Age always seems to be a controversial topic when talking about training. Am I too young or too old to start exercising? Answer is simple, neither. One cannot be too young or too old to start working out, however there are various factors we have to consider before actually deciding on what sport or training method we chose to begin with. Some of these factors are health (any illnesses or injuries of consideration), location (indoor vs outdoor), equipment (sport equipment vs gym equipment), frequency (number of training sessions per week), intensity (low vs high intensity) and training method (sport specific, strength and conditioning or endurance). These are just few of the variables we have to take into account but it's enough to give you an idea.
I'd like present you with a couple of examples to help you with picturing what am I talking about. Let's say we've got an individual in her fifties who has never trained before and has some minor hip problems. We aren't going to put that lady on the basketball court handing over the ball and saying:
"Here you go lovely, now let me see you dunk!"
Instead we figure out what are her exercise preferences and based on her answers we can recommend activities like pool fitness, swimming, strength training (if she is happy to be in a gym environment) to keep her active and take care of the problematic hip without aggravating it. Or another example would be a teenage guy wanting to take on training. As popular as working out in the gyms (except when they aren't shut due to global pandemics) is, I wouldn't necessary recommend a novice thirteen years old fella to start with heavy weight lifting. Picking a sport like football, tennis, or cricket would provide plenty of opportunities to regular physical activity and to learn new skills. Later, at about the age of sixteen, seventeen weight lifting could be introduced either as a complimentary principle or maybe as the main form of exercising.
Age isn't more than an excuse, an easy solution to justify why we can't or wouldn't embark on physically activity. Age in my experience isn't an issue. However choosing the wrong form of activity, frequency and intensity is. Unless you want to become a professional athlete, exercising should be fun and must have some health benefits. Start and commit to an active life style to increase your longevity so you can enjoy your senior years. It doesn't matter if you begin at the age of twenty, forty or sixty. One, five or ten years down the line (when you're going for a hiking trip or you're playing with your grandchild in the garden while being able to actually keep up), you'll thank to yourself that you've put up with a little bit of discomfort a few times a week.
I was lucky enough to work with a number of clients age seventy and over. I say lucky because despite all the challenges presented to me by training individuals with multiple injuries and health conditions, I felt inspired! If these clients are saying yes to all the tasks (scaled to their needs of course) I ask them to try or do, then the bare minimum is that we can try too.
Perhaps now you can see why age shouldn't be an excuse. Think about your future!
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