Chris is a client of MFitness for Life.  She started training with me in my basement studio at 6am before work.  She had low back pain and struggled with an elbow injury due to walking her son’s very large dog!

While she still has recurring issues on occasion, she is consistent with her workouts and does the best she can, always careful not to overdo it, having learned her limitations.  I see Chris as having learned what her body is capable of in her 50’s.

(Chris is pictured on the left.)

What does fitness in your 50’s mean to you?

Not gonna lie, I still want to look good!  But I’ve come to realize that “good” is subjective. I don’t want to look like I’m 25, I’ve earned every gray hair and wrinkle! Fitness in my 50’s is about health.  It’s about being strong and able to do everything I want to do including travel, hiking, riding bikes, roller blading, skiing…..and trying new things.  Recently I tried iFly with my 22 year old daughter.  I’m always looking for a new adventure.

What was fitness like for you at a young age?

Fitness when young was all about being the skinniest version of myself.  I was always athletic so it was easy to stay in shape.  Like all young people, I never thought about health.  I didn’t have a healthy diet because crappy eating didn’t affect my weight.  If it did, I would go on a crazy deprivation diet for a week and get back into my Calvin Klein jeans.

How has fitness changed for you in your 50’s?

Fitness now is all about the delicate balance of diet and exercise.  I love being an MF-er.  Love having a group of people to sweat with at 5:15am.  I have lots of bad discs and keeping fit keeps my back in good shape.  I’m still struggling with diet.  It’s tough to realize that in my 50’s I need very little food to survive.  Still trying to get that to sink into my sugar addicted brain.