Did you or any of your kids have braces growing up?
You probably remember how hard it was to understand that the benefits from the sacrifice would long outlast the temporary inconvenience of wearing them.
Maybe you learned to focus on the smile you would have ever after – rather than on the metal you would endure in your mouth for a while.
It’s the same way with fitness after 50. If you think you won’t enjoy working out with us – well, first, think again: We are a fun group! But… if working out is not number 1 on your own personal Fun List, that’s fine. We get it.
Until you start enjoying it as much as we do, try focusing on the long-lasting health benefits that come from regular exercise, including resistance, cardio, and balance training.
As any orthodontist knows to tell a fretful teen: “Focus on the smile, not on the braces.”
Fun Is Key to Fitness Success
We believe that everyone can and should enjoy their fitness activities. And it increases everyone’s chances of persisting when we do enjoy the activity and the social interaction.
But sometimes, that’s hard to keep top of mind. There are days when we don’t feel like it, or we don’t like a particular portion of a routine.
And that’s OK.
Keep your eyes on the prize:
- Your workouts are making you strong and limber enough to get down on the floor with your grandbaby, and play in the back yard with the older kids.
- That vacation you’ve dreamed about for years – the one involving some physical effort – is within reach. Whether you’re hiking through the Alps or just hopping a short flight, traveling takes strength, stamina and agility.
- Losing the extra pounds so many of us gained during the pandemic.
- Staying in good shape is a financial investment that will pay off continually over the years – at the time in life when healthcare costs will dominate your spending more than ever. You’ll save money on medications, medical visits, and downtime.
- Think how pleased your doctor will be when you slim down, lower your blood pressure, and (maybe) make some other key health gains.
Make Time Work for You
Do you know that, by the time we reach retirement age, we have pent 90,000 hours working? Plus 2,400 hours in traffic – and up to six months waiting in lines.
We’re also living longer than any previous generation in history, with life expectancy getting longer all the time.
When we think about the future, let’s think about the positive possibilities. We all get to define them for ourselves. Yours might be highly athletic – or based on functional fitness and being able to perform the tasks of daily living. Your goals might be general or specific, like running a 5K or climbing the Spanish Steps in Rome.
It’s up to you – once you decide to focus on the smile that awaits.
Let us know what your goals are, and we will help get you in shape to reach them.
Holly Kouvo is a personal trainer, functional aging specialist, senior fitness specialist, brain health trainer, writer, and speaker.