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How to Plan Your Fitness Comeback • [Video and Guide]

Envision the life you want to live. Here’s precisely how to plan your fitness comeback – to bring your physique and wellness to the next level, no matter your age.

Can You Feel Better Than You Ever Have Before?

I decided to make a fitness comeback after I turned fifty.

I liked the idea of being in the second half of my lifespan and yet in the best shape of my adult life.

I wondered, what would it be like to feel better than I ever have?

As this new goal began to take shape inside my mind, I used specific methods to create a tailored plan for reaching a higher fitness level.

Today – at age 58 – I honestly report that I feel better physically than I did at age 30.

I crafted this article to help you plan your fitness comeback.

Maybe you haven’t exercised in 20 years.

Or maybe you’re already in decent shape, but you’d like to bring your physique, fitness, and wellness up to the next level.

Whatever your gender and wherever you happen to be in your journey, this article can help you get the ball rolling.

  • Do you enjoy discovering what helps your body operate optimally?
  • What are your current health and self-care protocols?
  • Do you already have a specific strategy for consistently improving your physical and mental health?

If you are thinking of crafting a new fitness goal, you will likely find these ten methods for planning your fitness comeback helpful.

1. Acknowledge that, Yes, You Do Have Time to Workout

Are we all too busy to exercise?

We are busy, yes. But not so busy that we can’t fit in a workout. There are enough hours in the week to do what you need to do.

There are 168 hours each week, meaning you probably have more time than you think.

168 is a lot of hours.  In those many hours, you can earn income, spend quality time with your family and friends, and do all of your self-care and health protocols – including exercise.

Yes, it can be done. However, it requires one thing:  preparation.

plan your fitness comeback

2. Cultivate a Sense of Urgency

Marianne Williamson once remarked that after age 40 a person no longer has the luxury of a “5-year detour.”

This is where a life plan can prove immeasurably helpful: as you travel the journey of life and reach a fork in the road (and there are always forks in the road), your life plan serves as a map to help determine whether to veer right or left.

This ability to correct course is essential for living an increasingly joyful, meaningful life – and is especially helpful for improved fitness.

Each person’s journey is different in each lifetime, so there is no exact blueprint that everybody can use to plan their fitness comeback. However, whatever specific goal and plan you come up with must be a priority. It must feel like a priority.

Decide that your improved health is an urgent priority.

Until you make that decision consciously and ceremoniously, you will not have the internal shift necessary to turn your fitness plan into a reality.

3. Ask Yourself the Fantasy Question

Ask yourself the big question, “if money were not a factor and I could have any type of body and any level of health that I wanted, what would I choose?”  

The best way to answer this question is not to overthink it.

Relax, and fantasize.

Your answer to this question doesn’t have to be enacted literally; it’s meant chiefly to lubricate your creative process and provide increased clarity.

4. Use Your Answer as Rocket Fuel for your Comeback

Use your answer to the big question (see #3 above) as inspiration to start crafting your fitness goals – it’s a good idea always to have a dream that you’re in the process of achieving.

two mature adults over fifty and fit and firm
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First, come up with your big outrageous goal, then work backward – breaking that big goal into smaller and smaller pieces.

An exciting goal you can visualize will make your fitness comeback easier to achieve.

5. Identify Your Cheerleaders

I believe that the primary reason we are on the planet for this particular lifetime is to remember who we really are by being in relationship with each other. Therefore, a good fitness plan includes a component of improving and enriching your relationships with other human beings.

Who in your life would support and encourage you while you undertake new fitness habits?

mature athlete over fifty during sprints workout
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6. Comeback to Fitness by Tending to Your Inner Self

Develop a clearer connection to your soul. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, it can be helpful to imagine that you will have a life review at the end of this lifetime.

Imagine that when that movie is played back to you, you will be able to viscerally feel the impact you had on others’ lives.

How can you make more of a positive difference in the world?

And, would having more energy and better physical health help you to make more of a positive difference in the lives of those you love?

Your body puts up with a lot from you; without it, you couldn’t experience life on earth. Planning your own fitness comeback would be an exciting way for you to honor the body you’ve been given – as it has honored you.

7. Build High-Impact Strategies

You’ll want maximum results for the time and energy you invest in your fitness comeback, and the fastest and most effective way to achieve a new level of improved fitness is to address these three key areas:

You need to decide what you’re going to be eating, what foods are anti-inflammatory for your unique body chemistry, and whether or not you’ll be counting calories and “macros” (percentage of fats, carbs, and proteins consumed in a day).

You need to include a variety of workouts in a typical week – strength training, mobility, and cardiovascular.

Will you take yoga or pilates, or use a foam roller? Will you play sports or go biking or running? Will you train with weights or take a CrossFit class?

True fitness engages a variety of exercise modalities (people who focus on just one type of workout develop imbalances – becoming strong in a particular area but very weak in others).

It’s imperative that you have an excellent recovery from the day’s stresses – including your workouts. This is exponentially true if you happen to be over the age of 50.

Will you put a meditation app on your smartphone? Will you sleep in a blacked-out bedroom with an eye mask and earplugs? Will you go to bed 30 minutes earlier each night?

Each person needs to identify their unique problem areas and identify their own solutions.

8. Comeback to Fitness by Choosing Your Peak-Energy Window

To make room for exercise in your already busy schedule, it can be helpful to ask yourself:  am I a morning person or a night person?

Most people tend to slightly favor one time of the day over the other in terms of their physical energy and mental clarity (even if only by a small margin).

First, you must know what your potential peak time of day is – your point of highest quality, activity, and achievement – that way, you can leverage it to your maximum benefit.

peak energy window fitness comeback
Author Dane Findley has identified his “peak-energy window” as between 10 am and 12 noon.

One of my primary goals during my recent experiment of waking super early for 30 consecutive days was integrating exercise more consistently into my weekly schedule.

I found for me, early mornings are advantageous for this.

On days I traveled to the gym, early hours helped me avoid much of the traffic (that L.A. is famous for), reducing my round trip drive time from 2 hours to 40 minutes.

I also saved time by getting my exercise in before work.  I used to try to slip out of the office in the early afternoon for a quick lunch-hour workout but found I was showering, dressing, and prepping for work two times instead of one – which was inefficient (when you add cufflinks, necktie, vest, etc., to the equation, it just gets a bit ridiculous from a time-perspective).

Knowing when your physical energy is highest will help you launch your own fitness comeback.

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9. Create a Time Budget

An effective way to optimize your schedule to make room for fitness is to create a time budget – by doing a mock-up of your ideal calendar.

First, scribble on paper – quickly, without overthinking it – everything that you would fit into a perfect week.

Let’s say that your fantasy is to do one yoga class a week, one outdoor run, one CrossFit class, or any appointment you want to do each week.

Next, start with a blank 7-day calendar and block out the times you work and the times you sleep. This calendar represents your “typical week” (use any calendar application, such as the one that came with your computer, to do the mock-up). Remember: it’s for standing, reoccurring appointments only – don’t use your real calendar.

Then, fit in any other standing appointments, such as helping your kids with their homework, your weekly farmers market, etc.

Next, start taking those exercise sessions from your wishlist and dropping them into available time slots within your 7-day standing appointments calendar.

This calendar represents your time budget. Any blank spaces left available mean you can create even more self-care appointments (“meet John at the stadium steps for our weekly climbing workout”).

On the other hand, if you have more appointments than blank spaces, you’ll need to prioritize.

before after testimonial Silver Strong Course
“Your course helped me to adjust my thinking – seeing myself as a whole person who would be supported by an anti-inflammatory diet and strategic exercise. Thank you for your words of insight, your instructive videos and worksheets, and the almost uncountable ways you have added life to my years!” ~ Paul, Age 66

10. Comeback to Fitness by Tracking Your Progress

Some people find scales and measuring tapes helpful – and I do, too – and yet I find the best way to track my fitness progress is by snapping a before photo on my phone and also by gauging how I feel.

What is your overall energy level right now, on a scale of 1-to-10?

Compare this number with your future number after you’ve exercised consistently for a while.

Use the above ten ideas to launch your fitness comeback.

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