Unless you are very fortunate, something happens at age 38, in my experience of my own body, and that of my many middle aged clients. Something drastic happens at 38.
Many a sportsman feels fit and strong well into their late 30s. Sir Tom Finney, Preston's most decorated sportsman of the 20th century, was the master of his trade right up to the age of 38. Injuries aside, Tom was a very fit footballer during the 1950s, who took Preston North End to dizzy heights to which they would never return. Even for Tom, 38 was the end. He retired in 1960, on virtually his 38th birthday having helped North End to 9th in the first division.
Ryan Giggs, after 1,000 professional appearances, retired at the age of 40. Probably the fittest footballer of his generation, at 38, Giggs could sail past 24-year-old defenders as if they were museum exhibits. Even superfit Ryan saw and felt the end in sight.
Like I said, something happens at 38. If the 30s can be described as a gradual deceleration in fitness, energy, joint integrity, stamina, speed and flexibility, the relatively brief, 24 month period from 38-40 is more like a free fall off a cliff, for the bodily functions.
For those below that age, the over 38s will urge you to enjoy your body for all it is capable off. The sub-38 human body has a degree of elasticity, bouncebackability, recoil and vigour for more punishment.
At 38, the airbag is deployed, and things come to a dramatic halt, often in the form of lumbar pain, knee clicking and a far less mobile neck. Where once you felt like an owl as you rotate happily left and right, at 38, the neck rotates with about as much response as that giant tortoise in the zoo.
The zoo is a good picture to imagine in this. The children naturally gravitate towards the lemurs and the meercats, all frisky and busy, bobbing up and down and jostling for position amongst their posse. The 38 year old has long since paused at the window of the giant sloth hanging from a rope, the old urang-u-tang, slouched in amongst his vines, or the stationary giant rhinoceros chewing at a bag of grass. The 38 year old seeks like minded animals who feel the same pain. Seeing other creatures in more pain and similar states of immobility or enthusiasm is as cathartic and reflective as are the meercats and penguins exciting to the kids.
Accepting this is the key to negotiating your way through the next stage of your body's timeline. At 38, the body gives fewer second chances. It doesn't bounce back quite as much. Eat too much at 24, burn it off in two days. Eat too much at 38 and beyond, expect to move up a belt notch tomorrow!
Here at PWR Personal Training, we deal on a daily basis with this predicament. The first step is to accept, quickly that while your mind may not have changed overnight, the body is changing much faster.
Making decisions about lifestyle is the key to moving smoothly into your 40s and beyond. Accepting the relative drop in metabolism must be matched by your intake, and that physical fitness has to work for you without leaving you stiff, knackered and sluggish for 48 hours after every workout!
Learning new ways to eat, drink, exercise and recover is a hugely important process as you cross the 40 year barrier.
The good thing is, you can feel absolutely brilliant at 40, and a simple plan, well followed, can create this sense of energy, vigour and performance that you'll be proud of. Here at PWR we deliver clear, well thought out, and body specific dietary guidelines and fitness plans, teaching you how to get the most out of your body, for the present and the long term. Well past 38.
Its always a free, no-obligation mini-consultation available from Paul at PWR Personal Training, here in Preston, Chorley and Blackburn. Visit us at www.pwrpersonaltraining.co.uk and call for a chat.
