If you are over fifty your best New Years training goal is likely going to be different to the goal you would have had 20 or 30 years ago. You can go about planning for the new year plenty of different ways. Start small and build the habit, get professional support like a Personal Trainer, build on last years training goal etc, etc. I think any good plan has 4 parts to it:
- It looks at what your goal is
- It builds from where you are now
- It takes into account any constraints
- It has some reviewing built in
Let’s focus on the goal. As they say a good house has a strong foundation, getting the goal right is the foundation in building your best training plan.
Now, you may have a specific goal in mind. For example maybe you want to run a marathon, rehabilitate from an injury or surgery. Stop right there. Let’s talk about the situation where you’re thinking through what your goal is or take a breath and go back to that stage. How did you / do you frame that goal? How does your thinking look on a timeline? As humans we are great at deciding what to do in the short term but we discount the impact of the longer term. That’s why it can be far too easy to put off thinking about it. So here’s a little story.
I was doing what I like to call research, watching a Youtube video. Now I find listening to Peter Attia is a good thing to do any time but when he starts talking about what you use to judge your performance he has some really interesting fitness insights. Here is a list of measures of what a successful 100 year old looks like off the top of his head from his interview with Tom Bilyeu:
- Be able to tie your shoe
- Be able to carry two 10 KG shopping bags
- Be able to lift a 15KG cabin case over your head to put it in a planes overhead locker
- Be able to have a 12KG grandchild run at you, squat down and pick them up.
- Be able to dip down to the floor, play with cars or dolls and spring back up unassisted.
And off the top of my head you can add sprinting from a standing start to save a child from falling off a river bank.
That would be, as he says, a kick ass 100 year old (or 80 or 90 year old for that matter). Pause for a moment, make a cuppa tea if you want and create that image of yourself as a successful kick ass 100 year old. What’s your afternoon look like? Where are you going when you put that 15KGs in the overhead locker? What type of shoes are you tieing?
When you cast that image forward, of yourself as some kind of 100 year old superhuman (compared to what we generally see now), I’ll bet it feels pretty inspirational. Yes I want to be that guy I like how it feels and it looks inspirational to anyone in your life.
Has that got your attention?
Does that image make you feel optimistic?
What would it be like to be that 100 year old?
If that image has you thinking and feeling good consider it for a moment. Then ask yourself, am I setting the best goal? If you have 40 years or so to build up to that kick ass 100 year old that gives you a lot of years to improve year on year. So how do you know if your goal is sitting on that best goals list? You need something to measure it by and I reckon these are pretty good measures:
- Does it move you in the right direction
- Does it feel realistic (for me that means; I can do it and feel like there is more in the tank)
- Does it fit with the constraints of your life (time, location, accessibility etc)
- Is it fun, cos anything fun is easier to do
Peter Attia is a realistic guy. In the above interview not only is he inspirational but he also talks about taking the best from things like yoga, pilates and putting together a bespoke realistic program for your best 100 year old self. He mentions muscle mass (important for organ reserve, fall protection and movement), joint integrity, flexibility, functional movement and balance.
What are you looking for next? Well the way I see it is that the more of the following your goal leads to, the more effective it is going to be:
- Joint health
- Flexibility
- Balance
- Muscle quality
- Daily vitality
The next bit is working out your plan. What if you could tick these things off in a few hours a week? I find the fun part is working out how to maximise your results with the most concentrated time commitment. What if those few hours became the ones you look forward to the most because you feel the results and you know each one is moving you toward that goal. That goal and plan has to be personal because everyone has different low hanging fruit to pick, different start points and different constraints.
Start building a weekly routine that moves you in the right direction. Get some advice. When you are over fifty a different sensibility is called for. Moving in the right direction is key, don’t rush, you have experience and decades of time on your side. Make it fun, mix it up a bit.
Invest in your 100 year old self, work out that best personal training goal and have a Happy New Year.