Staying Fit After 50: How Small Group Workouts Have Changed My Life

“You obviously workout…”

At 57, that’s one of the greatest things I can hear from people. The mirror confirms that I workout and makes my day every day.

I was in my 20s, and stationed in Germany, when I started working out with an Army buddy whose amazing physique was the envy of the battalion. With his guidance in the gym, he helped me achieve my own physical transformation.

My parents and friends were stunned when I returned home two years later. They were proud of me. I was proud of myself.

But going to the gym consistently after the Army was much harder.?

Civilian life offered too many distractions, and I eventually stopped. Fast forward a few decades, add marriage and a job in front of the computer, and I’d become the dreaded American couch potato.

Like millions of others, I took advantage of annual “New Year - New You” fitness deals. I later bought a Total Gym to workout at home. But not even Chuck Norris or Christie Brinkley could help me to stay at it for more than a month.?

Then I saw an ad for a small group fitness place:?“6 weeks for $75. Burn up to 1000 calories in an hour.”?I was intrigued enough to check it out.?

That was about 5 years ago. I’ve been going an average of 5 days a week ever since.

Why the small group fitness concept works for me:

• I don’t have to come up with my workouts. They’re all planned for me.
• The routines are a daily mix of cardio and resistance. I don’t get bored.
• Open 6 days per week, with multiple sessions per day. No schedule excuses.
• I workout with other people that soon become friends. I’m not alone.
• The coaches are knowledgeable, motivating, and encouraging.

Guys who are wired like me, who were once in shape but have let themselves go, live with a quiet self-loathing.?

They hate getting their picture taken, looking in the mirror, and getting dressed. Every. Single. Day.

The game changer for me was not what I did but how I did it.?

The small group fitness concept with premade daily routines and buddies who share similar goals made all the difference for me.?

It might be the difference you need to reclaim the body you once had and all the positive mental and emotional feelings that come with it.