aging

I know what you’re saying.

“I thought Mitch hated these kinds of articles!”

You’re right. I do. I even wrote a post about how much I hate them just two weeks ago:

I got you curious, though!

The truth is there ARE some exercises that you shouldn’t do after 50. It’s just that they’re not the kinds of exercises you might normally think of.

The kinds of exercises I’m talking about are ones that really do some long-term damage. In some cases it may be irreparable unless some pretty strong action is taken.

Let’s get to it.

1- Complaining about your age.

Do you know how often I hear someone tell me that some ache or pain is because of their age? All the time.

I rarely hear anything so deflating and disempowering. It would be one thing if it were correct, but it almost never is.

I’ll say it again:

It would be silly of me to say that age has no physical effect on our body, but that effect is incredibly overstated the vast majority of the time.

Here’s the deal: If you take care of your body it will take care of you. End of story.

Train to get stronger (yes, stronger) and get your mindset right and you’ll find it amazing how little age matters anymore. (I’m talking to you backs, knees and shoulders!)

Don’t be like Abe

2- Worrying about what you ate last night/weekend.

Why is it that people seem to think it’s not ok to enjoy what you eat? All we hear from the media is how overweight we are as a society and I hear from people all the time that stress big-time over what they should and do put in their mouths.

Let me suggest something a little crazy here.

All that stress is worse for you than eating a cookie. Or a little ice cream. Or a piece of bread.

Let me suggest something even crazier.

If you continue to deny and demonize these foods you are much likelier to experience a pretty big backlash from yourself when you inevitably eat 1 or, more likely, 10 of them.

That backlash is going to be mainly mental and, like number 1 on our list, very disempowering and mentally damaging.

If you want to read more about this, get this book yesterday!

Click on the picture for the Amazon link.

3- Not strength training.

What do people really fear about aging? Becoming fragile. Losing their independance. Becoming feeble. Losing their mental faculties.

Strength training helps all of this.

ALL OF IT!!!

Too many people don’t strength train or really give it their all in the gym when they do, because they’re afraid of getting hurt. The truth is that if your form is good, proper strength training is extremely safe and effective and very empowering.

More than that it’s the most important thing you can do as you get older!

You want to be able to get right back up when you fall with no injuries or worries?

Start strength training.

I know it can be a little intimidating to get started but I know someone who can help.

I hope that you get the point I’m trying to get across here. In case you didn’t, here it is:

Do things that are empowering and mentally positive and you’ll find that you’ll tend not to care about your age very much.

Can I be any clearer about that?

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach, PAS
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-755-9191
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

My family and I were in LA last weekend for a family vacation and I saw a sign that struck a chord with me.

I’ll be clear about this:

If you are not actively trying to get stronger

you are making a mistake.

Got that?

I love that the AARP put this ad out. I know that it refers to all kinds of strength, not just physical, but it’s all connected.

As we get older many of us have the mistaken impression that we have to accept all kinds of degradation in regards to their health.

It would be silly for me to say that age has no effect on our condition but I believe it is DRASTICALLY overstated as a cause for our ills.

I’ve had people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s all complain to me about how old they are and feel. The great trainer Ben Bruno once wrote that when people complain about their age to him (I’m paraphrasing here) he tells them the only thing that’s old is hearing them complain about their age!

When I think about AARP’s “Strength Is Not Optional” ad, I think of things like the fact that if you fall, and falling is frequently regarded as one of the biggest fears people have as they age, strength is what is going to help you prevent injury when you hit the ground and then help you get back up. Flexibility isn’t going to do that. Hours of cardio isn’t going to help you do that.

As we get deeper into that, we find that the fear of falling itself MAY ACTUALLY INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF FALLING!! and since one of the biggest benefits of strength training is an increase in self-confidence doesn’t it follow that strength training can help you not fall in the first place? Once again, a bunch of cardio isn’t going to help that.

Many people are afraid to really push themselves when strength training. They do the same things workout after workout and week after week. They’re afraid of getting hurt. I understand that. No one wants to get hurt. Add that to a fear of getting older (getting older still beats the alternative, right?) and we start to see a pretty vicious cycle.

They don’t realize that strength training can groove proper movement patterns that can both fix pain and prevent it!

Many times I’ve given someone a small form adjustment that has taken pain away from a movement that someone was previously afraid of. Once that happens we slowly and appropriately increase the difficulty of the movement to cement the new and improved movement.

Another common occurrence is when someone has joint pain mainly because they’re not strong enough to hold good, stable positions. This lack of stability is causing the joint to have to move or hold a position in a bad spot. A common example here is knee pain. The vast majority of the time knee pain doesn’t actually have to do with your knee. It’s actually a lack of strength in your hips that is causing instability in your knee which is causing pain. Once you are strong enough to hold better positions, the knee pain magically goes away.

This does not happen if you don’t push yourself.

Let’s sum it all up nice and easy.

Strength training allows you to age with more confidence, less pain, more resistance to injury and more resistance to the other things that people incorrectly attribute solely to age.

I know strength training isn’t easy. I know that walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes may feel more comfortable. I also know that strength training as we age can be truly transformative physically, and even more importantly, mentally.

Let me know if you need any help putting together your strength training program.

Thanks for reading!

Mitch Rothbardt, CPT, PAS, PN Level 2 Lean Eating Coach
Castro Valley Fitness
2861 Grove Way
510-755-9191
Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com

3 Exercises You Shouldn’t Do After 50

ALL OF IT!!!

Do things that are empowering and mentally positive and you’ll find that you’ll tend not to care about your age very much.

AARP – “Strength Is Not Optional”

If you are not actively trying to get stronger

you are making a mistake.

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