5 Things To Improve Your Workout Performance in Midlife

Do you think you’re too old to think of improving your workout performance in midlife? Think again! Check these 5 tips from Cathy.

Are you in a slump in your workout routine? Do you find yourself feeling unmotivated, bored and aching in places that you never ached before?

I’m 57 years old.

I’ve been an active Crossfitter for 5 ½ years and that’s where I found myself recently.

It was hard to make myself go to Crossfit.

The workouts seemed harder. I didn’t have the stamina I used to have and I wasn’t making any progress. And to make it worse, I had all these aches and pains that appeared out of nowhere. Not injuries, but certainly not the “good” kind of sore you feel after a challenging workout.

So, I went to my Coach for some motivation.

Maybe he’d give me a pep talk. Tell me I was really awesome and not to worry. Give me some new lift to work on or goal to reach.

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Here’s what I got:

1. Diet

How’s your DIET?

OH NO HE DIDN’T!

Asking me about THAT?

I did not want to discuss NUTRITION.

The truth was, I had been travelling a lot and as when one travels, eating a lot of stuff that I normally wouldn’t eat.

So, let’s just say, my nutrition wasn’t optimal.

2. Consistency

How often are you working out?

I used to workout 3-4 days a week.

With the traveling and my schedule, I was lucky to get in 2 workouts a week.

3. Stretching

I did the pre-WOD warm-ups with everyone, but that is not enough for me or probably anyone else in midlife.

I perform the best and have fewer aches and pains if I put in a minimum of 15 extra minutes of active stretching and warm up prior to the WOD.

And I should add 10 minutes of stretching pod-WOD, which I was not doing.

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4. Massage

Well, I had a MEMBERSHIP at a massage place, but hadn’t had one of the massage sessions that I had PAID for in 6 months because I didn’t “have time”.

Do you consider massage a luxury?

Actually, a good massage plays an important role in recovery.

It massages and lengthens the fascia (connective tissue) and muscles. It increases blood flow and circulation, getting more oxygen to all parts of your body. And it helps reduce inflammation in the tendons, muscles, and joints.

Remember those aches and pains? Regular massages will help!

5. Foam rolling

Foam rolling to relieve muscle knots and loosen fascia.

I saw an Airrosti doctor a while back because of hip pain that was affecting my ability to squat.

Part of the therapy included foam rolling, which HURT, but did really loosen everything up and in the end relieved the discomfort.

I needed to foam roll every day.

Lesson learned

Although I didn’t ENJOY this particular conversation with my Coach, I appreciated it.

By not taking the time to focus on these 5 areas, I was undermining the effectiveness of my workouts which resulted in me enjoying them less and decreasing my motivation.

However, the things he was asking me to do would take TIME:

Time to plan meals and cook.
Getting to the Box early and staying after the WOD to stretch.
Putting WOD’s in my schedule each week and keeping those “appointments” with myself no matter what.
Foam rolling every day and keeping my massage appointments (and seriously – who wouldn’t want to get a massage once a month).

So I had to decide:

Was it worth the TIME to do the things required to keep myself in good physical condition?
If I was spending the time and the money to go to Crossfit, why wouldn’t I put in the time to get the most benefit from it?

What is your exercise routine?

Are you a runner?
A Triathlete?
Do you ride your bike, walk with your friends are do Zumba?

Whatever you do, take the time and do these 5 things.

Your workout performance will be better, you’ll prevent injury and you’ll recover faster.

You are worth the TIME!