 Why Waiting Until You're Less Busy to Get Fit After 40 Doesn't Work
If you're too busy to look after your strength for six months of every year, your body doesn't simply pause until September. I had a conversation recently with someone thinking about getting started with us at Evolutis. He knew he needed to work on his strength. He was conscious of age-related muscle and strength loss. He had some issues with his hips. His job was very sedentary, with a lot of his working day spent sitting down. There wasn't really any disagreement about whether getting stronger would be good for him. The issue was when....
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 What if the problem isn't your motivation at all?
Have you ever found yourself saying, "I've just lost my mojo"? It's one of the most common things we hear from people in the gym. They don't feel like training. They're frustrated with their progress. Their confidence has taken a knock. They assume they've somehow lost their motivation. But what if that's not what's really going on?  If your first thought when you want to lose weight is, "I need to eat 1,200 calories a day," we need to talk.
I've had this conversation many times recently. Members asking about 1,200 calorie diets, calorie counting and how to use apps like MyFitnessPal. What surprised me wasn't that people wanted to lose weight. It was that so many still believed eating as little as possible was the best place to start. For most adults over 40, it isn't. In fact, it often makes the whole process harder.  First things first.
Walking is brilliant. In fact, if someone asked me for the single easiest thing they could do to improve their health tomorrow, getting out for a walk would probably be near the top of the list. For many reasons....  Most people don’t fail because they lack motivation. They fail because “ah sure go on” has quietly become part of their daily routine.
And honestly, I think a lot of people don’t even realise it’s happening. They think they need more discipline. More motivation. A stricter diet. A harder training plan. Usually, they don’t. What they actually need is a bit more awareness around the small decisions they’re making every single week.  One bad week… and suddenly people think everything is falling apart.
What’s actually going on You miss a couple of sessions. Life gets busy. Work ramps up. Kids need more time. Energy dips.  I saw a piece recently about Westwood Gym having to cancel memberships due to declining standards of behaviour.
Things like:
And to be fair, none of this is surprising.  “Doing two sessions back-to-back or trying to ‘make up’ for a bad week won’t fix your fitness.”
Here’s the reality You’ve probably done this before. Missed a few sessions. Busy week. Then tried to cram it all in. However, fitness after 40 isn’t about doing more or going harder. It’s about applying the right training stress and allowing your body to recover and adapt properly. If that part is off, it doesn’t matter how many sessions you do. You’ll either spin your wheels or end up more tired, sore, and frustrated than when you started.  Or maybe it’s not ageing at all
There’s a point where a lot of people start to feel it. You wake up a bit stiffer. You’re more tired than you used to be. Things that felt easy a few years ago now feel like effort. And the default explanation is always the same. “I’m just getting older.” It sounds logical. It sounds acceptable. It also lets you off the hook a bit. But here’s the uncomfortable truth. How long does it take to see gym results after 40?
Most adults over 40 will start to feel better within 2 to 4 weeks, see noticeable strength and energy improvements by 6 to 8 weeks, and visible physical changes within 8 to 12 weeks. Most people will see meaningful long term results within 3 to 6 plus months of consistent gym training. |
AuthorDavid Knowles is the founder of Evolutis, Dad x 5 & wannabe singer songwriter! Ready?Reading is great, but action is better. If you’re ready to start moving and feeling better, we’re here to help.
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