Q & A

How do I get started?

I’m very goal oriented.  I try and identify a long-term goal and then break it down into readily achievable shorter-term goals.  For example, getting in shape may be the longer-term goal, but it needs to be broken down into useful shorter-term components.  Like starting with 20-40 minutes of cardio 4-7 days per week to get your body used to working out.  Then, as your goals get more specific, like for example you want to be more muscular, you can add a basic weight routine.  You can get even more specific as you go along.  Eg. You can target a bigger chest, or even more specifically, bigger upper chest.

 

I find it very helpful to search the internet for visual examples of what I want to achieve.  Once I can identify the goal, it doesn’t take much online searching to identify the exercises that will get you there, though you do have to be careful to apply common sense to free internet advice.  There’s a lot of incorrect information out there. 

 

I also check in with a professional once in a while to make sure my technique is correct and I’m not creating any imbalances.  For instance, a strong chest needs to be balanced by other areas of your body (like your back), if you don’t want to create functional problems.

 

Cheat days?

-I don’t feel guilty about missing workout days, indulging in a great meal (or alcohol), or taking a lazy week (or two) off.  Life is long and the body can be very plastic.  I believe the important thing is to form good habits and keep returning to them even if you have trouble being consistent.  I’ve found that as time goes on, and the healthy habits have become ingrained, my body has become very forgiving of cheat days and missed workouts.  But I don’t take them too often ;)

 

But I love carbohydrates

-You’re not alone.  Carbohydrates are often delicious and deeply satisfying (think comfort foods).  I’ve found the trick is to get the healthy food (i.e. protein) in first so that my body is feeling pretty satisfied before turning to the carbohydrates.  For instance, I love cookies and often eat them with breakfast and dinner.  But I don’t start my meal with them.  They’re desert, and just like our parents always taught, I have to eat the ‘real’ food before I get desert.  Because after the real food, my desire for the cookies is much reduced and my body doesn’t have to try and extract nutrition from a chocolate chip cookie when it already has a piece of salmon to work on.

 

I’ve also found that I don’t crave carbohydrates as much if I eat protein regularly.  I usually eat something with a protein component well before I start to feel starving, often drinking a protein shake when I don’t have time or access to a more conventional meal.  For instance, I drink a protein shake immediately after working out, so that I can make a more clear-headed decision about what to eat next.  Otherwise I would be so hungry that everything would look good to eat.

 

On busy days, I make sure to keep an eye on the clock and eat every 2-3 hours.  That keeps my energy level constant, with no crashes or surges.

 

Breakfast presents an interesting challenge because I often wake up starving.  I therefore start with fruit.  It’s sugar, but it’s a relatively healthy sugar and it’s satisfying enough for me to then calmly choose the protein components that will form the core of my breakfast.

 

How do I know how much food is enough and how much is too much?

-Some people go crazy about how much protein they eat, especially when they’re training.  I’m not an expert but I was told that when it comes to fish or meat, a deck of cards-size portion is really all your body can process at one sitting, so that’s pretty much my typical serving size.  If I’m still feeling hungry, I first take a break.  If I’m still hungry after a half hour or so, I eat again.  Often, I wasn’t actually hungry, it just took my brain a little while to catch up to my stomach, or I was eating to be social, or some other non-nutritional reason.

 

Is there any food you should stay away from?

-I am deeply sceptical of processed food.  Not only because they have been monkeyed with for commercial rather than nutritional reasons, but also because they are essentially so new to human history that they should be considered experimental.  Our diets were honed over millennia of trial and error and are particularly suited to our genotype.  Processed food is a relatively recent invention and the results that are starting to come in are not good.  Beyond the obesity epidemic that we’ve all heard about, there is increasing evidence that processed foods are missing the diversity of nutrients found in un-processed foods, and we are only beginning to understand what some of those obscure nutrients do.

 

Can I exercise every day?

-Yes, but you may have to work up to it slowly.  Muscle groups, and your body in general, need time to recover.  I usually workout 5-6 days of the week, but I have to periodically give my body longer breaks to give it a real chance to rest and repair.  Contrary to what you might expect, when I re-start my routine, I’m often stronger (and more muscularly developed) than before.

 

I also have to pull back at the start of each sporting season.  For instance, no matter how in shape I am at the beginning of snowboarding season, my body has to get used to a form of stimulus it hasn’t had in a while.  That not only means using muscles that might not have been used in quite the same way since the last snowboarding season, but also means a workload additional to what I was doing just the week before.

 

How often should I change my routine?

-I think that depends on you and the level of challenge you’re deriving from your current workout.  In its essentials, my workout changes very little from week to week, month to month.  But I’m constantly varying the weights, order, and duration to keep the challenge fresh. 

 

Some exercises, like an incline bench press, has been a staple of workout routines for a long, long time, because it is one of the best ways to work out the chest muscle.  It would hardly make sense to replace it with a lesser exercise.  But the basic press can be varied in inclination, weight, duration, repetition, sets, etc. to keep the challenge fresh.  If your muscle doesn’t feel challenged after your workout, it’s probably time to change things up.

 

How do I choose a trainer?

A lot of people seem to choose their trainers by choosing the trainer with the body they want to achieve, or who can make good conversation, or some other factor that might not mean they know what their doing.  I prefer to choose a trainer who has been educated for the job as widely as possible, and who combines experience with knowledge.  If you’re older, you particularly need a trainer who has experience with training older clients.  What works for a 20 year-old is not necessarily going to work for a 50 year-old.  

 

How do I get six-pack abdominals?

Good news:  You may already have them.  Not so good news:  But you may not be able to see them because they’re under a layer of fat.  So diet, is crucial to getting lean enough to see what you’ve got.  I find it useful to get a body scan before and after the summer to get factual confirmation of my body mass index, and to have actual measurements of how much fat is being stored where.

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Lots of young guys have a ‘skinny six-pack’ meaning that you can see very defined abs even though they didn’t do much to get them or to maintain them.  You too can have a skinny six-pack if you’re willing to maintain a lean diet.  As you age, however, gravity, injuries, and functional issues cause imbalances that disturb the symmetry of a perfect sixpack.  If you want to restore that look and improve on it, you’ll need to learn to ‘move from your core.’ 

 

I’ve found pilates essential for this and learned over the years how to initiate every movement from my core abdominals.  As a result, I do not do any special exercises to maintain my six-pack because every exercise uses those muscles.

 

The tautness of the skin covering the abdominal muscles is also an important factor, so see further:  skin health.

 

How do I know what’s working?

Use the scientific method you learned in high school.  Add/subtract only one variable at a time and give it enough time to observe the effect it makes.

 

What is the one essential exercise?

For me it is leg squats.  There is no substitute for how it stimulates growth and burns fat for the rest of the body. And, not unimportantly, it will give you a great ass (For further proof, see all the embarrassing ass shots on my Instagram.  They’re there to prove what is possible even as I approach age 60). 

 

Be careful not to make your legs (or ass) too big or you’ll look odd and won’t fit into your pant legs.  Also, you’ll need to stretch your leg muscles regularly if you want to keep walking :)

 

How important is pilates?

I’ve tried many core-strengthening disciplines but none has produced the combination of benefits of pilates.  It allows me to strengthen essential muscles I never knew I had, while stretching and improving my posture.  It also allows me to counteract the tightening effect of lifting weights so that I can maintain a long lithe profile instead of developing a gym rat’s stoop.

 

One major drawback of pilates though is the cost, but that can be mitigated via group classes, online classes, and teacher training.  If you can afford it though, private training is worth the expense because it allows you to use your time most efficiently and address the issues specific to your body.

 

Can you actually gain muscle when you’re in your late 50s?

Absolutely.  My legs, for example, are still visibly growing as I strive to keep them at the proportional size I think most compliments the my upper body.  It just takes patience and discipline.

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Is devoting so much effort to your body at your age… narcissistic?

Probably.  But unlike most indulgences and self-delusions, this one is actually good for you.  At this age, a beautiful body is a manifestation of health.  When you reach your 50s, mortality becomes apparent as our peer group begins to suffer heart attacks, stroke, cancer, and death.  We can’t change our genetics, and we often can’t change our environmental risks, but maintaining good health can determine whether the cruel hand dealt to us by nature tips toward a chronic condition or tips toward an active long life. 

 

And, perhaps more importantly, you’ll have way more fun living life if you do it with a fit body.  The word ‘fun’ in my website title is what’s it’s all about.  Never give up what you love!  In my case I love sports like snowboarding and kitesurfing that require extreme physical conditioning and endurance.  While many of my peers have given up sports like bicycling, either because it’s too physically challenging, or because they’re afraid of injury, I am able to still do pretty much everything I could ever do without even having to think about it.  I can rely on my body.  It is perhaps that unquestioning self-confidence in yourself that partially explains why younger people shine and exude attractive energy.  But you can have it any age!

 

How important is skin health?

Understanding the importance of skin as an organ is very much a developing science.  Healthy skin is apparently integral to overall health and not just a pretty covering the body.  I’ve found that a clean diet and a lot of water (not juice, alcohol, or any other beverage that contains water) is crucial to maintaining healthy elastic skin that can stretch and contract with my muscles, especially if your skin previously had to cover a larger body (i.e. you’ve lost some weight).

 

I’m not one to obsess over creams and ointments, but instead rely on regular saunas and an occasional massage with oil to maintain elasticity and a healthy glow.  I do, however, try to moisturise my face every night, and always wear sunscreen.

 

What if I get injured?

I’ve had many, many injuries.  If you’re going to be active, you’re very likely going to eventually get injured.  If your body is strong, healthy and flexible, however, you are much more likely to recover faster and stronger, even when you're older.  Indeed, I always thought my wife was just trying to cheer me up by telling me that I’ll recover stronger than I was before from what seems like an annual major injury.  But I’ve been surprised to find it is in fact true, and that while I may not fully recover all function from all injuries (like my ability to push off after re-growing my severed achilles tendon), being forced to take time off during recovery resulted in renewed determination and a better understanding of what is, and what is not, important in my training.

 

I’ve also found that when I get injured it’s important to seek advice from a wide range of experts.  As the saying goes ‘To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.'  While drugs and surgery very much may be the way to go, I always explore the non-surgical, non-drug options first as they are least likely to have unintended consequences or be irreversible.

 

Keep the questions coming!  Others might benefit from the answers too!

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