Training for people in their 40's.

[Michael Nunan]

Sure thing And, I'm in the UK, in South London. I'm feeling far from the scrap heap right now too - in the best condition of my life already from the CF and looking forward to even better progress through the GB program, the quality and intelligence of the programming is incredible, I love it.

[Michaël Van den Berg]

I live in the Netherlands. Funny that you should mention starting a new career (figuratively speaking or not) - I am planning to do exactly that. I'm a biologist but have been working as a desk warrior for several years now, and I am currently studying (part time) to become an osteopath. I will be 46 when I finish my studies but I look forward to starting my own practice. My decision to get involved in bodywork was certainly influenced by my encounter with Gymnastic Strength Training™.

[Andrew Bell]

Hi

I am currently doing an online coaching course - just completed the first "life coachiing" module and

plan to try and leave my desk behind. 

 

All the best with your studies !!

[Scott Dunsford]

Thanks for your help and advice!

Sounds like I need to buy H1 and the stretching series now too....   :-)

It also sounds like many of us have the same mind-set about our careers. I am a desk jockey as well and have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to find/create a job more enjoyable and active. The trouble is with a wife and three young kids it is tough to change careers and still make a good living.

I currently live in New Hampshire (USA), but just moved up from Cincinnati where we lived for the past 15 years. However, I am originally from Vancouver, Canada.

I am planning on staying pretty active on the forum to hear how everyone else is doing and also share my experience and progress.

I'll keep you updated and maybe include some pictures of my rings once I get them hung! It will be a few weeks though, because we are taking off for a two week vacation tomorrow. I plan on doing my workouts poolside for the next two weeks!   :-)

 

Scott

 

[Michael Nunan]

Re H1+stretch, yeah do it, money very well spent and cheap compared with (say) 6 months membership at my Crossfit box. Hear ya about career changes. Pays to remain flexible in approach but there are some realities that can't be avoided sometimes - a bit like building mobility you have to chip away at things, trying to be radical and achieve everything "now now now" can end badly!

[Andrew Bell]

I brought my rings with me on vacation (sad I know!) 

We are in a log cabin for a long weekend so plenty of beams to hang them from.

[Mikkel Ravn]

I brought my rings with me on vacation (sad I know!)

We are in a log cabin for a long weekend so plenty of beams to hang them from.

Not sad at all - welcome to the club! :-)

[Mike Antonio]

I started when I was around 47 I'm now turning 52. This site was a real life changer for me.

Can you tell me what sort if progressions you have made n that time?

[Lucy Wilkins]

Hi All, Im 49 and have just started F1 +H1. This thread is so inspiring- I bought into this for mobility issues. Like others here I started with CF a couple years ago and am totally altered ( physically and mentally) by it, but need to address my appalling mobility/flexibility.  I loving it so far and am keen to see what progress I can make,  I think I will buy the stretch series once Im a little more familiar with these exercises, it sounds from this thread as though stretch adds an extra dimension.

 

Great thread, thanks for posting

lucy ( also in UK)

[Richard Stone]

I have my rings hanging in my workshop and the funny thing is when friends/family or anyone comes round no one will go near them (apart from kids). Same with the pullups bars outside.

 

I am 50 in two months time and two years into Foundation. Slow progress but as Coach said in the last Robb Wolf podcast as you get further in you become more aware of your body and in my case all that need fixing. A bit like renovating an old house, you remove one layer to find a bigger problem. But having fun in the process.

[Mark Collins]

I have my rings hanging in my workshop and the funny thing is when friends/family or anyone comes round no one will go near them (apart from kids). Same with the pullups bars outside.

 

I am 50 in two months time and two years into Foundation. Slow progress but as Coach said in the last Robb Wolf podcast as you get further in you become more aware of your body and in my case all that need fixing. A bit like renovating an old house, you remove one layer to find a bigger problem. But having fun in the process.

I have spent three years trying to restore what mobility I had when I was younger. My body is dramatically different now, but as time goes on I my standards are higher so I work harder. It's a positive loop.

[Colm Mccoy]

I'm 53 and have just started F1/H1. For me it's a case of do it now before it's too late (assuming it isn't already). I've always been impressed by gymnasts, but have never had an opportunity to have a go. I made enquiries at the local gymnastic club a couple of years ago about adult classes, but it seems their slogan "gymnastics for all" only applies to under 16s. I found a local freestyle session but that was full of teenage parcour enthusiasts doing crazy tumbling stuff. They were quite helpful if I asked, but we were coming from completely different places. So I would play quietly in the corner by myself and after 18 months of trying managed a strict ring muscle up, but that was it. Handstands, levers, flips etc all still elude me. Finding this place was a godsend and I look forward to the journey

[Mats Trane]

I'm 53 and have just started F1/H1. For me it's a case of do it now before it's too late (assuming it isn't already). I've always been impressed by gymnasts, but have never had an opportunity to have a go. I made enquiries at the local gymnastic club a couple of years ago about adult classes, but it seems their slogan "gymnastics for all" only applies to under 16s. I found a local freestyle session but that was full of teenage parcour enthusiasts doing crazy tumbling stuff. They were quite helpful if I asked, but we were coming from completely different places. So I would play quietly in the corner by myself and after 18 months of trying managed a strict ring muscle up, but that was it. Handstands, levers, flips etc all still elude me. Finding this place was a godsend and I look forward to the journey

Welcome to this great community Colm! I´m 52 and have been in this community for 5-6 years and love it. 

[Hans Fredrik Krogh]

I'm going to hang out in this tread just because it makes me feel young at 37 My doctor says that I've enough injuries to get disability status, but who wants that when one can train and have fun instead.

At our age is all about slow steady progress, and it's measured by looking back in the training log and moving the piece of tape on the floor another cm.

Here is proof that age is not a valid excuse:

[Curt Ferson]

Oh no! I can't perform the SPL- SE1-im properly, but Grandma just held the position with straight legs on parallel bars (with ease). What the....?

 

That's just not right at all.

[Craig Copeland]

I should have been reading this thread much earlier.  Good stuff here.

 

I bought F1 in January 2014, dabbled & tested a bit before training in earnest starting April 2014.  I was 43 then.  Background:  basketball and track & field through college, then marathoning for a decade, then fat & out of shape for a while.  Started crossfitting in my garage gym at 39, which was great, until it wasn't:  lost fat, gained muscle, developed tremendous work capacity, and KEPT GETTING INJURED.  Not crossfit's fault:  my bad for not addressing serious, dysfunctional inflexibility.  About the only good mobility I had was in my ankles.

 

I'm guessing most of us over-40 types found the greatest benefits from the mobility exercises in these GB workouts.  That is me, for sure. But even the Foundations stuff wasn't enough to address my appalling immobility, so I got all three mobility series in January of 2015, and then Handstand 1 in spring 2015.  Sure, I'd like a manna, or a 2:00 freestanding handstand, or a legless rope climb, some day.  But I'd really like to be able to avoid wheelchairs, hip and/or knee replacements, and "assisted living" facilities when I'm 90+.  My current plan is to live forever, but, barring that, I'll settle for living in a two-story house until I'm 100 because I can still walk up a flight of stairs.  

 

Where am I now, 17 months into the program? Mostly able to touch my toes after 30 years of not being able to;  a whole hell of a lot stronger than I was before (although, compared to actual strong people, I'm quite weak);  and most importantly, not injured.

 

Almost everything in my life is negotiable/flexible/up for discussion, but there are four exceptions: my job as a husband, my job as a father, my work as a teacher, and doing my foundations work (F7 twice a week, H1, stretch series)

 

-Craig (aka WrldsGr8testDad)

 

P.S. The second-best part of the GB program are the course contents.  The best part of the program is the advice, coaching, encouragement, guidance, and occasional, figurative kick-in-the-*ss one receives from people in the forum.

[Wesley Tan]

Hi everyone, 

 

What a great thread! So inspiring reading and hearing stories of people coming round to the truth that we can all be in charge of our own physical health and do something about it other than sit back and hope for the best.

 

Coach Sommer has done something truly wonderful in setting up gymnastic bodies and sharing all this knowledge with us all, I am soon to be 38 and also feel the best I ever have after some 3 years since discovering GB but 2 years consistent practice.

 

MvdB, I qualified as an Osteopath in 2007 with a previous degree in Biology. I hope your training is going well and I would be very interested to hear how Osteopathy is generally perceived in the Netherlands. I am based in Stroud, UK, were I run my own practice from home with my partner Claire. Perhaps we'll meet one day?

 

Wesley

[Michaël Van den Berg]

Hi Wes, that is awesome. I only just started so I still have a long way to go but I can already tell that this is exactly what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. Osteopathy is not new in the Netherlands but it's certainly not 'common' - there are currently about 600 qualified practitioners (in a population of 17 million)! Unfortunately it is still seen as 'alternative' instead of 'complementary' and treatments are not typically covered by health insurance policies. The general perception of the practice is slowly changing, though.

Who knows, we may meet indeed, either at a GB seminar or at an osteopathy convention

Cheers,

Michaël

[Wesley Tan]

Michaeël, 600 practitioners in a population of 17 million is great, you'll be turning people away :-D I'll send you a PM. Wes

[Daryl White]

I'm a 53 year old that has been a fan of Coach Sommer since his early involvement with Crossfit. I started F!/H1 in July and am enjoying the program and the progress immensely. I got into crossfit early before it blew up and loved it initially. My BS meter started going off and I ditched "as Rx'ed" CF for basic power/oly strength training and no non-sense conditioning. Straight up I was bored with training until I bought F1/H1. Training is fun again. I'm making progress in both strength and mobility. If I can quit getting injured doing other stuff I love to do (bowl/pool skateboarding and DH MTB-ing) I could be making even more progress. Regardless, I am so thankful to have found GST/GB and be a part of this community. Every day is an opportunity to grow and improve.

Butch White

Birmingham, AL

[Eva Pelegrin]

Hi All, Im 49 and have just started F1 +H1. 

 

Hi Lucy, 

It's good to know there are a few young garl's in this group! 

[Tracey Weaver]

Hey All,

 

I am 45 and been working F1 & H1 for 3 weeks.  I have been doing all 3 stretch series too.  Whoa! haha

 

I am a true beginner here coming from a Crossfit background.  This program is humbling to say the least! 

 

Hope to see you guys on the program forums.

[Mikkel Ravn]

Turned 40 back in November, so please accept me in Club 40+! ;-)

[ASForum]

On 10/14/2015 at 7:12 AM, Daryl White said:

I'm a 53 year old that has been a fan of Coach Sommer since his early involvement with Crossfit. I started F!/H1 in July and am enjoying the program and the progress immensely. I got into crossfit early before it blew up and loved it initially. My BS meter started going off and I ditched "as Rx'ed" CF for basic power/oly strength training and no non-sense conditioning. Straight up I was bored with training until I bought F1/H1. Training is fun again. I'm making progress in both strength and mobility. If I can quit getting injured doing other stuff I love to do (bowl/pool skateboarding and DH MTB-ing) I could be making even more progress. Regardless, I am so thankful to have found GST/GB and be a part of this community. Every day is an opportunity to grow and improve.

Butch White

Birmingham, AL

Do elaborate on the marked area. 

[Daryl White]

On 3/6/2016 at 1:21 AM, AS said:

Do elaborate on the marked area. 

Hey AS if you like doing as Rx'd CF have at it.  I wasn't looking to start a CF fight.  I started CF right after I turned 40, back in the early days of CF.  (This was where I first got exposure to Coach Sommer.)  I mean way back... when there were only two or three affiliates max.  You can even find my name and date (January 2006 I think) of my first muscle-up on the "trophies" page on the old CF original site.  I have been there in a while so I don't know if that part of their site is even operational any more. 

I say all that to say this: CF was a new and novel way at the time for me to exercise just about anywhere, stay in shape and be able to do the stuff I physically enjoyed doing.  CF has since turned exercise into it's own sport and "exercise as sport" is not why I exercise.  I don't want to exercise just for the sake of doing some randomly challenging movements.  I simply want to be able to get outside and do what I want to do (physically and athletically) whenever I want to do it.  I don't have to first.  I don't have to be the best.  At 53 I just enjoy pushing myself and getting after it (hard) doing whatever I'm doing.  Plus, I want to feel good enough the next day to do something physically fun and challenging again.   After several years, totally randomized CF began to negatively impact the stuff I do for fun so I backed off the Rx'd CF.  It's as simple as that.

Random programming keeps hard training interesting for a while but it can and does lead to injuries and other problems.  I'll give you an example.  A good friend of mine (in his mid 30's) can do bar muscle-ups quite proficiently.  His CF gym threw up a workout with "bar muscle-ups" for time back in December. The result? He tore a pec muscle and he's out of commission for I don't know how long.  He hasn't been able to do the stuff he loves to do because of poorly programmed exercising.  You can count me out of that kind of training.