I really liked this article from Dr Stacy Sims about training in midlife.
This bit in particular I found really inspiring.
“I want to zoom out and think about what a long peakspan actually looks like in practice. I know for me, it’s about still enjoying all of the sports and activities I know and love: riding my bike, swimming in the ocean with friends, hiking up a mountain, doing my favorite HIIT workouts. I also want to be able to carry my own groceries, chase after my grandkids, and get off the floor without thinking about it. And it’s not just physical—I want to remain cognitively sharp, emotionally resilient, enjoy time with my family and friends, and still have the capacity to do all of the things that make my life feel like my own.”
For me this encapsulates the importance of both physical fitness and life goals – and how they intertwine to give us the life that we want to live.
The concept of peakspan is interesting too – you may have come across the concept of healthspan, which is the duration of your life in which you enjoy good health. Exercise and social connections are vital for giving us the best chance of a long healthspan.
Peakspan is the age interval during which an individual maintains at least 90% of their peak functional performance in a given physiological or cognitive domain. For many people this peaks in our 20s and 30s, but crucially it really depends on how we live – our training, fuelling and recovery can make a vast difference.
And here I turn to another source of inspiration, the amazing photographs of Masters athletes taken by Alex Rotas. These amazing athletes, many who didn’t come to their sport into late in life, are testimony to how staying active and continuing to push our personal limits is not only possible but a gateway to amazing levels of joy and community.
Leave a Reply