![]() ![]() I needed something tailor made for a middle-aged dad with an active lifestyle. Keeping this in mind, I began looking for a program that allowed me to get in and get out quickly while not losing my hard-won gains. Evenings and weekends are for the family, and mornings before work are short. Plus, I just don’t recover from heavy volume like I used to. Now that he’s older, I’m able to maintain a steady routine but due to compounding obligations – work and life still get a vote in how I use my time – meaning I am still limited on free time. The chaos of those first few years meant I had to get a pump session in when and where I had the chance – which wasn’t often, so I had to make every opportunity count. The days going to the gym when I wanted and knocking down a two plus hours session were long gone. After my son was born, I realized I no longer had a set routine until he was able to sleep through the night. If you don’t plan ahead you’ll inevitably be late, and being flexible in your planning is a must. Everyone Has A Plan…Until They Get Punched In The FaceĪs any parent can tell you, having young children means you can pretty much take a schedule and throw it out the window. Please consider our shameless self promotion. Getting eight hours of sleep a night added up to big improvements in my mental and physical well being, body composition, and performance since I was no longer sleep walking through a workout and crashing hard by late afternoon. In fact, multiple studies suggest cognitive decline and dementia in people who regularly sleep less than four hours a night. In my forties I wanted to be asleep by 9.” By now everyone knows the importance of sleep for recovery and peak performance, but more and more people are getting tuned into the benefits it brings for mental health. In my thirties I wanted to be home by 11pm. We’ve all heard or even lived the same story: “In my twenties I lived like a rock star. And by making small adjustments over time instead of all at once, I ensured they became part of my lifestyle rather than a quick crash and burn fad. This change has been the key to my long-term success. I’ve found success by addition through subtraction: limiting or outright removing processed foods, soda, sugar and alcohol – and adding meat, fowl, fish, seafood, eggs, vegetables, roots, tubers, bulbs, herbs and spices as well as animal fats, olives & olive oil, avocados, and dairy. No longer am I able to eat anything with abandon and still burn it down in the weight room or pounding the pavement. As such, the hardest habit I had to change was my diet. ![]() My wife has the metabolism of a hummingbird, while I gain weight just looking at what she eats. The three biggest changes I realized I had to make were in my diet, sleep habits and becoming more focused in the gym. My old habits and routines had to adjust in order to maintain the active lifestyle that I wanted, both to keep me healthy and to set the example for my family. But as I continued to spar with Old Man Time, I realized that what got me in shape wouldn’t keep me in shape. I’ve been active since first grade YMCA soccer, and as I rolled through my thirties and into my forties, I felt no reason why that should change. There are several reasons why we’re seeing greater athletic longevity these days, such as a better understanding of the importance of nutrition, recovery, and the long-term impacts of exercise on the aging process. Granted they’re outliers due to their profession and abilities, but more and more people are active into their middle age in all levels of competition. Just look at Tom Brady who just won another Super Bowl at 43, or UFC fighter Glover Teixeira who will soon be fighting for the light heavyweight championship at age 41. And it seems more and more professional athletes are competing well into their forties and fifties. ![]() Not just for myself, but my friends and associates as well. As I’ve matured, I no longer see that as the case. From then on, it was best to set them out to pasture and let them graze until it was time to cull them from the herd. The best years of their lives behind them. Throughout my teens and my twenties, I thought people in their forties were old. ![]() I did it when I was nineteen, it damn near wasted me.” – “Apocalypse Now”, CPT Willard (Martin Sheen) referring to COL Kurtz (Marlin Brando) They must’ve thought he was some far-out man humping it over the course. Why would he do that?… The next youngest guy in his class was half his age. “During the next few months he made three requests… For transfer to Airborne training, Fort Benning, GA… and was finally accepted. ![]()
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