Want to Get in Better Shape After 50? Start With Willingness
If you want to get in better shape after 50, knowing what to do probably isn't your biggest problem. Being willing to do it consistently is.
Most people already understand the basics. Exercise more regularly. Build some muscle. Improve cardiovascular fitness. Eat better. Reduce body fat. Get enough sleep.
Yet knowing those things doesn't automatically get you into better shape.
You can have the perfect training programme and understand exactly what you should eat, but if you're not willing to consistently follow through, very little changes.
That's why Willingness is the first pillar of my WISDOM coaching framework.
You keep telling yourself you'll start soon
Perhaps you've noticed your body changing over the last few years.
You've gained weight around your waist. You've lost some muscle. Clothes don't fit as well as they used to. You get out of breath more easily, or you're simply not as strong, fit or confident in your body as you once were.
You decide something needs to change.
You might join a gym, start running again, try another diet or promise yourself that this time you're going to take your health seriously.
For a while, things go well.
Then work gets busy. You miss a few workouts. A weekend away disrupts your diet. You're tired one evening and order a takeaway. One difficult week becomes two and gradually you return to where you started.
A few months later, you try again.
The longer you wait, the harder it can become
Getting out of shape rarely happens overnight.
It's usually the result of small changes accumulating over several years. A little less exercise. A little more food. Less muscle. More body fat. Poorer sleep. More sitting and fewer physically demanding activities.
Each individual change can seem insignificant.
Collectively, they can transform how you look, feel and perform.
And after 50, doing nothing isn't necessarily a neutral option. If you continue losing muscle and fitness while gaining body fat, getting back into shape can become progressively more difficult.
The question isn't simply how you look today.
It's where your current habits are taking you.
You don't need more motivation
This is where I think many people misunderstand what it takes to get into better shape.
They think they need to become more motivated.
But motivation is unreliable.
There will be mornings when you don't want to exercise. Evenings when the easier food choice looks more appealing. Days when you're tired, busy or simply can't be bothered.
If your plan depends on feeling motivated, those moments will repeatedly derail you.
Willingness is different.
Willingness means accepting that the body you want requires certain behaviours, and deciding that you're prepared to practise them even when they're inconvenient.
Instead of asking:
"Do I feel like training today?"
Ask:
"Am I willing to train today because getting into better shape matters to me?"
That's a very different question.
Getting in shape doesn't require perfection
Being willing doesn't mean turning your entire life upside down.
You don't need to train seven days a week, give up every food you enjoy or make your life revolve around fitness.
In fact, making things too complicated often makes consistency harder.
Getting into better shape after 50 is usually about doing a relatively small number of important things consistently: strength training, improving your cardiovascular fitness, eating mostly natural foods with sufficient protein, managing your overall food intake and giving your body enough opportunity to recover.
Do those things consistently enough and your body has a reason to change.
You'll build strength and muscle. Your fitness can improve. You can reduce excess body fat and change your body composition.
The individual actions aren't complicated.
Being willing to keep doing them is what matters.
Your body can change after 50
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming you've left it too late.
You haven't.
Your approach may need to be different from the one you used in your 20s or 30s, but your body is still capable of adapting to appropriate training and better nutrition.
I've spent more than 25 years coaching people, and I now specialise in helping people over 50 become stronger, fitter and more physically capable.
The objective isn't to recreate the body you had when you were 25.
It's to build the strongest, fittest and healthiest version of the person you are now.
And that starts with willingness.
One question to ask yourself today
If you want to get into better shape, ask yourself:
"What am I genuinely willing to do consistently for the next 12 weeks?"
Not what you could do during a perfect week.
What are you willing to keep doing when you're busy, tired and life isn't going according to plan?
Perhaps it's strength training three times a week.
Perhaps it's exercising for 30 minutes every day.
Perhaps it's changing the way you eat.
Perhaps it's reducing alcohol, ultra-processed food and added sugar.
Choose something meaningful and prove to yourself that you can follow through.
Because getting into better shape after 50 doesn't start with finding another diet or workout.
It starts with deciding that you're willing to change.
Ready to get into better shape?
At Reigate Over 50 & Strong, I help people over 50 become stronger, fitter, leaner and more confident in what their body can do.
If you know you need to make some changes but aren't sure where to begin, start with my Health & Capability Assessment.
It looks at four important areas — Strength, Cardiovascular Fitness, Nutrition and Recovery — to help identify where you are now and what you should focus on next.
You don't need to change everything tomorrow.
You need to become willing to start.
- Willingness