Stop Working Out for Your Younger Body. Start Training for Your Older One.
For a lot of us, the way we think about fitness changes as we get older.
When we were younger, working out might have been about fitting into a certain size, losing a few pounds, looking better in a swimsuit or simply keeping up with everyone else.
And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel good about how you look.
But eventually, something more important starts to matter.
What do you want your body to be able to do 10, 20 or 30 years from now?
Because fitness isn’t just about the body you have today. It’s about building the body you want to live in for the rest of your life.
That changes the way you should train.
Strength is an investment in your future
Muscle mass naturally declines as we age. Bone density can decline, too. Balance, coordination, mobility and power can become more challenging if we don’t continue to practice them.
The good news?
You can do something about it.
Strength training is one of the best investments you can make in your future health and independence.
And strength doesn’t mean you need to become a competitive weightlifter or see how much you can deadlift.
It means becoming strong for what you want to do in your life.
Strong enough to carry the groceries.
Strong enough to pick up your grandkids.
Strong enough to get your suitcase into the overhead compartment.
Strong enough to hike, bike, travel, play with your kids or spend an afternoon working in the yard without your body calling it quits.
Strong enough to get yourself off the floor.
That last one might not sound like a fitness goal when you’re 35.
It might feel like a very important one when you’re 75.
Train for the life you want to keep living
This is where we think training is different from simply working out.
A workout is something you do.
Training has a purpose.
You’re not just doing squats because squats are on the whiteboard. You’re building leg strength so that getting up from a chair, climbing stairs or hiking a hill stays easy.
You’re not just carrying a dumbbell across the gym. You’re developing the strength and stability that makes carrying things through your everyday life easier.
You’re not just practicing balance because your coach told you to. You’re giving your future self a better chance of staying confident and capable on your feet.
That’s a very different reason to exercise.
And no, you don’t have to be young to start
One of the biggest misconceptions about strength training is that you need to start when you’re young to see the benefits.
You don’t.
You can start exactly where you are.
Maybe you’ve never lifted weights before. Maybe you’ve taken years away from exercise. Maybe your knees, shoulders or back don’t feel like they did 20 years ago.
That doesn’t mean you can’t train.
It means your training needs to meet you where you are.
At CrossFit Plainfield, movements and workouts can be scaled to the person doing them. The goal isn’t for everyone to lift the same weight, perform the same movement or move at the same pace.
The goal is to help you become stronger and more capable than you were before.
Your future self is counting on you
We spend a lot of time trying to change our bodies for the present.
Maybe it’s getting ready for vacation. Losing the holiday weight. Fitting into a certain pair of jeans.
Those goals can be motivating.
But there’s something pretty powerful about having a goal that goes beyond the scale.
Imagine being 60 and feeling strong.
Being 70 and confident walking up a flight of stairs.
Being 80 and getting up from the floor without thinking twice.
Being able to travel, carry your own bags, get out of a chair, play with your grandchildren and continue doing the things you love.
That doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s something you build.
So stop thinking about exercise as punishment for what you ate yesterday or a way to chase a smaller body.
Start thinking about it as a way to protect the body you’ll need tomorrow.
Your younger self may have wanted to look good.
Your future self wants to be strong enough to live well.
Train for her.
