I'm approaching 50 and have so far used 2024 as a serious reassessment of my fitness (goals, methods, commitment, diet, etc.). There are many components of fitness (cardiovascular, muscular endurance, muscular strength, power and explosiveness, mental fitness and wellness, etc.) although many oversimplify to weight (or BMI) and general health (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, etc., disease or lack of disease, and injuries).
Anyway, I'm down about 20 lbs since the start of 2024, leaner, and stronger in most every exercise in my routine (which has expanded) with definite improvements in cardiovascular capacity. I've hit some recent goals like being able to do 20 pullups in a continuous set. Most sets are done now with 50lbs hooked to me and I'm going up there as well. Seated row over 300lbs. Shoulder pressing 80lb dumbbells.
Squatting and deadlifting over 400lbs (back to 500lbs is the goal there). I'm back to box jumping at 40 inches. I've added other explosive power exercises like single arm snatches, and I've thrown in a lot of new exercises to my leg routine that are great for balance and strength like Bulgarian split squats, lateral and reverse lunges, single leg deadlifts, dumbbell step ups and dumbbell box jumps. My bench press is a little weak at 275 lbs from a prior shoulder injury that has stuck with me and dumbbell presses with 110lb dumbbells.
I'll do anywhere from a half hour to an hour of cardio every morning before breakfast. Usually combo of rower and biking, sometimes a run. I'll do usually about an hour lift at some point every day. I rotate through leg day, chest/triceps day, back/biceps day, shoulder day, alternate leg day (just different exercises), and either a rest day or more focused ab/core day. The wife and I like to take the dogs for a 2 to 3 mile walk in the evening if it's nice enough outside. Occasionally I'll run with her but she still does marathons and I'm not a long distance runner. So I might hang with her for a few miles but then I'm done.
I eat a pretty big breakfast usually a couple of eggs, English muffins, a half a bagel, and juice. A lot of times lunch is a little bit of a lot of things, but I usually get fruit, some protein, often a yogurt, hummus, etc. Dinner is whatever the wife makes which often is healthier than I would eat on my own. I usually don't eat anything from 6 pm to maybe 8 am, so a very mild form of intermittent fasting.
My downfall on diet is that I snack a lot during the day. That used to be worse, and it was more candy than I eat now. My sweet tooth was always my downfall and I've cut way back on that. When I was younger, I used to have the philosophy of working out really hard and I could eat anything in any quantity. My 40s proved to me that this no longer works. So less really bad stuff for me is one change I've made that probably has had the biggest impact I would guess on weight.
Comparing to earlier in life, I'm definitely not in peak shape but am getting a little closer. I was a pretty good athlete back in my day. I still consider myself one but I could never compete at the level I used to today. My strength to my weight ratio is not what it once was. It's getting much better than it was in most of my 40s. But I'm about 20 lbs above my college weight and I was just as if not stronger for most exercises than I am now. My endurance is no where near what it was then either. But on the positive side, I think that I am closing out my 40s as fit or more fit than the start of my 40s. I probably peaked physically in my mid to maybe late 20s.
So what about others here? Where are you fitness-wise relative to earlier stages of life? What have you found that works or doesn't work for you as you've matured? Anyone else making changes and/or seeing results?
Anyway, I'm down about 20 lbs since the start of 2024, leaner, and stronger in most every exercise in my routine (which has expanded) with definite improvements in cardiovascular capacity. I've hit some recent goals like being able to do 20 pullups in a continuous set. Most sets are done now with 50lbs hooked to me and I'm going up there as well. Seated row over 300lbs. Shoulder pressing 80lb dumbbells.
Squatting and deadlifting over 400lbs (back to 500lbs is the goal there). I'm back to box jumping at 40 inches. I've added other explosive power exercises like single arm snatches, and I've thrown in a lot of new exercises to my leg routine that are great for balance and strength like Bulgarian split squats, lateral and reverse lunges, single leg deadlifts, dumbbell step ups and dumbbell box jumps. My bench press is a little weak at 275 lbs from a prior shoulder injury that has stuck with me and dumbbell presses with 110lb dumbbells.
I'll do anywhere from a half hour to an hour of cardio every morning before breakfast. Usually combo of rower and biking, sometimes a run. I'll do usually about an hour lift at some point every day. I rotate through leg day, chest/triceps day, back/biceps day, shoulder day, alternate leg day (just different exercises), and either a rest day or more focused ab/core day. The wife and I like to take the dogs for a 2 to 3 mile walk in the evening if it's nice enough outside. Occasionally I'll run with her but she still does marathons and I'm not a long distance runner. So I might hang with her for a few miles but then I'm done.
I eat a pretty big breakfast usually a couple of eggs, English muffins, a half a bagel, and juice. A lot of times lunch is a little bit of a lot of things, but I usually get fruit, some protein, often a yogurt, hummus, etc. Dinner is whatever the wife makes which often is healthier than I would eat on my own. I usually don't eat anything from 6 pm to maybe 8 am, so a very mild form of intermittent fasting.
My downfall on diet is that I snack a lot during the day. That used to be worse, and it was more candy than I eat now. My sweet tooth was always my downfall and I've cut way back on that. When I was younger, I used to have the philosophy of working out really hard and I could eat anything in any quantity. My 40s proved to me that this no longer works. So less really bad stuff for me is one change I've made that probably has had the biggest impact I would guess on weight.
Comparing to earlier in life, I'm definitely not in peak shape but am getting a little closer. I was a pretty good athlete back in my day. I still consider myself one but I could never compete at the level I used to today. My strength to my weight ratio is not what it once was. It's getting much better than it was in most of my 40s. But I'm about 20 lbs above my college weight and I was just as if not stronger for most exercises than I am now. My endurance is no where near what it was then either. But on the positive side, I think that I am closing out my 40s as fit or more fit than the start of my 40s. I probably peaked physically in my mid to maybe late 20s.
So what about others here? Where are you fitness-wise relative to earlier stages of life? What have you found that works or doesn't work for you as you've matured? Anyone else making changes and/or seeing results?
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