Hi friends,
I subscribe to several inspiring newsletters, and Seth Godin’s is a favorite. He’s a marketing genius, author of 18 books, a member of the Marketing Hall of Fame, an entrepreneur, dotcom business executive, prolific writer, and one of the world’s most sought-after speakers.
A lot of his messaging is about living life.
He wrote in his blog last week that many of us spend time each day reading news (if we can call it that anymore) or worse, doom-scrolling, stuck on what’s happening right now. Or we drift into the uncertain future, checking weather reports, planning, and mentally rearranging what might be next – even worrying – usually about stuff that’s out of our control.
He suggests instead of obsessing and worrying over what’s happening now, or trying to predict, or fear an unreliable future, we could use our time and energy to invent the future.
He ended with a simple truth: there are things we can do today to change tomorrow.
This was added after publication of the blog. I hope you’ll take a look at Peter Attia on Peter Attia on 60 Minutes Overtime. How to maximize all the years of your life.
Training now for the future you
There’s a young coach I follow on Instagram, a woman in the UK who often says she’s “training for her old lady body.” She even has a T-shirt with that phrase printed on it. She’s talking about strength training to age well, but she seems to be somewhat fearful. I get it. When I was 40, 70 was unimaginable.
To a young woman, being strong at 70 is worth preparing for. She’s right, the way to dispel fear is to do something about it. But you don’t have to feel anxious about starting to train when you’re young to be strong later in life. You can start investing in your future at any time, at any age.
Why I do it
I started strength training around age 50, and I’m stronger now 22 years later, than I was then. I train a couple of times a week, in addition to working out along with members in 4 virtual classes each week.
I train now so I can keep doing the things I love – especially energetic play with my kids and grandkids (and yes, I love impressing them as the strong grandma), challenging myself with heavy lifts so I can potentially compete again sometime. I like the endorphins of indoor rowing, (especially intervals!), and long distance cycling.
So when I hear “old lady body,” that’s me. But I picture what a young woman might envision: an old woman who struggles to get out of a chair, or that awful ad “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”. (Why was it always a woman on the floor?)
You don’t have to love it
I won’t lie, I don’t always enjoy training, but I do like the results – what strength and mobility enable me to do. I train to live my best life.
Every year more wrinkles and crinkles show up, but underneath there’s a lot of muscle that serves me now, and will serve me as I age, for positive mentality, physical performance, cognitive acuity, and even for better skin.
I love offering other women the empowering feeling of being strong in every way.
Tell me…
Are you doing strength training? Lifting heavy is great, but any kind of strength training counts, including Pilates!
Do you think you need to enjoy strength training for it to be beneficial? I’m thinking of my long-time client who says, “you’re sick!” when I say a certain exercise will be fun, and she’s trained regularly for 10 years!
Start training strength at any time, at any age, live fully today and tomorrow, and for the really, really old lady’s body that will be able to do all of the amazing things that you really love to do.
X
Polli
