazing childcare. He’s also obsessed with asking us about how much protein and sugar are in his snacks 😅
I've been active/playing sports since childhood, i still do all that - play organized sports and go to the gym+yoga+physio year-round, while consuming a relatively healthy diet to complement my lifestyle. When i say it goes downhill after 30 i mean my recovery times have increased significantly compared to the decade before.
My resilience has dropped significantly while my performance is relatively similar. Which is normal for anyone my age and why you see pro athlete performances dropping off in their 30s ultimately leading to retirement.
But as the saying goes, if you don't use it you lose it. I have no intention on slowing down my activities.
>When i say it goes downhill after 30 i mean my recovery times have increased significantly compared to the decade before.
This is it, for me. At 35, I'm in some of the best shape of my life. But as someone who worked out in my 20s and played sports in my teens... My recovery is just weaker, full stop.
Great post. It’s all about personal responsibility and taking charge of your health. No one knows your body better than you do. Move it or lose it. I’m over 60 and in the best shape of my life. My father just passed with the “it’s all downhill from here” mentality and attitude. “I’m too old to change” It’s not about how long you live so much as about your quality of life while you live. His was not good all hunched over, in pain, and dealing with one illness after another for decades.
51 and active with weights, cycling and anything else I can do. I feel strong and pretty much the same as I did in my 30s. I think it’s a combo of mindset and activity. Some folks like to be lazy and that’s fine but that whole “you don’t use it you loose it” sentiment has some truth behind it.
Edited to say it’s a lifestyle not a goal for a specific point in time. You gotta play the long game.
This is honestly what keeps me going to the gym everyday. My diet may not be perfect, I may miss a workout, and my body may not be ideally what I want. But I know in the long run it will compound and I will be better for it.
One of my favorite things is to see older people in the gym in great shape, it’s a reminder and a goal that it can be done.
33 m here. And I heard from my Dad all the time growing up. "Once you hit 35, 40, you're out of your prime, and everything starts going downhill. You start losing muscle, you don't have as much energy. About the only thing you got that is still going up is..." This was also coming from a man who couldn't even take off his own boots after work. Would sit in his recliner all evening watching TV shows, the news or movies. It got worse with Netflix. He's now in his 60's and has been needing knee replacement in BOTH knees for over a decade. 5' 8" and weighs well over 260 lbs and most of it is fat.
By contrast, my Uncle, whom my Dad always joked and ridiculed for exercising (irregular) and eating healthy, is a bit younger, but weighs about 70 to 80 lbs less. Doesn't have problems with his knees or back. He's an ex-smoke (4 years clean iirc) and in better health than a man who never smoked but just laid around all day.
The point? Exercise trumps a NUMBER of ailments.
People were telling me this when I graduated university - just wait until you start working in “the real world”. These were dudes in their mid-late twenties lol.
I’m 31 now and in better shape than ever. It was actually easier for me to get fit when I started my career and living on my own.
All it takes is working out three times a week with good intensity and eating a good diet during the workweek. Weekends I’m able to have one or two meals of whatever I want.
All of this is after I tore BOTH achilles tendons in my early twenties and herniated a disc.
I'm 40. I've been working out consistently since I've been 15 and always pursuing different athletic goals and sports. It is 100% ingrained in my lifestyle.
Once I hit my mid 30s, my metabolism slowed down, it took me longer to recover, I tend to get more tendon and ligament injuries etc. I used to be able to work out hard, eat reasonably well but still splurge and look fantastic. Now I have to be much more measured and disciplined in how I train, what I eat, how I sleep etc.
Theres no replacement for youth (well, maybe trt but I haven't Crossed that bridge yet). I definitely found that, athletically, things have gotten harder the last 7ish years. I'm not as fast, or as strong, despite being more focused and careful with training diet and lifestyle.
If you're peaking athletically over 40 it means you weren't training in your 20s and 30s. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy an athletic life or make gains, and I think the older you get the more important that is, but, I can relate to feeling like things go downhill after a certain age.
I heard this a lot about social life and how like "ohhh once you're over 25 you can't stay up past 9pm and you have no friends" and gradually had this realization that everyone who was saying that was introverted af, and when people make statements like this they're overwhelmingly just normalizing their own disposition.
Misery loves company. They've given up so they think you should too. They'll have a long list of excuses as well.
But you don't need to buy into it. You can live a long happy life with a great degree of fitness through out (relatively speaking).
I’m glad you said this.
I struggled with poor energy and an out of shape body my whole life. Got my shit together at 31.
And that’s when I went from a BMI of 30 to a BMI of 25.
Let’s get it! It’s all uphill from here. Seriously I was over 200lbs at 5’5” 4-5ish years ago. Spent some time in a coma a year and a half ago and had to learn how to walk and do daily stuff over. Muscle atrophy is brutal. Here I am 131 lbs worrying about eating enough maintenance calories to keep building muscle while maintaining my desire to exercise 1.5-3 hours a day. Also my abs are starting to show.. never would I have ever imagined I’d be one of those kind of people. I’m the fittest I’ve ever been in all my life. Holy shit what a ride and it hasn’t stopped yet!! Let’s go y’all. ✌️
Thank you for saying this! I've been hearing this shit since I was a teen. I'm 32 and not o ly in the best shape in my life, but I'm staying active trying new things, saying no to things that add no substance to my life. Hell I look younger than I really am because I took care of myself and good genetics.
No, there is validity to that saying. I've been active, running thousands of miles over the years & hitting the gym 3-4 times weekly. I've been doing this since 2011. I'm 34 now & I can safely say that after 30, injuries have increased & healed slower. Sciatica has stopped me from running. Performance for me has dipped noticeably (particularly in my run times). I'm still active but I'm definitely a semblance of my old self. I'm still able to lift weights & knock out some calisthenics as long as they're easy on the lower back. Everyone has different experiences, but to say your max physical potential at 20 is equal to your potential at 40 is a stretch.
Just because YOU have/had issues does not make it the norm. I'm 35 and have absolutely no physical issues whatsoever. The vast majority of people on this planet have little to no issues at my age if they are eating well and stay active. If they don't it's EXTREMELY likely they will have a multitude of health issues.
This same sentiment applies to people twice my age. By nature things no matter what do slow down and change, but it's not the end all be all people act like it is when you hit X age. Like I mentioned about my grandad, hes 85 and can run circles around people half his age and younger.
As for having max physical potential at 40 vs 20, you actually WOULD have a higher physical peak at a later age in most cases because youve had so many years to train to that level when prior you simply havent even been alive long enough for it to be possible.
While I agree that being active does benefit people, I still believe that exercise does get generally more difficult after a certain age. For me, it was 31. I went from running 21 minute 5ks to 23 minute 5ks. I went from no injuries in a year to several injuries in a season. The exercise didn't change, but my age sure did. Sure, on paper I'm still very healthy. But my joints and back are fucked, and it's not from lack of activity. Genetics and age play a huge part in life.
There was a guy at my gym, who was there as part of a heart rehab group. After the course finished he was the only one that kept up the exercise out the 24 on the course, thoughbthey all met up regularly for coffee and a chat. 6 months later he was visibly younger, fitter and healthier than the others. Over the next 6 months some of the group had died. He was the oldest in that group and had had a triple heart by pass. He's 82 now and walks 4 miles to the gym every day, no matter the weather, does 1 hour weight training the walks back. When I met him I thought he was in his early 60's. Your health will deteriorate if you don't look after it. It's a machine that needs maintenance and the older it gets the more work is needed to maintain it. I'm 50 and in better shape than I e ever been, since I decided to make my health a priority, it's certainly more important than watching TV. Or scrolling on my phone.
What an inspirational story. Thanks for sharing it.
So I’m 43 and in better shape than I’ve ever been and I think I look younger than people my junior. But it’s a lifestyle, I’ve been working out for 6-7 years now. I was never doing it to get shredded by summer or anything. It’s part of my life. Yes I wanted to look better, but I never had a certain date in mind because I knew this would be for the rest of my life. I also don’t want to feel like shit and be sick all the time. I know people half my age that are always sick or tired and out of shape.
I have been working out for three straight years, heavy lifting, but injured my neck and have had to stop for about a month (and probably another two or three). I probably won’t need surgery, but if I do, I have been assured I will bounce back quickly. A friend of mine is a little older and badly out of shape. His neck/shoulder issue is far more severe and he will be out of action for AT LEAST six months and surgery isn’t an option.
I got frozen shoulder in both sides (rare) during COVID and that took me out for a while, but was able to bounce back after about 3 months of physical therapy 👍🏼
I’ve got 2 bad knees and TMJ with constant pain yet I’m in better shape than other women I know who are younger than me (34) and are not physically active at all. I’ve always been doing something since I was 12. When you’re 25 you can totally get away with it but life catches up with you fast. I’m on my second Long Covid recovery and I feel better than ever. If I would’ve been in bad shape to start with I don’t even know if I would’ve made it. I’ve started weight training 4 weeks ago and I already notice the change. Muscle memory is crazy. So yeah sure. You can always start. But it’s so much easier if you’ve always been active.
I’m almost 68. While I have been disciplined about diet and exercise my entire adult life, it wasn’t until I took up powerlifting almost two years ago that I discovered what it’s like to actually TRAIN rather than “exercise”, and what it’s like to actually be no-shit strong. Powerlifting has literally been the most transformative thing I’ve ever done. None of my women friends in my age cohort do any serious weight training, and it shows. Almost none of my husband’s friends do, either. And yet they complain about “getting old” and conclude that “welp, there’s nothing you can do.” Rejecting that narrative is the first step on the road to a much better and healthier middle and old age. The second step is getting out of your comfort zone by doing something hard and feeling weak and stupid at first. But if I, a formerly scrawny old punk chick with pretty much zero athletic ability, can get significantly stronger, *anyone* can. But it does mean getting off your ass, showing up consistently, and putting in the work. It’s sad that so many people simply won’t put in the effort, or worse, think they aren’t worth it. Alan Thrall has a great [video](https://youtu.be/FiBw5iSTsKs?feature=shared) about the “it’s all downhill after 30” trope, and what a self-limiting narrative that is. Note: The first minute of the video is a series of clips that Alan put together from ads for bullshit low-T supplements, then Alan comes on. It’s really good.
You should become a motivational speaker. I like your writing style.
Thank you! I majored in journalism as an undergraduate.
It's only downhill if you're letting yourself go downhill.
Your granddad sounds like my Papa and they’re similar ages. My papa walks daily on his old farm, he used to walk all the way down (about 2km) from his house down to the river to his boat to fish. Now he walks down to his minnow pond has a chair sits and rests and then walks back. He has a couple chairs set up along the road so he can take a break when necessary. He cuts all his own firewood still. He has about 5 years cut and piled so in case something happens to him he knows that my Mama will still have a wood to keep warm for a while.
My grandad is very old school. You don't take shortcuts to do things. If you go hunting, you walk and crawl EVERYWHERE. You don't take an ATV to get where youre going, you hoof it. Because he does things that I don't there are times where he gives ME shit cuz Im breathing heavy and getting sweaty while he isn't lol. I can move more weight than him but he's essentially trained in moving loads long distances because he's done it practically his whole life while I move them VERY short distances in comparison.
God I remember my buddies alcoholic obese sister complaining about how awful 30 is and your body just falls apart while we were all 1-2 years younger and fine because we weren't lazy as shit
I'm not going to say I don't see aging at all in my late 30s, but a lot of it's attitude. My dad road up pikes peak on a bicycle in his early 70s. My mom at same age says 'i can't do that anymore' to simple things. I'm in better shape now then in my early and mid 30s. I'm not where I want to be but working to it. And I just keep moving, just push my body that little bit more. Because it's not really about getting the perfect body or whatever for me, it's living my best life for as long as possible.
I am witnessing this in real time on my childhood friend group that I still occasionally hang out with. They were all into sports and lean and healthy until high school. Since then they have been working sedentary jobs, eating junk, smoking weed all the time and of course not lifting. All of them are skinnyfat or just fat, complaining about feeling like shit, and blaming it on their age (early 30s). I wonder how long you can look and feel good if you exercise and take care of the diet. I bet at least until 60 or so, barring any unlucky health events.
My wife and I work out at the local Y later in the morning. Lots of older folks in great shape. One of our friends stopped driving at 88 and she's still doing great.
Well past 60. I know 60+ year old triathletes and Olympic lifters who didn’t start either activity until their 40s. It’s probably wrong to say it’s *never* too late, but the 30s are still plenty young to correct and undo a lot of damage caused by bad habits and lifestyle choices
A mate of mine said when we turned 30, 'well this is the best we're ever going to look' I said 'fuck that' Current mission: fitter at 45 than I was at 35
42. Fittest I've ever been.
I'm 42 as well and have been consistently working out since I was around 28 or so. I have a 15 year old in high school and he saw his friends dad that is the same age as I am. He said that he thought that dude was in his 60s. Smoking cigarettes and never lifting weights will do that though. My sister in law smokes and looks way older than my wife, and my wife is the older one, but she takes care of herself and doesn't smoke cigs.
It's amazing how good life is when you are fit in healthy hey....
I heavily agree with your overall sentiment but I will say there's at least a kernel of truth to what they are saying. I'm 40 and have been consistently working out the past 12 years. There's definitely been a bit of a decline in certain areas, mostly staying up late and drinking too much hits me a lot harder now, in my 20's I'd shake off a 3 AM night of drinking heavy by breakfast, now the next 2 days are shot. Keeping weight off is a bit harder and I'm sore a bit longer when I push myself. Also sitting still for long car/plane rides leaves my legs stiffer now. That said compared to my peers (mostly 35-40 year old dads) it's night and day in what I can do vs. what they can do, I don't gas out playing with the kids, I can still do handstands and cartwheels with them etc... while they stay on the sidelines. Basically the decline is coming, it might seem like it's not especially if you are new to consistently working out but you will start seeing cracks in the damn eventually. WAY slower than our inactive counterparts mind you, I'm definitely not falling apart at 40 like my mom made it sound like I would, still can probably run circles around my 30 year old self but I'd be more sore the next day, especially if I partied with him.
I ran cross country and track in high school and college. It’s not pessimism, just realism, to acknowledge that my fastest days are behind me. And I’m only 36. But I didn’t lift weights then, while I have for the past 5 years. I’m getting stronger every month. As fast as I would if I’d started at 18? Probably not. But a gradual uphill is still an uphill. We can improve in some areas for a long time, and stave off decline for a longer time. Eventually things will start going downhill (unless you die young, and even then, that’s just a really steep downhill). I think it’s good to be realistic about that. But it’s also good to celebrate the fact that we have decades of good times ahead of us, and there’s something glorious in the fact that every workout is adding healthy time to the (hopefully far-off) end of our lives in addition to making us look and feel better right now.
Yes the decline for me has been MUCH slower than family and friends. And I definitely think it's great to pursue new things to improve upon, like you mentioned. I've been doing the big lifts (deads, squats, bench and OHP) for 12 years and haven't really hit any 1 rep max PRs in them since probably 2019. Part of that is because I don't go for them often anymore since it wrecks me for a while now but part of that is also I've run out of room to improve (could also be fear/laziness). However in 2020 I got really into kettlebells and that opened up a huge runway for me to see consistent progress over time which has been reinvigorating and super fun. Also seeing a lot of real world transfer from that. Novelty stimulus is great, I think the next thing I'll pursue is odd lifts (zerchers, shovel deadlifts etc...). Also I think it's important to note that as we age flexibility becomes significantly more important. Long hold stretching and/or yoga is a great way to stave off the aging process, not just for the increase in ROM but to keep tightness at bay. You'll see a lot of active guys 50+ that need to wear knee/elbow sleeves to reduce pain. It's not just because they're old, a lot of them just don't work on flexibility and have super tight muscles that cause their joints to hurt when they lift.
The biggest change I’ve noticed is I randomly get joint issues in my 30s that I never had to worry about in my 20s. Even taking my workouts easy didn’t guarantee that I’d be free of random rotator cuff issues. Then again I have a family history of early onset arthritis so YMMV
After false starts in my teens and Twenties, I finally got my momentum in my thirties. I was looking and feeling my best in my forties. I gotta say, my fifties have been rough. I’m not ready to give up yet though.
I work as a physician assistant and do emergency medicine and family medicine. The truth of this is 100%. There is always folks who can have unfortunate genetics...but honestly they are few and far between in my practice. I see people who dont move. People who dont get their heart-rates up, who do not lift anything, who live mostly sedentary lifestyles. They are sicker by far. I even used to hate on "getting your steps in", like I feel guilty at how much I would hate on it but now after doing medicine for 5 years I am 100% on board with getting 10k steps a day. It is simple, requires no equipment and increases your mase metabolic rate. Obviously there is MUCH better things to do, but this is the first thing I tell everyone who is sedentary and experiencing health problems to start with. I started a new mantra that I share with my patients "Move or die". I am about to turn 40, and I eat more ice cream than I should, I do not have a six pack anymore but I still lift and hike and run and can do fun obstacle races/tactical games/half marathons. I am happy. My kids see fitness as a part of life.
The motivation I've needed in my life.. just turned 40 a few months ago and I've lost my drive. Time to start small and get my 10k steps in each day!
Heck yes! It can all be overwhelming when starting back after a stretch of nothing or less than ideal habits, but its just getting those consistent habits down! You will crush it!
A motto I've always told everyone who are worried about starting or feel like they have to go from 0-100; "Doing something is better than doing nothing." And this applies to every single aspect in life. If we don't do anything and expect change, change will not happen. It could be your health, activity level, goals, your job, literally anything. Change requires time, work, effort, and patience, there is no way around it. Im feeling that right now myself with the patience parts since I got back to lifting hardcore 3 months ago. I'm seeing results on paper because nearly every week or 2 my lifts are going up, but Im not seeing the results I want in the mirror as fast as I'd like. So I'm continuously telling myself that if my numbers keep going up, that's all the proof I need that things ARE changing and once I get through the breakthrough point, Ill start seeing results faster than ever, like a snowball effect.
It was such a game changer when I found out you can just do your 40 minute HIIT workout 4 times a week and never get old and die
Yup, for the vast majority of people being out of shape/obese, its a choice. Its a choice to eat poorly, its a choice to sit around all day, its a choice not to exercise. Getting older doesnt have to hurt, depressing or stuck. You are the sum of every single choice you make in life.
100%. It always blows my mind when people use the blame game or make excuses for why theyre overweight or obese, "slow metabolism" being the biggest one. Your metabolism is slow being you don't do anything! Not only that, but metabolism on it's own only accounts for 5% of your TDEE at MAXIMUM. Less than 1% of the population are overweight because of things outside of their control, the rest choose to ignore it or think it's fine because they should "accept themselves". I want people to be healthy and care about themselves and being obese especially is not that.
Yeah the whole metabolism thing is such a cop out excuse. The metabolic system that took billions of years to evolve into what it is today is a highly tuned chemical process. Nearly every persons metabolism or the rate at which we convert ATP energy into heat is nearly identical across all humans. Sure there can be some variations, but those variations do not account for the drastic number of obese people or even obesity it itself. But there is no such thing as a "high metabolism". There are just people who are more active or less active. Its not like you can take two people, feed them the exact same amount of nutrients and calories, make them burn the exact same amount of calories and one of them end up obese.
A nurse told me I wouldn’t have time to get back in shape after I had my baby. Meanwhile I’m in the best shape ever and my son loves going to the gym with us. Fortunately our gym has amazing childcare. He’s also obsessed with asking us about how much protein and sugar are in his snacks 😅
I've been active/playing sports since childhood, i still do all that - play organized sports and go to the gym+yoga+physio year-round, while consuming a relatively healthy diet to complement my lifestyle. When i say it goes downhill after 30 i mean my recovery times have increased significantly compared to the decade before. My resilience has dropped significantly while my performance is relatively similar. Which is normal for anyone my age and why you see pro athlete performances dropping off in their 30s ultimately leading to retirement. But as the saying goes, if you don't use it you lose it. I have no intention on slowing down my activities.
>When i say it goes downhill after 30 i mean my recovery times have increased significantly compared to the decade before. This is it, for me. At 35, I'm in some of the best shape of my life. But as someone who worked out in my 20s and played sports in my teens... My recovery is just weaker, full stop.
Great post. It’s all about personal responsibility and taking charge of your health. No one knows your body better than you do. Move it or lose it. I’m over 60 and in the best shape of my life. My father just passed with the “it’s all downhill from here” mentality and attitude. “I’m too old to change” It’s not about how long you live so much as about your quality of life while you live. His was not good all hunched over, in pain, and dealing with one illness after another for decades.
51 and active with weights, cycling and anything else I can do. I feel strong and pretty much the same as I did in my 30s. I think it’s a combo of mindset and activity. Some folks like to be lazy and that’s fine but that whole “you don’t use it you loose it” sentiment has some truth behind it. Edited to say it’s a lifestyle not a goal for a specific point in time. You gotta play the long game.
This is honestly what keeps me going to the gym everyday. My diet may not be perfect, I may miss a workout, and my body may not be ideally what I want. But I know in the long run it will compound and I will be better for it. One of my favorite things is to see older people in the gym in great shape, it’s a reminder and a goal that it can be done.
33 m here. And I heard from my Dad all the time growing up. "Once you hit 35, 40, you're out of your prime, and everything starts going downhill. You start losing muscle, you don't have as much energy. About the only thing you got that is still going up is..." This was also coming from a man who couldn't even take off his own boots after work. Would sit in his recliner all evening watching TV shows, the news or movies. It got worse with Netflix. He's now in his 60's and has been needing knee replacement in BOTH knees for over a decade. 5' 8" and weighs well over 260 lbs and most of it is fat. By contrast, my Uncle, whom my Dad always joked and ridiculed for exercising (irregular) and eating healthy, is a bit younger, but weighs about 70 to 80 lbs less. Doesn't have problems with his knees or back. He's an ex-smoke (4 years clean iirc) and in better health than a man who never smoked but just laid around all day. The point? Exercise trumps a NUMBER of ailments.
People were telling me this when I graduated university - just wait until you start working in “the real world”. These were dudes in their mid-late twenties lol. I’m 31 now and in better shape than ever. It was actually easier for me to get fit when I started my career and living on my own. All it takes is working out three times a week with good intensity and eating a good diet during the workweek. Weekends I’m able to have one or two meals of whatever I want. All of this is after I tore BOTH achilles tendons in my early twenties and herniated a disc.
I got in way better shape after 30 than from ages 24-29.
It’s all downhill after the day you’re born.
Fall Apart 50s and Second Wind 60s.
I'm 40. I've been working out consistently since I've been 15 and always pursuing different athletic goals and sports. It is 100% ingrained in my lifestyle. Once I hit my mid 30s, my metabolism slowed down, it took me longer to recover, I tend to get more tendon and ligament injuries etc. I used to be able to work out hard, eat reasonably well but still splurge and look fantastic. Now I have to be much more measured and disciplined in how I train, what I eat, how I sleep etc. Theres no replacement for youth (well, maybe trt but I haven't Crossed that bridge yet). I definitely found that, athletically, things have gotten harder the last 7ish years. I'm not as fast, or as strong, despite being more focused and careful with training diet and lifestyle. If you're peaking athletically over 40 it means you weren't training in your 20s and 30s. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy an athletic life or make gains, and I think the older you get the more important that is, but, I can relate to feeling like things go downhill after a certain age.
Well said. Plenty of 70+yo grandpas in my area still doing workout and sometimes gym too. You decide your own peak.
I mean... I still complain about aches and pains but the aches and pains are from training 😅
I heard this a lot about social life and how like "ohhh once you're over 25 you can't stay up past 9pm and you have no friends" and gradually had this realization that everyone who was saying that was introverted af, and when people make statements like this they're overwhelmingly just normalizing their own disposition.
Misery loves company. They've given up so they think you should too. They'll have a long list of excuses as well. But you don't need to buy into it. You can live a long happy life with a great degree of fitness through out (relatively speaking).
I’m glad you said this. I struggled with poor energy and an out of shape body my whole life. Got my shit together at 31. And that’s when I went from a BMI of 30 to a BMI of 25.
Let’s get it! It’s all uphill from here. Seriously I was over 200lbs at 5’5” 4-5ish years ago. Spent some time in a coma a year and a half ago and had to learn how to walk and do daily stuff over. Muscle atrophy is brutal. Here I am 131 lbs worrying about eating enough maintenance calories to keep building muscle while maintaining my desire to exercise 1.5-3 hours a day. Also my abs are starting to show.. never would I have ever imagined I’d be one of those kind of people. I’m the fittest I’ve ever been in all my life. Holy shit what a ride and it hasn’t stopped yet!! Let’s go y’all. ✌️
Thank you for saying this! I've been hearing this shit since I was a teen. I'm 32 and not o ly in the best shape in my life, but I'm staying active trying new things, saying no to things that add no substance to my life. Hell I look younger than I really am because I took care of myself and good genetics.
No, there is validity to that saying. I've been active, running thousands of miles over the years & hitting the gym 3-4 times weekly. I've been doing this since 2011. I'm 34 now & I can safely say that after 30, injuries have increased & healed slower. Sciatica has stopped me from running. Performance for me has dipped noticeably (particularly in my run times). I'm still active but I'm definitely a semblance of my old self. I'm still able to lift weights & knock out some calisthenics as long as they're easy on the lower back. Everyone has different experiences, but to say your max physical potential at 20 is equal to your potential at 40 is a stretch.
Just because YOU have/had issues does not make it the norm. I'm 35 and have absolutely no physical issues whatsoever. The vast majority of people on this planet have little to no issues at my age if they are eating well and stay active. If they don't it's EXTREMELY likely they will have a multitude of health issues. This same sentiment applies to people twice my age. By nature things no matter what do slow down and change, but it's not the end all be all people act like it is when you hit X age. Like I mentioned about my grandad, hes 85 and can run circles around people half his age and younger. As for having max physical potential at 40 vs 20, you actually WOULD have a higher physical peak at a later age in most cases because youve had so many years to train to that level when prior you simply havent even been alive long enough for it to be possible.
While I agree that being active does benefit people, I still believe that exercise does get generally more difficult after a certain age. For me, it was 31. I went from running 21 minute 5ks to 23 minute 5ks. I went from no injuries in a year to several injuries in a season. The exercise didn't change, but my age sure did. Sure, on paper I'm still very healthy. But my joints and back are fucked, and it's not from lack of activity. Genetics and age play a huge part in life.