Athletic performance in your 40s?

Likely been said before I can't recommend yoga asana, in particular yin enough. It taught me many of my pains did not originate where I felt them and that I needed to fix imbalances far away from the areas I felt it, often the polar opposite side of my body. Foggy_Goggles is spot on regarding this and how we have to focus on the entire body. Everything is connected. Also, loosening with oxygen vs creating pain thru pressure is much more enjoyable and effective.

Just be very careful with yoga because some teachers are encouraging dangerous techniques or putting too much pressure on students to do certain moves. It's very easy to injure oneself blindly follow a bad teacher. You really shouldn't be feeling much pain with proper asana

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Originally Posted by Foggy_Goggles

ZZZ, I think that generally (no medical diagnosis) that is a pretty common problem. For me, I went from thinking that maybe I was going to have to quit ski touring a perhaps get surgery to having my hips feel pretty good. But it good a daily commitment to being healthy.

I don't think the best approach is to think about a particular stretch or exercise unless it is prescribed by a good PT. A lot of times the pain manifests somewhere because of an imbalance of weakness somewhere else. That said, try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho9em79_0qg&t=819s

I think is is pretty easy to have muscle imbalances that manifest as pain even if you are fit and active. So a routine of stretching and strengthening your whole body in addition to just exercise seems like a requirement as we get older.

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Good advice. I’m going to try out that yoga program.

Turned 40 this year. Been doing 90 minute "Classic" hot yoga 2 times a week since October. Shit is amazing. It's like taking drugs. Have definitely noticed increased flexibility and increased cardio performance. Otherwise not so sure it's actually "good" for me, but it feels amazing.

I do need to go back and re-read through this thread. I posted in the cycling training thread and I definitely am overall more "tired" the last year or so. Biggest thing I think is not lifting weights like I was before. The MTB team I was lifting with....well I haven't heard from them. Guess I need to just get my own lifting thing going. I have a few MTB races this year I need to prep for.

Those of you with family and a career, when are you finding the time to workout, and about how long are your workouts (door to door, and also actual time spent warming up and then training)?

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Those of you with family and a career, when are you finding the time to workout, and about how long are your workouts (door to door, and also actual time spent warming up and then training)?

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I have a home gym which makes life significantly easier. I also work from home a few days a week, so on those days I’ll do it on my lunch break. Typically 10 minutes of warmup followed by an hour workout, finished off with 5 minutes of box breathing. My issue now is ski season. I’m typically skiing all day Saturday and Sunday, and 2 half days during the week. I’ll still try to get 2-3 workouts in each week. Pre season I was able to get 4-5 pretty reliably.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Those of you with family and a career, when are you finding the time to workout, and about how long are your workouts (door to door, and also actual time spent warming up and then training)?

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I used to go in early, like 6:30 am and leave at 3:30, then stop at the gym on the way home for 90 minutes, home by 5:15.

I’m on the morning track, was hitting my weights in the garage at 630 this morning. Lifting workout is 30-40 minutes 1x per week. Ike commute a couple days at 45m each way. A 40 minute yoga morning. I try to get an evening MTB ride or ski 1x week when work lets me plus 1-2 bike/ski days per weekend (some with the kid).

Biggest challenge is balancing longer fun day with enough recovery for decent workouts.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Those of you with family and a career, when are you finding the time to workout, and about how long are your workouts (door to door, and also actual time spent warming up and then training)?

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Those of you with family and a career, when are you finding the time to workout, and about how long are your workouts (door to door, and also actual time spent warming up and then training)?

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20ish minutes every morning doing flexibility/general work - slotted between wake up and shower.
~2 days a week I hit the climbing gym after dinner. If it's nice, I'll trade one of those for a long climbing day on the weekend. 1.5-2 hours including travel.
~2 days a week I'll hit the trainer at home after the kids are in bed at 8PM or so - generally 45 mins-1 hr. Trade this out for rides outside when it's nice in the early afternoon. Ideally at least my son rides with me on this.
1-2 times a week I go skiing for 1 hour (if night skiing) and 3-4 if on the weekend days (due to my son's capacity, not mine).

I should spend more time on warmup/flexibility and I should have more structure, but this is getting me by with a healthy dose of portion/eating control (not much beer/drinking these days). I'm fairly middling at everything, but I enjoy it. 5'10" and 168 at last weigh-in with generally good numbers on everything I think (doc visit this week, so will be back to confirm).

Oh, and I'm in the office twice a week, 45 mins total commuting for both ways.

I was doing CrossFit 4/5/6 days a week for 10 years, quit in June last year haven’t been back.

Just laying around being a lazy fuck. I got really burned out.

But I return March 1! New mindset. Going to try and just go a few times a week, enjoy it, no worrying, little more flexibility. Back to healthy eating. Whatever it takes to avoid burnout and anxiety

One three hour trainer ride a week, which pretty much happens on a weekend day. I'm trying to do two interval workouts on the trainer, those are either before work or at 5:00 p.m. (WFH life). I go to the gym for lifting, again, those are either before work or at 5:00 p.m. With travel time, the gym workouts are about 90 minutes, the interval workouts take about an hour.

It takes lots of planning and judicious use of a slow cooker so you don't finish up a workout starving to death and have nothing to eat but peanut butter sandwiches.

Also, dedicating one weekend day to a long trainer ride followed by a bunch of stretching and eating everything in sight, and going snowboarding the other weekend day can create a certain amount of tension in the household.

Ugh. Im struggling to fit workouts in. Im at the desk by 6-630 each morning, and leave at 330 to pick up my 2yr old from daycare. Then its daddy time until he goes down at 7:45. So i'm kinda left with the option of 430am workouts in a coldass garage gym, or 8pm workouts in the garage knowing that i need to be in bed within 30mins of finishing the workout. After about 15 years of being pretty religous with workout consistency/quality, i have really had a hard time maintaining any semblance of either over the last year and ive picked up nagging small injuries from the gym multiple times because ill rush through a warmup trying to fit a preplanned workout into a 40min block of time ill find free... and these days i really cannot afford to be lacking on warmup/mobility stuff so my workouts arent getting any shorter. Without resetting priorities (which i think i have fairly dialed now), it seems like the only way to get back to consistency would be to WFH a few days and train on my lunch break.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Ugh. Im struggling to fit workouts in. Im at the desk by 6-630 each morning, and leave at 330 to pick up my 2yr old from daycare. Then its daddy time until he goes down at 7:45. So i'm kinda left with the option of 430am workouts in a coldass garage gym, or 8pm workouts in the garage knowing that i need to be in bed within 30mins of finishing the workout. After about 15 years of being pretty religous with workout consistency/quality, i have really had a hard time maintaining any semblance of either over the last year and ive picked up nagging small injuries from the gym multiple times because ill rush through a warmup trying to fit a preplanned workout into a 40min block of time ill find free... and these days i really cannot afford to be lacking on warmup/mobility stuff so my workouts arent getting any shorter. Without resetting priorities (which i think i have fairly dialed now), it seems like the only way to get back to consistency would be to WFH a few days and train on my lunch break.

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I will say that during the "kids in daycare" period, I definitely struggled to workout on any consistent basis. That said - it's only a few years until they're more independent and you can work in other things. Another option is to have a fun thing for them to do in the garage (with safe space/stuff) and it becomes part of the collective routine.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Ugh. Im struggling to fit workouts in. Im at the desk by 6-630 each morning, and leave at 330 to pick up my 2yr old from daycare. Then its daddy time until he goes down at 7:45. So i'm kinda left with the option of 430am workouts in a coldass garage gym, or 8pm workouts in the garage knowing that i need to be in bed within 30mins of finishing the workout. After about 15 years of being pretty religous with workout consistency/quality, i have really had a hard time maintaining any semblance of either over the last year and ive picked up nagging small injuries from the gym multiple times because ill rush through a warmup trying to fit a preplanned workout into a 40min block of time ill find free... and these days i really cannot afford to be lacking on warmup/mobility stuff so my workouts arent getting any shorter. Without resetting priorities (which i think i have fairly dialed now), it seems like the only way to get back to consistency would be to WFH a few days and train on my lunch break.

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Yep!

20 min warmup and 20 min workout 3-4x a week will fucking do it. Get into that routine.

Echo slow cooker. And echo late night workouts not working out if you are at work 630a. Maybe try and mix it into daddy time?

I was far more consistent when I was in the office than when I WFH. At the office, I worked out at lunch every day. If weather sucked, I'd do bodyweight exercises in the parking garage and when it was nice, I'd go running outside. Since I was away from the family, they didn't see it and it 0 impact on them. At home, my wife notices and cares more when I take off for stuff.

Yeah, it's tough with a family. My kids just left for college, but we dealt with it when they were younger by just making it family culture. Both my kids were in organized and unorganized sports. Daughter was a very serious soccer player and I'd train with her for example. Was fun.

Essentially everything was either very targeted and efficient or fun I played soccer or basketball at least twice per week, often at lunch or at night, and ran my ass off. (I do 5-6 miles in a full outdoor soccer game, all intervals.) Bike rides for fun, often with my wife. We used to belong to a gym that had 90 minute daycare as long as you didn't leave in a car, and we could get a local mtn bike ride in during that, or road. I have a brother who's a pro coach and he's given me a bunch of very efficient high intensity running workouts to do. Less than an hour from deciding to do one to back with the kids, including prep time. We now have a home gym, and in 20-30 min you can get a ton done. We've always had some sort of spin bike at home. Going to a gym and spinning everyday at lunch is how I trained for a solo 24 hour race in Gunni. Almost no other prep for the 2 months before and I was in great shape - worked great. I used to have to drop the kids off at soccer games an hour before kickoff, and I'd go run intervals before the game started while I waited. My wife is a serious athlete which really helps, as it's a priority for both of us, and the kids too, so they just expected it as they got older. And when both kids are at sports practice, that a great time to go do stuff. Bodyweight exercises at home.

So it's either fun, and an activity (often with the family) or it's fast. It's just a lifestyle priority.

Now that the kids are not pulling at my time it's almost harder. So easy to come home and just crash. I try to work out in the home gym before I leave for work, and then spend as much time playing as possible.

Maybe some of that helps with ideas.

That’s a pretty brutal schedule. When my son was 2 and I had to do both ends of daycare duty I bought a cargo bike for the commute to at least get in that time on a bike instead of in traffic but that was the only reliable workout for me.
If you can do something with the kiddo that might be your best option maybe rucking with them as weight?

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Ugh. Im struggling to fit workouts in. Im at the desk by 6-630 each morning, and leave at 330 to pick up my 2yr old from daycare. Then its daddy time until he goes down at 7:45. So i'm kinda left with the option of 430am workouts in a coldass garage gym, or 8pm workouts in the garage knowing that i need to be in bed within 30mins of finishing the workout. After about 15 years of being pretty religous with workout consistency/quality, i have really had a hard time maintaining any semblance of either over the last year and ive picked up nagging small injuries from the gym multiple times because ill rush through a warmup trying to fit a preplanned workout into a 40min block of time ill find free... and these days i really cannot afford to be lacking on warmup/mobility stuff so my workouts arent getting any shorter. Without resetting priorities (which i think i have fairly dialed now), it seems like the only way to get back to consistency would be to WFH a few days and train on my lunch break.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Those of you with family and a career, when are you finding the time to workout, and about how long are your workouts (door to door, and also actual time spent warming up and then training)?

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2x a week 2h of bouldering and half an hour of strechting. If it's climbing and not ski season add one session outdoors on the weekend without proper stretching.
Not easy because the wife needs two sessions a week as well [emoji6]


May to surf trip in August I try to squeeze in a paddle session on the lake and two ( and skip one climbing session at least) the two weeks before. Just half an hour sadly. Jogging to keep up endurance also fell of the family Wagon [emoji6]

This is easy because it's also family time at the lake.

If im doing beast maker/ kilter Board sessions my climbing Workout shrinks to one / 1/12 hours because max load is not to be trifeld with. I live 5min from the gym so basically I don't Lose much.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Ugh. Im struggling to fit workouts in. Im at the desk by 6-630 each morning, and leave at 330 to pick up my 2yr old from daycare. Then its daddy time until he goes down at 7:45. So i'm kinda left with the option of 430am workouts in a coldass garage gym, or 8pm workouts in the garage knowing that i need to be in bed within 30mins of finishing the workout. After about 15 years of being pretty religous with workout consistency/quality, i have really had a hard time maintaining any semblance of either over the last year and ive picked up nagging small injuries from the gym multiple times because ill rush through a warmup trying to fit a preplanned workout into a 40min block of time ill find free... and these days i really cannot afford to be lacking on warmup/mobility stuff so my workouts arent getting any shorter. Without resetting priorities (which i think i have fairly dialed now), it seems like the only way to get back to consistency would be to WFH a few days and train on my lunch break.

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Look up Jim Wendler walrus training.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

Ugh. Im struggling to fit workouts in. Im at the desk by 6-630 each morning, and leave at 330 to pick up my 2yr old from daycare. Then its daddy time until he goes down at 7:45. So i'm kinda left with the option of 430am workouts in a coldass garage gym, or 8pm workouts in the garage knowing that i need to be in bed within 30mins of finishing the workout. After about 15 years of being pretty religous with workout consistency/quality, i have really had a hard time maintaining any semblance of either over the last year and ive picked up nagging small injuries from the gym multiple times because ill rush through a warmup trying to fit a preplanned workout into a 40min block of time ill find free... and these days i really cannot afford to be lacking on warmup/mobility stuff so my workouts arent getting any shorter. Without resetting priorities (which i think i have fairly dialed now), it seems like the only way to get back to consistency would be to WFH a few days and train on my lunch break.

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During this period in my life my wife and I alternated days watching the kid during your “daddy time” period and gave each-other an hour in our home gym. I actually encouraged her to work out more than I did, mom feeling healthy and looking good is good for everyone.


I run on 5hrs of sleep so in your scenario I’d just workout after the kid was asleep and use headphones instead of blasting Pantera.

Used to do it in the mornings before kids woke up but gave that slot to the wife so she could run.
Now it’s lunch break home treadmill or 9:30pm group rides on Zwift during the winter (later to bed, later to rise)

The only thing that I struggled with was accepting that they weren’t always going to be the workout I wanted, but I should do them anyway. Specifically, I used to talk myself out of working out entirely if I didn’t have a full hour to dedicate to the exercise component.

Finally realized 1) a 30 minute run is much better than nothing and, maybe more importantly, 2) i don’t have to try to kill myself in that 30 minutes to make it worthwhile.

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Originally Posted by JimmyCarter

Finally realized 1) a 30 minute run is much better than nothing and, maybe more importantly, 2) i don’t have to try to kill myself in that 30 minutes to make it worthwhile.

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This is such a key realization. Literally anything is so much better than nothing.

California's situation calls for getting on the micro workout program.

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Originally Posted by Dantheman

California's situation calls for getting on the micro workout program.

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Micro…dose??

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Originally Posted by Dantheman

This is such a key realization. Literally anything is so much better than nothing.

California's situation calls for getting on the micro workout program.

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When i was on paternity leave id do 2-3 20-30 min workouts per day during juniors naps. It was awesome and i was in REALLY good shape because of it. Its a tough mindset to go from training for strength and aesthetics to i guess just doing what i can, when i can for the next couple years. Ugh. Headed home at lunch today after a site meeting to get in a quick 30-40mins squat/row/pushup circuit. Im down almost 15lbs in the last year or so just from being unable to train and eat like i did previously and it sucks feeling weak... but i guess thats just how its gonna be till the kiddo gets a little more independent. He still thinks im strong AF though, so at least theres that.

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Originally Posted by californiagrown

When i was on paternity leave id do 2-3 20-30 min workouts per day during juniors naps. It was awesome and i was in REALLY good shape because of it. Its a tough mindset to go from training for strength and aesthetics to i guess just doing what i can, when i can for the next couple years. Ugh. Headed home at lunch today after a site meeting to get in a quick 30-40mins squat/row/pushup circuit. Im down almost 15lbs in the last year or so just from being unable to train and eat like i did previously and it sucks feeling weak... but i guess thats just how its gonna be till the kiddo gets a little more independent. He still thinks im strong AF though, so at least theres that.

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yea i think there'll def be limitations the next couple years but know there's an end in sight and if you can stay "par" till then, you'll be better off when you start getting after it again.
i tried to incorporate my kid(s) into my exercising when possible. put them in kid carriers for hikes, mini-tours and cutting the grass. jogging stroller for runs. got a trailer for the road bike. when i could let them run around at the playground i'd do pull-ups etc on whatever bars they had there. had them do some yoga w me etc...