Working Out In Your 40s

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 (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 (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 (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 (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 (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?

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!