The Mid-Life Hump (part one)

The Exercise Bloke is Back

For today’s instalment here at me-dot-com I will be wearing my special exercise science hat, my fave coaching whistle and some strategically placed Dencorub. And possibly my electric-blue crushed velour tracksuit. If you so choose, today you can be my student, athlete or client. Or all three. For this post I have left my philosopher’s cardigan in the third draw, my motivator’s suit hanging in the wardrobe and my Ugg boots next to the corduroy bean bag in the loft. Yep, today will be all about the physical; no Freud, no Tolle, no Socrates and no Dr. Phil. Just a little Harper.

Oh alright, a big Harper.

That Point

Has your body arrived at that point yet? If it has, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. If it hasn’t, stay tuned; it’s coming. That point is the time when, for no (apparent) reason, your body seems to ‘age’ at an alarming rate and you start gaining weight like a teenage Sumo wrestler at fat camp. Things start to hurt, bits fall off and easy stuff gets hard. Real hard. All by itself with no prompting from you. So not fair. Up to a point in time, it seems as though you can (almost) eat what you like, exercise when and if you want, party hard, drink hard, inflict all kinds of punishment on your undeserving body and still, it remains in pretty good shape. Then one day all that changes. All of a sudden fat begins to appear in weird and not-so-wonderful places. Muscle melts away like ice cubes on a hot day. Fitness, strength and flexibility decrease by the week. Walking up a few stairs sees you breathing like a chain-smoking octogenarian with emphysema, and your previously indestructible lean and youthful body turns into a donut with veins and a (faint) heartbeat.

Unless of course, you choose to manage your body better than the majority.

Thirty Five to Forty Five; the Danger Zone

Since I began doing what I do in 1982, I have worked with tens of thousands of bodies and while I’ve learned many lessons along the way, one of my early observations was that some people seem to be able to mistreat their body and mismanage their genetics with very little in the way of negative physical consequences. I say “seem to be able to” because not long after I arrived at that initial conclusion, I discovered that there always comes a point in time when things change; even for those who seem to be genetically gifted throughout their teens, twenties and possibly, thirties. When I was doing my apprenticeship (as I call it) in the fitness industry, I was always astounded at how some people could do all the wrong things to their body, yet still stay in good shape, function pretty well and seemingly have no ill-effects from their less-than-desirable behaviours and habits. But that conclusion was simply an indication of my immaturity and my lack of time in the field.

Physiological Changes

The U-turn often happens at around forty. Not always, but often. Might be thirty six or seven, could be forty four or five; it’s different for everyone. For me, it was about thirty eight. Even though I was looking after my body, I still noticed subtle changes and needed to adjust my thinking and behaviour accordingly. My biggest challenge was (and still is) staying lean. It’s like overnight my metabolism slowed down by twenty five percent. All by itself. Lucky me. While my strength and fitness stayed about the same, I did notice a change in my metabolic rate and consequently how much food I needed. Oh well, look on the bright side; my food bill is now smaller and when I get lost in the wilderness, I’ll outlive all those annoyingly lean ectomorphs and mesomorphs with their uber-fast metabolisms! Of course our bodies know exactly what we need; it’s our responsibility to simply pay attention and respond accordingly. Some people spend a lifetime not listening to their body and then wonder how they’ve ended up in such poor condition. If your body is sore, it’s telling you something. If it’s getting fat(ter), it’s telling you something. If it’s becoming progressively more tired, it’s telling you something. The key is to listen and adapt; not to simply keep doing what (clearly) doesn’t work; like sitting on your arse, eating crap and waiting for the right time to get in shape.

Sedentary Folk

For the next moment I want to talk about those people who are not exercising consistently and appropriately, who are not eating optimally and who are not embracing a healthy lifestyle. Somewhere around the forty-year mark (for typical sedentary people), we often begin to see the physiological changes accelerate (sometimes at a rapid rate); body-fat increases, metabolism slows, aerobic fitness decreases, bone density decreases, immune system becomes weaker, lean tissue (muscle) decreases, strength and power decrease, flexibility decreases, recovery time (from illness and injury) increases, posture suffers and energy levels drop (often drastically). The fact that these people are inactive and are making poor food and lifestyle choices means that they are much more likely to experience considerable physiological deterioration, while their counterparts with similar genetics, of the same age, who have embraced a healthier and more active lifestyle, will experience little or no physical decline over the same period of time.

Winding Back the Clock

While we can see subtle changes in people who exercise, more often than not we can slow, if not stop, the physical decline by implementing the right dietary, exercise and lifestyle strategy. And the good news for people who have let themselves go (for want of a better term) is that we (they) can actually start to reverse some of the physical damage and wind back the biological clock. Fortunately for you and I, bodies are very adaptable and resilient; which is why I have seen some people lower their biological age by as much as thirty years.

The Mid-Life Hump

You’ve heard of the mid-week hump, well today we’re talking about the mid-life hump. That is, the “Wednesday” of our lifespan. While there’s no set age when the physiological decline begins in earnest, it is my firm belief that everybody over the age of thirty five should be following some kind of structured exercise program – unless they are a person who lives a very active lifestyle or has a job which is very demanding physically. So if you happen to walk five miles to work each morning, cut down trees all day and exist on a diet of fresh foods, you can stop reading now. If that’s not you and it is your desire to remain fit, lean and functional into your sixties and beyond, you best slide by me-dot-com tomorrow for part two of this lesson.

Great News

The great news is that for those of us who make smart decisions, listen to our bodies and embrace healthy behaviours, the mid-life hump will prove to be little more than a minor inconvenience, if not, a total non-event. I recently had my body-fat measured and my biological age tested. My body-fat percentage came out at fourteen percent – very low for an ex-fat kid and a bloke with the metabolism of a statue – and my biological age was estimated at twenty eight years; seventeen years younger than my chronological age. Now these results are not because I am in any way genetically gifted (at all!) but rather because I have learned how to maximise what I’ve been given. I want you to do the same. What you look, feel and function like in your thirties, forties and beyond has a little to do with genetic disposition – what you’ve been given - and a lot to do with genetic management; what you do with what you’ve been given.

Tomorrow I’ll be back to give you my top ten exercise, dietary, attitude and lifestyle tips for managing, or perhaps avoiding, your mid-life hump.

Ciao xx

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