Fitness After 50 and Big Hairy
Goals
Fitness after 50 gets an unique reaction. Some women resent that we’re talking about it as if they’re broken or can’t do anything younger women can. Others feel they need something softer, gentler, because of their age.
Women near midlife, specifically the midlife threshold 5-0, sometimes get a rude awakening that things are not the same. As in nothing is the same and won’t be again.
The kids won’t be small again and fit into cute clothes you choose, eating food you make, and sleeping in the beds down the hall.
You and the hubs, or you and you, won’t be the same parents of kids, you know, someone’s mom. That title will remain but the role will change. You’ll be figuring out what that looks like.
Your job often takes a second look at you or you at it and change happens there too.
Then there’s the body. Not the same. Not nearly the same. Who moved the cheese when you weren’t looking? How did that happen nearly overnight? So what do you do for your fitness after 50?
Successfully Managing the Five “Cs”
Some women decide to do something. Cally did. She had all the “Cs.” She was committed, she had clarity, conviction, and she was consistent and congruent. I would love to say that it’s the same for all my clients. It’s not. She just did it. It wasn’t about “fitness after 50” or something that fit into a neat little box appropriate for age. It was more of a balls to the wall, got a goal, I’m going to get it experience.
Many women put up walls somewhere. They tell me the weekends are off limits or the traveling is a problem, or some other completely normal part of life is the reason they can’t make progress or keep a promise to themselves.
Cally didn’t. In fact, over a vacation week where she admitted that it would be hard to not do some of their typical activities that involved enjoying adult beverages, she came to the conclusion she was ready to do a half marathon. A 5 mile walk had gone so well.
“Ok,” I said, “Sign up.” She did. She did* her first half marathon on Sunday. She did the work. And based on her attitude, I knew without a doubt she’d finish and she’d have a good time along with learning something from it. She processes data and she asks questions. She’s always prepared with a question on coaching calls.
Buffing Up Your Fitness After 50
Here are the Five “C’s” 5 C’s of Flipping 50 Successfully
- Conviction – to the idea that so you have much more potential
- Commitment – to a change and willingness to make changes when it’s not convenient (you’ll notice that “c” for convenience is not on the list)
- Planning the workout and meals for example (there are more)
- Working out the plan
- Clarity
- Get clear and have confidence about the goals that will get you the results you want.
- Find one voice you trust. If you’re at a fork in the road: you have to choose one even if you need to make a U-turn eventually: we know this in cars, but when we stay at the fork in life we often let that be OK even though we’re miserable.
- Consistency
- Mindfully creating a daily practice
- Plan A, B, C
- Congruent
- Are the actions you make daily congruent with the outcome you want?
- Interpret that data and make your next strategic move
Bonus: Community
Never underestimate the value of relationships. No one does it alone: raising kids, building a business, or making a difference. Find your tribe. Within it there will be people who push and pull you to be a better version of yourself.
Jennifer registered for the Des Moines Half Marathon too. Fitness after 50 for Jennifer is clearly not your mother’s 64-year old. She’s getting clear on what it takes for fitness after 50. She still flirts with more hard work. She’s less likely to find flow and ease in workouts than to push. That can backfire after 50, and after 60 and 70 even more.
Wisdom from listening (more on that in my own story on Thursday) will get us so much farther in the second 50. 
Fitness after 50 is as much an inside as outside job. That part takes longer. If you get it, the outside will happen faster. Going the distance applies both to thoughts and to steps.
You’ve got to unlearn old thoughts and habits. You’ve got to create a new vision and relationship with aging. It doesn’t matter what you tell the rest of the world. It matters what you say to yourself when no one else can hear.
Pre Race Moments
During the Race
Post Race
*Blog note: I began writing this post the weekend before Cally and Jennifer’s half marathon. The video clips I’ve inserted are from race day. Exchanging the scale for a starting line or any life experience empowers you.
What’s your definition of Fitness After 50?
