Did your Saturday mornings mean cartoons in your pajamas with a bowl of Cap’n Crunch? Maybe you hit your awkward phase wishing you were Greg or Marcia but were more likely somewhere between Cindy and Jan, or Peter and Bobby. Or perhaps, like me, you weren’t even that cool. Now we’re closer to social security than social revolution; far past rainbow suspenders and puka shells but not yet huddled in the corner wrapped in a too-loose, well-worn cardigan watching the neighborhood kids play outside.
What a perfect time to bend fate to our will and feel and look fantastic for the rest of it, don’t you think? That’s what I intend to help you start to do, here and now. Read on if you want to:
· Look and feel better than you thought possible at 50 and beyond
· Be able to enjoy physical challenges and everyday life much more
· Get lean, strong and fit without wasting precious time
But there are very real obstacles to getting in great shape at our age, right? Among them are our insanely busy schedules, injuries or surgeries, confusion about what’s best to do and how best to do it and very little confidence that it can actually be done or is worth the time and effort.
It can be done – if you want it enough.
How do I know? I’m nearly sixty and have two businesses, three kids and don’t get quite enough sleep most nights. Still, I my partner and our hundreds of over-fifty clients, readers and colleagues (rock stars, all) over the last 20+ years have had real success claiming those prizes above following the principles we teach, each in their own unique way.
There is a simple path that starts with these principles and allows you to create your own individual process. Specific practices that integrate proper rest, hydration, optimal eating and exercise principles and stress release can easily be adapted to your particular situation, schedule and preferences. But the framework has to be cohesive, synergistic, coordinated and, finally, safe and effective. Those are qualities most programs, quite frankly, sorely lack. So, wheels keep spinning and frustration keeps growing.
And here’s a bombshell – I wouldn’t be doing you any favors by recommending behaviors piecemeal without adapting it to your current fitness level, nutrition profile and considering the particular elements in your life. That’s why I’m not going to do that here. But what I am going to do is save you time and sorrow by telling you what most athletes and fitness and nutrition pros already understand and use to stay above the fray with their physical vitality and their resulting great quality of life. It’s that you need a proper foundation (principals-based process) and you need a firm agreement with yourself to learn it, adapt it to your unique situation and practice it consistently.
That’s it! Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
It is simple. The makers of those extreme diets and novel exercise gadgets that pop up in your news feed want you to think it’s complicated – so you keep buying their stuff – over and over again. It’s a great business model for them; not such a great path to a better life for you if you want to nail it once and for all.
Now if you’re still reading, you’re in one of two places:
1. You are ready to learn a complete, simple framework of wellness behavior from coordinated experts over fifty themselves with a long track record of success whose only purpose is to set you on the right course and send you happily empowered and on your way to live a fantastic “back half”, or
2. You’re intrigued but skeptical that we may another one of those sources offering another one of those hollow promises I mentioned that are happy to help you part with both your dreams and your money. You want to circle the car and kick the tires, but you’re still open to my showing you more to prove I’m worth listening to by providing some value right here and now. Which gets us back to my original dilemma of not wanting to give you a partial list of ingredients when you should be able to enjoy the piping hot, delectable dish in all its perfectly timed glory.
Why don’t we solve that problem like this: Below is a brief list of things you may already be doing or think you should be doing that are at least as likely to be thwarting your efforts as furthering them. That will be my part of the deal. Your part is simple. If you read the list and think everything else that I’ve said makes sense, look over my website and learn more about me and my team. Then, if you decide to join the next session of our program, e-mail me for a special discount.
If you realize our guidance has value but you’re not yet quite ready to take a spot in the program, take advantage of this free cheat sheet and video offer and follow our Facebook business page for more helpful tips (great, but nothing close to the comprehensive benefits of the six-week course/coaching program).
Is it a deal? Great! Here are some common mistakes wellness seekers in our age group are making that very likely need to be corrected, or at least modified for their individual needs:
1. Strength training improperly, leading to plateaus and avoidable injuries
2. Counting calories to hit a set weight or body fat goal as a primary means to get lean and firm
3. HIIT cardio workouts without factoring in optimal post-strength workout rest cycles
4. Timing and managing food volume, carbs, protein and fat intake wrong for their goals
5. Ignoring or executing poorly core and flexibility components of their fitness program
These are all easy to fix – but not in an article. In fact, the typical fitness and nutrition articles you read can often create or aggravate these problems in the first place by offering blanket advice.
I’m going to “give it to you straight”, here and take my chances that you’re disappointed. But it’s the truth. You can count on me for that. Here’s the big truth:
Where optimal wellness, especially for our age group, is concerned, the best way to look at it is like flying in a plane. Would you want your pilot to be the graduate of a weekend intensive workshop or have years of training and experience and one over-arching goal? The combination of knowledge and intention from the appropriate guide is the pilot. Your body is the plane. Getting the right guidance from the right folks with the right scope, plan features and timeline is the safe trip to your desired destination.
Dan Taylor, ACE, NASM-CPT has been writing about and teaching fitness and wellness since 1998. He and his team of experts build personalized blueprints for over-fifty aspiring athletes with this comprehensive, six-week online program.