Three Simple Rules for Having a Great Body, Even in Your 50’s

Fitness is about a lifestyle, not a diet or quick fix

Like a lot of people, I’ve had some good days and some bad days on this fitness journey. I’ve had times when I was going strong and working out every day that I had planned to. I’ve also had times when I just quit working out for months or even years. But here I am, just a few months away from my 54th birthday, and I’m in the best shape of my life.

At the gym, noticing my gray hair, young guys stop me all the time to ask how old I am, and then to congratulate me on what I’ve accomplished. It feels good. It also feels good to see that even at my age, I’m one of the guys at the gym that people ask for advice. I always give them the same basic answer. There are three simple rules to get fit, even in your 50's.

Rule number one for getting in the best shape of your life, even in your 50’s, is: EAT RIGHT. First, I want to make sure and tell you that your fitness journey is not paved with salad. Giant croutons will not come tumbling down the road as some culinary sign from the gods. Don’t get me wrong, a good salad is tasty and nutritious, but it is not the definition of healthy eating.

When I see people who are trying to lose weight, or get toned, and they suddenly start eating nothing but salads, I would bet money that they will be unsuccessful. Their fitness journey usually ends up being nothing but a meaningless stroll.

The problem with the salad diet, is that you are usually hungry shortly after you’ve eaten. If your new diet and nutrition plan is based on a meal that never genuinely satisfies your hunger, you will cheat.

Instead of relegating yourself to a life of leaves, look up healthy recipes from fitness people on YouTube and Instagram. Can you also get good, healthy recipes from people who are not fitness influencers or bodybuilders, etc? Sure, but I feel better about it when the information is coming from someone who can show you the results.

AND SPEAKING OF CHEAT DAYS!

I am not a believer in the regular or scheduled cheat day. It implies that most of the week you eat flavorless crap that you hate so that on that one, glorious day, you can finally enjoy something that doesn’t taste like a chewed-up pencil.

Look for recipes that you will really enjoy eating but also happen to be high protein and low in fat. There are lots and lots of recipes that you can get for free online or on social media. If you are a cookbook reader, you can also find even more.

The key, and there is most certainly a key, is to find meals that you like to eat, not stuff that tastes like some sort of dietary punishment. People often ask me, “Well, what about sweets?” Lots of people say that the hardest cravings to overcome are cravings for sugar, sweets, desserts, etc.

My first advice to them is that if there are no donuts or honey buns, cookies, etc., in your house, you don’t have to worry about eating them when you have a craving late at night. “Well, I have kids at home.” My answer to that is that you have no cause to blame the kids, if anything, the kids should be blaming you for raising them on a diet of junk food, sugar and fat.

For my own sugar cravings, I have protein pancakes for breakfast on the weekends. I know that a lot of you are probably assuming that protein pancakes taste about the same as the box they come out of, but there really are some very good ones out there. I add a scoop of protein powder to mine both for the extra protein and because I like the vanilla flavor added to the mix. If you are handier than I am, you can look up some great recipes and make your own from scratch.

Sugar free syrups, deserts and candies have come a long way in recent years. Many times, I’ve given a sugar free chocolate bar or candy to a friend or coworker who was shocked when I told them.

For snacks, fruits like plums, grapes, berries, and nuts like almonds and cashews knock it out of the park. My only problem with a bag of cashews is the fact that it is really hard to stop eating them.

I do have the occasional burger or ribeye. But when you eat clean 90% of the time, you can have your burger or even the indulgences of the holiday season without worry. Just don’t make a habit of it.

Rule number two to making your fitness journey a lifestyle that lasts a lifetime is: Work hard. No matter whether I’m in a social media group, at the gym or reading the comments on a video from a favorite fitness personality, there’s always someone asking for a way to get in shape that is painless, doesn’t cause you to sweat and requires no more than 15 minutes of time.

The truth is that this is going to take some work. You might have to stay on a treadmill ten minutes past that moment when you wanted to quit, eight minutes past the moment when you convinced yourself that there was some urgent errand you had to run. Speaking of which, if you are able to text, check social media or have a conversation while on a treadmill, you are not going fast enough.

You will often be sore. You will wake up tired and start searching the universe for a suitable excuse to skip your workout that day. Some days you will be hungover because you had a little too much fun the night before, but you have to go anyway. IT CANNOT BE OPTIONAL.

Just as you wouldn’t wake up and decide you won’t brush your teeth because you are too tired or decide you will not shower because you are tired or quit your job because you just don’t feel like going, you cannot skip your workout because of any of these reasons. It’s mandatory.

You must lift more weight than is comfortable. You must do twelve reps when you know in your heart that ten was too easy. Your body will not change if your workout is easy. Don’t be afraid to push yourself.

Don’t skip any body parts. Don’t skip legs because you are not as strong there. Don’t skip working your abs because you have a layer of fat there, and it seems like your abs will never see the light of day.

I can tell you very quickly what my own workout is like, but it has changed in small ways and will continue to do so as I learn more about fitness, nutrition, and the way my own body responds to certain exercises and combinations of exercises.

I work out Monday through Friday. Since leg day is the day that people are most likely to skip, I do legs on Monday to just get it out of the way. I typically do about 5 to 6 different exercises like squats, hamstring curls, deadlifts, leg presses, quad extensions and calf raises.

On Tuesdays I do chest. Unlike most guys, this is not my favorite body part to work. On chest days, I also train biceps. I used to do triceps with chest, but as I said before, I’m always tweaking little things from time to time. I typically work my shoulders on each of the days besides leg day.

For instance, I might work side and rear delts on back day and front delts on chest day. Instead of flat bench, I do barbell incline bench, next one of the chest press machines, and then the peck deck or chest fly machine. I typically do three bicep exercises. Make sure to squeeze the biceps.

Wednesday is back day, and I train triceps on back day. This is my favorite day of the workout week. One of my favorite back exercises is bent over T-bar rows. They can be hard, but it gives me a great chance to really contract the back muscles at the top of the movement.

I also do deadlifts on one of my two back days. I do lat-pulldowns, and one or two weighted row machines. Rear and side delts are next. I finish with tricep pulldowns, dumbbell kickbacks and seated dip machine. I make sure to get a good squeeze on my triceps at the completion of each rep.

I have to kind of manage cardio, since these days I’m getting lean enough that overdoing the cardio sometimes leaves my face with a sunken look. Take advantage of the free resources and advice that you can find on social media and YouTube, etc. It’s helped me a lot.

Rule number three for getting and maintaining a great body even in your 50’s: Don’t make excuses! The fact that I’m in my 50’s is not an excuse for why I can’t work out tomorrow. My age is not an excuse for why I can’t finish my workout.

I often hear guys talking about the burden of their “dad bodies.” There is no such thing as a dad body. You didn’t give birth to anyone.

A craving for sugar or fat is not an excuse for why I don’t or won’t eat right. It’s not as if the kid who works at the burger joint or the donut shop around the corner cast some magical spell on you. You make choices.

Choose your health. Choose to set a good example for your kids instead of implying that they somehow tricked you into buying and then eating the pack of cookies that died a slow agonizing death when it was late, and you thought no one was looking.

Choose to have the body you want instead of the one you are willing to settle for.

I am writing this on a Thursday evening. I work out Monday through Friday. I have had four of my five meals for today, including one protein shake. In half an hour I will have the fifth meal, which will consist of an air fried chicken breast, half a cup of brown rice and veggies.

Tomorrow morning, I will wake up, have my veggie omelet with fruit on the side. After having gone through four hard workouts already this week, several parts of my body will be sore. But I will get dressed. I will feed the dog. I will grab my gym bag and my big water bottle, and I will go out to my car, aching muscles and all. And I will drive to the gym, put some music on in my earbuds, and I will walk into that gym, ready to go to war.

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