How To Get Fit Again After 50 When You’ve Let Yourself Go
There comes a point when you look in the mirror and think:
“How did I get like this?”
Maybe you’ve put on more weight than you intended.
Your trousers are getting tighter.
Your stomach isn’t what it used to be.
You get out of breath doing things that never used to bother you.
Your legs feel a little weaker.
And if you’re being completely honest, you haven’t really been looking after yourself for quite a while.
It probably didn’t happen all at once.
That’s the thing.
There wasn’t necessarily one day when you decided to stop caring about your health.
Life just got busy.
Work needed more of you.
Family needed more of you.
There were bills, stress, responsibilities, other people’s problems.
Exercise became something you’d get back to eventually.
Eating well became something you’d do when life was less hectic.
And somehow, eventually turned into years.
Then one morning you realise you’re 52, 57 or 63 and thinking:
“I’ve really let myself go.”
If that’s where you are, don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ve somehow missed your chance.
You haven’t.
You’re not going to become 30 again.
You don’t need to.
The job now is much simpler.
Start looking after the body you’ve actually got.
In Summary
Getting fit again after 50 starts with accepting where you are without deciding that this is where you have to stay.
That’s an important difference.
You can admit that you’ve let things slide without beating yourself up about it.
You don’t have to spend the next six months trying to make up for the last ten years.
You don’t have to suddenly live on salads and spend every evening in a gym.
Start with something manageable.
Walk more.
Move more.
Eat a little better.
Build some strength.
Get your sleep back on track.
Do it regularly.
Then build from there.
And at the beginning, don’t make your main goal losing 30 pounds or looking completely different.
Your first goal is to become someone who looks after himself again.
Once that starts happening, a lot of other things become easier.
Stop Beating Yourself Up
This is probably where you need to start.
Because when men realise they’ve let themselves go, they can be surprisingly hard on themselves.
You look at old photographs.
You remember being fitter.
Maybe you remember running, playing football, going to the gym or simply being able to eat whatever you wanted without thinking about it.
Then you look at yourself now.
And you don’t particularly like what you see.
Maybe there’s disappointment there.
Maybe embarrassment.
Maybe even a bit of anger with yourself.
That’s understandable.
But none of it gets you moving.
You can’t go back and change what you did in your 40s.
You can’t undo years of sitting around by feeling guilty about them.
At some point, you have to stop looking backwards.
This is the body you have today.
This is where you’re starting.
And there’s nothing embarrassing about that.
In fact, deciding to do something about it is probably one of the best things you can do.
Don’t Try To Make Up For Lost Time
This is where enthusiasm can get you into trouble.
You suddenly decide you’re going to sort yourself out.
Monday morning arrives.
You go for a run even though you haven’t run for years.
You join a gym.
You start lifting weights.
You cut out alcohol.
You stop eating anything you enjoy.
You decide you’re going to exercise six days a week.
By Wednesday, everything hurts.
By Friday, you’re exhausted.
And by the following weekend, you’re sitting on the sofa wondering why you ever thought this was a good idea.
Then the whole thing quietly disappears.
It happens all the time.
Not because you’re lazy.
Because you tried to undo years of inactivity in a week.
Your body doesn’t work that way.
Your muscles need time to adapt.
Your joints need time.
Your fitness needs time.
And, perhaps most importantly, your habits need time.
You don’t have to repay a ten-year debt in ten days.
You just need to start heading in a better direction.
Start With Walking
If you’ve been inactive for a long time, walking is a very good place to begin.
There’s nothing complicated about it.
You put your shoes on and go outside.
That’s it.
Maybe ten minutes to begin with.
Maybe fifteen.
Walk around the block.
Walk after dinner.
Walk to the shop instead of taking the car when it makes sense.
Take the stairs occasionally.
Go for a longer walk at the weekend.
And if ten minutes is all you can manage comfortably at first, that’s fine.
You’re not trying to prove anything.
You’re getting your body used to moving again.
Over time, you’ll probably find that ten minutes becomes fifteen.
Fifteen becomes twenty.
And eventually you’re walking for half an hour without thinking about it.
That’s progress.
At the beginning, you’re not just building fitness. You’re rebuilding the habit of being active.
That matters.
Don’t Expect A Transformation In A Few Weeks
You may notice some changes fairly quickly.
You might feel less sluggish.
You may sleep better.
Walking might not leave you quite as breathless.
You may notice that you’re not quite as tired in the afternoon.
Those small changes can be encouraging.
But don’t expect to look like a different person after four weeks.
You’ve probably spent years getting to where you are.
Give yourself some time to go the other way.
There will be weeks when your weight drops.
Then nothing happens.
There will be weeks when you feel stronger.
Then you’ll have a week where you’re tired and do very little.
That’s life.
Don’t turn one bad week into another six months of doing nothing.
Getting fit is usually the result of hundreds of ordinary decisions, not a handful of heroic ones.
Start Strength Training Too
If you’ve let yourself go, don’t make the mistake of thinking fitness is simply about doing more cardio.
Your muscles matter.
Especially after 50.
You want to be able to carry shopping.
Get out of a chair easily.
Climb stairs.
Lift your suitcase.
Get down on the floor.
Get back up again.
Move things around the house.
Look after yourself without constantly thinking about whether your body can handle it.
Strength helps with all of that.
And you don’t have to start with heavy weights.
You could begin at home with sit-to-stands from a chair, wall push-ups, light dumbbells or resistance bands.
Simple stuff.
The important thing is giving your muscles a reason to work again.
And please don’t turn your first few sessions into an ego contest.
Nobody cares how much you can lift.
At this stage, you’re building a foundation.
Leave the ego out of it.
Your Legs Deserve Special Attention
If you’ve spent years sitting down, your legs are probably going to tell you about it.
They do an incredible amount of work without you thinking about it.
They get you out of bed.
Out of chairs.
Up stairs.
Into the car.
Around the supermarket.
Through an airport.
Along a beach.
Up a hill.
They help you stay balanced.
And yet leg training is something many men ignore until their legs start feeling noticeably weaker.
You don’t need to hammer them.
You need to use them.
Walking helps.
Sit-to-stands help.
Squats can help when they’re appropriate for you.
Step-ups can help.
Calf raises can help.
Balance work matters too.
Start at a level you can handle and gradually make things more challenging.
Strong legs aren’t just about fitness.
They’re part of staying independent.
Your Waistline Isn’t The Whole Story
If you’ve let yourself go, there’s a good chance your waistline is one of the first things you notice.
Maybe your favourite jeans don’t fit.
Maybe you’ve had to loosen your belt.
Maybe you’ve started avoiding photographs.
Losing some excess weight may well be a worthwhile goal.
But don’t let the bathroom scales become the only thing you’re watching.
What about your strength?
How far can you walk?
How easily can you climb stairs?
How do you feel when you wake up?
Are you sleeping better?
Do you have more energy?
Are you moving more confidently?
Does your body feel more capable?
Those things matter.
You could lose five pounds and feel dramatically fitter.
You could lose ten pounds and still feel weak and exhausted.
Getting fit is bigger than getting lighter.
The scales are only telling you one part of the story.
Clean Up Your Food Without Going Crazy
You probably don’t need another complicated diet plan.
You already know some of the things that probably aren’t helping.
Eating takeaway five nights a week.
Snacking constantly in the evening.
Large portions.
Too much alcohol.
Too many biscuits at work.
Eating because you’re bored rather than hungry.
You don’t have to eliminate every food you enjoy.
And you certainly don’t have to become obsessed with eating “perfectly”.
Start making better choices more often.
Eat more proper meals.
Get some protein into them.
Eat more fruit and vegetables.
Pay attention to portions.
Drink more water.
Cut back on the things you already know you eat too much of.
And try to stop thinking about healthy eating as a temporary project.
You’re not going on another diet.
You’re changing the way you normally eat.
That is much more useful.
Don’t Try To Change Your Entire Life On Monday
This is one of the biggest traps.
You decide you’re going to become a completely different person.
New diet.
New gym.
Running programme.
Early mornings.
No alcohol.
Ten thousand steps.
Daily stretching.
Six workouts a week.
Maybe meditation thrown in for good measure.
It sounds great.
It also sounds exhausting.
And most people can’t sustain that kind of change for very long.
Pick a few things instead.
Walk most days.
Strength train twice a week.
Eat a better breakfast.
Cook a little more.
Go to bed slightly earlier.
Drink a little less.
Once those things feel normal, add something else.
You don’t need more motivation.
You need a few changes that fit into your actual life.
That’s where lasting change usually comes from.
Your Sleep Matters More Than You Think
When you’re trying to get fit again, it’s easy to focus on exercise and food and forget about sleep.
But if you’re exhausted all the time, everything becomes harder.
Exercise feels harder.
Cooking feels harder.
Making good food choices feels harder.
You want quick energy.
You lose patience.
And eventually you start telling yourself that you’re simply too tired to bother.
Sometimes poor sleep isn’t something you can easily fix.
Stress, work, health problems and life itself can get in the way.
But if you’re regularly staying up until midnight watching television when you could have gone to bed an hour earlier, that’s something you can look at.
Recovery is part of getting fit.
You don’t become stronger simply by working harder.
Your body needs time to recover from what you’re asking it to do.
Don’t Ignore The Stress That Got You Here
Sometimes the reason a man has let himself go isn’t that he doesn’t care.
He’s exhausted.
He’s been under pressure for years.
Maybe work has been relentless.
Maybe there’s been trouble at home.
Maybe he’s been looking after ageing parents.
Maybe he’s been carrying financial worries.
When you’re stressed for long enough, your own health can become the first thing you stop paying attention to.
You stop exercising.
You eat whatever is convenient.
You drink a little more.
You sleep badly.
You sit on the sofa because you haven’t got anything left.
Then you feel worse.
And the cycle continues.
Getting fit again may involve exercise, but it may also mean asking yourself what has been draining you.
Sometimes you need more time outside.
Sometimes you need to switch the phone off.
Sometimes you need to deal with something you’ve been avoiding.
And sometimes you need to admit that you’re more stressed than you’ve been willing to acknowledge.
Your physical health and the rest of your life aren’t separate things.
They affect each other.
Don’t Be Embarrassed About Being A Beginner
This can be a big one for men who used to be fit.
You walk into a gym and see someone lifting weights you couldn’t lift now.
You see younger men running on treadmills.
You see people who clearly know what they’re doing.
And suddenly you feel like you don’t belong there.
Forget it.
You’re not there to compete with them.
You’re there because you decided to do something for yourself.
Nobody needs to know what you could bench press twenty years ago.
And if someone is judging you for using light weights, that’s really their problem.
Start where you are.
Take your time.
Ask questions.
Use lighter weights.
Take breaks.
Learn how things work.
Being a beginner at 55 isn’t embarrassing.
It means you’re doing something about the situation you’re in.
Give Your Body Time To Adapt
You may remember being able to exercise hard and recover quickly.
Don’t automatically expect the same thing now.
That doesn’t mean you’re fragile.
It means you need to be sensible.
Start gradually.
Pay attention to how your body responds.
Give yourself rest days.
Don’t turn every workout into a test of toughness.
And learn to distinguish between normal effort and pain that needs attention.
If you’ve been inactive for years, have a medical condition or have symptoms that concern you, getting some advice from a healthcare professional before making major changes is sensible.
There’s no prize for ignoring a problem.
The goal is to become fitter, not injured.
You Don’t Need To Train Like You’re 25
This is worth repeating because it’s an easy trap.
You remember what you used to do.
You remember running faster.
Lifting heavier.
Playing sport several times a week.
And part of you thinks:
“I should still be able to do that.”
Maybe you can.
Maybe you can’t.
But that’s not really the point.
You’re not training for the body you had at 25.
You’re looking after the body you have now.
You might walk instead of run.
Lift lighter weights.
Take longer recovery periods.
Spend more time warming up.
That’s not giving up.
That’s training intelligently.
Your fitness doesn’t have to look impressive to anyone else.
It just needs to make your life better.
Your First Goal Is Consistency
Consistency sounds boring.
It isn’t.
It’s probably the thing that matters most.
Not motivation.
Not the perfect workout programme.
Not the latest supplement.
Just doing the basics again and again.
Walk three or four times a week.
Strength train regularly.
Eat reasonably well most of the time.
Sleep as well as you can.
Keep moving.
Do that for six months and you’ve changed much more than your fitness.
You’ve changed your habits.
You’ve become someone who exercises.
Someone who pays attention to his health.
Someone who no longer automatically puts himself last.
The first goal isn’t to become fit.
It’s to become consistent enough for fitness to happen.
Don’t Measure Everything In The Mirror
Maybe you want to lose your stomach.
Fair enough.
Maybe you’d like to look better in a T-shirt.
There’s nothing wrong with that.
But don’t let appearance become the only reason you keep going.
Some of the best changes won’t show in a photograph.
You sleep better.
Your legs feel stronger.
You walk further.
You recover faster.
You don’t get out of breath as easily.
You have more energy.
You feel more confident.
You stop avoiding things.
You find yourself wanting to go outside.
Those changes are real.
And in many ways, they’re more important than looking slightly leaner.
You May Have More Energy Than You Think
One of the odd things about getting fitter is that it can actually give you more energy.
At first, exercise might leave you tired.
Of course it will.
You’re asking your body to do something it hasn’t done regularly for years.
But gradually, everyday things can start feeling easier.
You walk somewhere without thinking about it.
You climb the stairs without stopping.
You don’t feel quite so sluggish after lunch.
You have more energy in the evening.
You start going out instead of automatically sitting down.
And that’s one of the best things about becoming fitter.
You’re not exercising just to become fitter.
You’re trying to make everyday life easier.
Don’t Wait For Monday
There’s always another Monday.
Next month.
After the holiday.
After work settles down.
After Christmas.
After you’ve lost some weight.
After you’ve bought the right shoes.
After you’ve joined the gym.
There’s always another reason to wait.
But you don’t need a perfect starting point.
You can go for a walk today.
You can make a better meal tonight.
You can spend ten minutes moving instead of doing nothing.
That’s enough.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic.
Actually, it’s probably better if it isn’t.
Start before you feel completely ready.
You may never feel completely ready.
Your 50s Aren’t Too Late
This is probably the most important thing to remember.
If you’ve spent the last ten years doing very little, you might feel as though the damage has already been done.
It hasn’t.
Your body can still respond to exercise.
You can still become stronger.
You can improve your fitness.
You can change your eating habits.
You can lose excess weight.
You can become more mobile.
You can feel better in your own body.
Will you become exactly the man you were at 30?
Probably not.
But that’s not what you’re trying to do.
You’re trying to become a better version of the man you are today.
And that’s still completely worthwhile.
Think About The Life You Want To Have
Instead of asking:
“How do I get my old body back?”
Try asking something else.
“What do I want my body to be able to do five or ten years from now?”
Maybe you want to travel.
Walk around unfamiliar cities.
Go hiking.
Play with your grandchildren.
Work in the garden.
Ride a bike.
Swim.
Play golf.
Carry your own luggage.
Get down on the floor and back up again.
Stay independent.
Whatever it is, let that become part of your reason.
Fitness makes much more sense when it has somewhere to take you.
You’re not exercising because someone on Instagram told you that you should.
You’re doing it because there’s still a life you want to participate in.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve let yourself go after 50, don’t make the mistake of thinking you’ve ruined your chances.
You haven’t.
Maybe you’ve gained weight.
Maybe you’ve lost strength.
Maybe you haven’t exercised properly in years.
Maybe you’re nowhere near as fit as you used to be.
That’s okay.
It’s simply where you’re starting.
You don’t have to fix everything.
You don’t have to punish yourself.
You don’t have to become obsessed with fitness.
You just have to start taking care of yourself again.
Walk.
Move.
Get stronger.
Eat a little better.
Sleep.
Recover.
Then do it again.
And again.
Some weeks will go well.
Some won’t.
That’s life.
What matters is that you keep coming back.
Because the goal isn’t to undo every mistake you’ve made since 40.
It’s to stop letting those years decide what the rest of your life looks like.
You’re not trying to become 25 again.
You’re trying to make 55, 60, 65 and beyond better than they would otherwise be.
And that is still within your reach.
You haven’t missed your chance.
You just need to start from where you are.
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