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Life After Forty

Life After Forty

Looking Back At Me

Taken a few days before my 48th birthday

I looked in the mirror and what did I see?
A forty-eight year old looking back at me.
How is that possible, how can it be?
Wasn’t it yesterday I was thirty-three?

With fifty just a stone’s throw away
I begin to wonder how to keep it all at bay
Then realize some aren’t blessed to see that day
Another decade? Heck Yeah! I think I’ll be okay.

Cricket Walker

Getting Into Fitness, Life After Forty

Working Out In Your 40s

Treadmill Console

Working out in your 40s is absolutely nothing like it was in your 20s and 30s. This is especially true if you spent 20 years physically active, and then spent the last 6 years sitting on your butt, working behind a computer every day.

The first week or two after I first started working out again, I thought I was gonna die. I was walking (limping around) like an old lady, complaining to anyone who would listen to me, and I was sure there was no way in heck I would ever survive.

More than once I thought about forgetting the whole thing, but I tend to be a bit stubborn, and after those first few weeks, I really started getting into it. It wasn’t long before I found myself totally addicted to how good I felt after working out.

I thought I would take you through the steps of my average workout.

Hip Abduction Outer Thigh

Hip Abduction – Outer Thigh (100 reps)
The hip abduction equipment has the most impact on your workout when the reps are done slowly, but it takes every ounce of motivation that I can muster up to keep from whipping through these as fast as possible because this machine loves to leave my thighs feeling like a quivering mess of jelly.

Hip Adduction Inner Thigh

Hip Adduction – Inner Thigh (100 reps)
This fitness machine is exactly the opposite of the one before this. Instead of pushing your thighs apart, you pull them together. I’m usually pretty warmed up by now, and getting into my workout, so I don’t complain too much at this point. Well, at least not until I reach the fifth set of 20 reps, then you may hear a quiet grumble or two.

Leg Press

Leg Press (100 reps)
Doesn’t this machine look like some sort of medieval torture chamber? It’s a lot like doing squats, but you are laying down. After 5 sets of 20 reps you will be certain that you never want to use this machine again, but when you start to see what it does for your body, you will fall in love with it and start sweet talking it every time you see it.

Ab Roller

Ab Roller (50 reps)
When you look at this piece of equipment, you cannot begin to imagine that something so simple could cause so much pain, but 50 abdominal crunches with the ab roller is enough to have me begging for mercy and swearing never to touch another piece of chocolate.

This piece of equipment has cost me more than a few bucks in the cuss jar, and it is the only part of my workout that I still can’t do more than 10 reps per set, and no more than 5 sets.

Treadmill

Treadmill (45 – 60 minutes)
Believe it or not, the treadmill is my favorite part of my workout. An old knee injury likes to act up on me when I do any sustained running, so unless I am blowing off some steam, I tend to walk (3.5 mph) on the treadmill these days.

This is where I really crank up the tunes on my iPod Shuffle and get totally lost in the music. More than once I have been caught playing air drums on the treadmill console, with a big grin on my face, but ya know what? If you are gonna work out, ya might as well have fun! 🙂

What’s Haley doing when I am working out?

Haley at the gym!

Sometimes she is encouraging me, or even working out herself, but most of the time you will find her stretched out across one of the benches, half awake, snacking and watching television. Lord what I wouldn’t give to have the metabolism of a teenager again!

Cricket Walker

Life After Forty

Still Stands Tall and Proud

We have many trees where we live, but this one is special. Something about it brings me comfort and peace. Standing at the corner of our property, it has welcomed me home every day for many years. And as it welcomed me, I watched it change as the seasons changed. I’ve watched it blossom in the spring, give me shade in the summer, color the sky in the fall, and offer promise in the winter’s cold. Once or twice, as spring returned, I was sure it wouldn’t bloom again, but it did.

This old tree still stands tall and proud ...

It is getting a bit old now. It has a few scars. It has weathered many thunderstorms storms and even a hurricane or two, but it still stands tall and proud. I think maybe it reminds me a little of myself …

Cricket Walker

Life After Forty

Is There Life After Forty?

How can I possibly be in my forties? I remember my father’s fortieth birthday as if it were yesterday. Where on earth has the time gone? My first impulse is to panic that my life may be closer to the end than the beginning, and wonder if there really is life after forty.

Then I realize that I really am in the middle of the best years of my life.

I live in what I believe to be one of the most beautiful areas in the world. I have four gorgeous children that I could not possibly be more proud of, and three of the cutest granddaughters you have ever seen. I spend my days doing those things that I most enjoy in life.

What more could I possibly ask for?

One of the things I most enjoy doing is writing. I made a promise to myself to focus on doing more of that this year. When I thought about the topic of life after forty, I realized that I have a series of articles on this just busting to get out of my head. I would like to write about health and fitness after forty, maybe tackle some of the joys, and even the fears we all face as we approach this time in our lives.

If you were wondering though, let me be the first to assure you.

Yeah, there is life after forty.

Cricket Walker