Last Updated on December 2, 2021 by FS Studios Personal Training

The short answer to this is no.

Exercise

25-35 years old:

I definitely don’t workout like I used to. There were times when I figured I was working out around 13-14 hours a week.

This was fairly evenly split between racquet sports such as squash, running on treadmills and playing ice hockey all of which accounted for 6-7 hours of cardio.

For weights, I would do 4-6 hours of weight training. Two upper body workouts and one to two long lower body workouts.

35-42 years old:

Currently, I’d say I’m around 6-8 hours total. Some weeks maybe 9 hours.

In general, the reasons for less working out are mostly related to work and Covid.

Interestingly, I haven’t had huge changes in body composition.

I think this is completely related to my diet not getting too far off track.

Food

For food, I’m generally a fairly healthy eater.

I don’t eat fried foods, heavily sauced foods or heavy foods.

As examples, I wouldn’t eat fired meats, red meats or fried fish in a given week.

I also avoid white and processed starches. Though I don’t gain weight from eating some white starch in my diet, I don’t feel as good working out on refined starches. They just don’t sit well in my stomach.

The other area that keeps things on track for me is not “letting go or giving up” or saying to hell with it for a month or more. It can be a really slippery slope when you decide to “let things go”.

This isn’t a good place to be and for whatever reason, I have enough interest in trying to stay fit that I tend not to get caught in this mentality. I always worry when I hear clients going through these types of times. My trainer mentality wants to save them. I certainly do what I can but it’s not always easy to stop someone trending in a certain direction. That being said, I do what I can.

Awareness is the firs step to stopping the train and we work on that together.

Other Fitness Routine Findings

I’ve noticed that lighter workouts are fine too. I used to think that you needed to lift fairly heavy to see any changes.

Now being more experienced, I have no interest in carrying extra weight of any kind including muscle. It’s just not necessary and I feel no need to challenge my kidneys to process extra protein and challenge them for no good reason. I’m playing a longevity game now, not a strength and power game.

Food is much more about portion than anything else. Eating a large amount at a given sitting is a really good way to gain weight.

I also find that eating foods that agree with me is really important. Though Yams are a really low glycemic and healthy carb option, I don’t get much from them.

I feel flat on them and don’t feel satiated despite eating a whole yam. Hard to believe. That being said, half a cup of oats gives me tons of energy.

So, modifying within the food sources has been important for me too.

Hopefully some of these insights can benefit you in your health and fitness pursuits. There are many more areas we can address with you so feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

Best of Health,

FS Studios.