Posted by Whether you are walking into a gym for the first time or returning after a long period of inactivity, there’s no doubt that training after 30 becomes harder. On one hand, there are the physical demands; after 30 is when most people’s bodies start to show signs of ageing, whether that’s waking up with random aches and pains or just generally taking longer to recover from a workout. On the other hand, you may start to find yourself struggling to make time for training as more responsibilities enter your life.
In this article, we’ll discuss training after 30, including how you can alter your routine, goals, and life outside the gym so you can continue to see improvements from your training.
Establish a Realistic Routine
For many people, life gets a little busier after 30, and physical health can easily become the area of your life that gets sacrificed. You may find yourself balancing health and fitness with raising young children, long working days, and other major transitions.
If you find yourself spinning too many plates, it’s important to establish a more realistic routine. The first step may come in accepting that you can’t be in the gym every single day like you were when you were 18.
If your life schedule will only allow you to train twice a week, that’s fine. However many days you can realistically commit to working out, the important thing is to aim for consistency. At the same time, be ok with life getting in the way of this consistency from time to time. Don’t beat yourself up if you have to cancel a workout due to an unexpected event, and feel free to alter your workout schedule on the fly to continue to hit your targets.
For instance, swapping a gym session for a home workout from time to time is perfectly ok. Or maybe it works better for you to work out late at night when your childcare duties are done. This is why it’s important to find a gym that works for your lifestyle, not just your fitness goals.
Rethink Your Goals
As you’re probably beginning to realise, your body feels different after 30 than it did ten years ago. Again, the first step here is acceptance. If you don’t accept that your body has changed, you’ll probably end up pushing it too far and picking up injuries.
Injuries are a big part of training as you get older. In our 20s, our bodies are much more capable of being pushed, with less time needed to recover between strenuous sessions. Avoiding injury needs to be factored into your workout goals; it may be unrealistic to set yourself the aim of getting in a high-intensity workout every single day without picking up an injury.
Instead of focusing on building muscle or losing body fat, which will both be harder to achieve in your 30s, focus on being healthy, staying active and building good habits. A good way to stick to this is by swapping traditional bodyweight targets for simple attendance targets. For example, set yourself the aim of attending 3 gym classes a week or running a 5k every weekend.
Again, there may be times when life gets in the way of these targets, but just striving for consistency rather than aesthetic goals will benefit you in the long run.
Build Confidence
Starting or returning to the gym after 30 can be daunting to some people, and it’s completely natural to experience drops in confidence when it comes to training after 30. You may start to feel like a beginner again as you start to find training more difficult. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to build up your gym confidence.
First of all, consider working with a personal trainer, especially if you are joining a gym for the first time. This will allow your workouts to be tailored to your body’s capabilities, which can help prevent injury. It will also allow you to correct any issues with your form, which may give you the confidence to attend gym classes or return to training without a personal trainer.
You may also gain confidence from simply putting more time into the way you look when working out. Although this may sound silly, as the old saying goes: look good, feel good, and it’s no different from the confidence boost you receive when you put your best clothes on for a night out.
Consider ditching your old, unflattering workout apparel for more premium, sweat-wicking activewear like you’ll find at A-Game. You’ll find that regularly updating your gym wardrobe doesn’t just leave you feeling more confident but also increases motivation.
Prioritise Nutrition
Nutrition is an important part of staying in shape, but after 30, it becomes even more important. As already mentioned, your body will experience various changes after 30, and some of these changes will relate to your metabolism, muscle mass, and general energy levels.
Nutrition becomes an important part of both fueling workouts and recovering from sessions, not to mention the fact that it will help you maintain a healthy body weight. Attempt to incorporate the following rules into your diet to stay healthy and energised in your 30s:
- Choose whole foods over processed food items
- Try to get your carbohydrates from nutritional sources such as brown rice, oats, fruits and vegetables
- Consume foods that are high in protein and low in fat after workouts, such as salmon, eggs and Greek yoghurt
Final Thoughts
If you are in two minds about whether to start or return to fitness after 30, you should definitely consider the positive implications it will have on your long-term health. At the same time, accept that your fitness journey will look different from what it did in your 20s, and it may be more challenging, but it’s still equally as important, if not more. The key lies in being realistic, in terms of your goals and expectations. The tips above should help to support your gym journey after 30.