Ep 714: 10 Things I’ve Changed My Mind About Fitness After 40
What if some of the things you believed about fitness when you were younger no longer make sense as you get older?
After decades of training and years of coaching other people, Jeremy Scott has changed his mind about quite a few things when it comes to health, fitness and aging.
And that's a good thing.
Because getting older doesn't mean you have to stop training hard, stop caring about how you look, or settle for feeling worse every year.
But it does mean that your approach to fitness may need to evolve.
What worked when you were 20 isn't necessarily what you need at 40, 50 or beyond.
In this episode of the Jeremy Scott Fitness Podcast, Jeremy breaks down 10 things he's changed his mind about when it comes to training, cardio, mobility, getting lean, nutrition, recovery, muscle, longevity and what actually matters as we get older.
There's also a bigger conversation underneath all of it:
Maybe getting healthier isn't just about doing more workouts. Maybe it's about building a better life.
Listen to the Full Episode
If you'd rather listen to the conversation, check out the full episode of the Jeremy Scott Fitness Podcast below:
10 Things I've Changed My Mind About
In this episode, Jeremy talks about how his perspective on fitness has evolved after decades of training and coaching.
The goal isn't to say that everything he believed in the past was wrong.
It's to recognize that experience changes your perspective.
And that's one of the most important lessons in fitness.
Fitness After 40 Requires a Different Perspective
One of the biggest mistakes people make as they get older is assuming that fitness should work exactly the same way it did when they were younger.
It doesn't.
Your priorities change.
Your recovery can change.
Your schedule changes.
Your responsibilities change.
Your body changes.
And, perhaps most importantly, your definition of what "fit" means can change.
When you're younger, fitness can be heavily focused on aesthetics, performance, competition or simply seeing how hard you can push yourself.
As you get older, those things don't necessarily disappear.
But they have to exist alongside other priorities:
Staying strong
Maintaining muscle
Protecting your joints
Maintaining mobility
Recovering well
Staying athletic
Managing stress
Having energy
Eating in a sustainable way
Maintaining independence
Being healthy enough to enjoy your life
That's a much bigger definition of fitness.
And it's one of the reasons your training should evolve as you age.
1. More Exercise Isn't Always Better
There's a point where adding more training stops producing meaningful benefits and starts creating additional fatigue.
This doesn't mean exercise is bad.
It means that more isn't automatically better.
For busy adults, especially those balancing careers, families and other responsibilities, the goal shouldn't necessarily be to spend as much time in the gym as possible.
The better question is:
What is the minimum amount of effective training I can consistently do while still getting the results I want?
That might include strength training a few times per week, some conditioning, regular walking and mobility work.
The exact prescription will vary from person to person.
But the principle is important:
Train with purpose instead of simply accumulating workouts.
2. Cardio Doesn't Have to Mean Hours on a Treadmill
Cardiovascular fitness matters.
But the way people think about cardio can become unnecessarily complicated.
You don't have to spend hours doing traditional cardio to improve your fitness.
Walking, hiking, cycling, sports, intervals, conditioning workouts and other forms of movement can all have a place.
The bigger goal is to maintain the ability to move, work and play without getting completely exhausted.
For adults over 40, cardiovascular fitness becomes part of the bigger picture of being physically capable.
You don't just want to look fit.
You want to be able to do things.
3. Mobility Becomes More Important as You Age
Mobility is one of those things many people don't appreciate until they start losing it.
When you're younger, you can often get away with neglecting mobility.
You can sit for hours, skip warm-ups, stop stretching and still move relatively well.
Eventually, that can catch up with you.
Maintaining mobility doesn't necessarily require an hour-long stretching session every day.
Small amounts of consistent mobility work can be incredibly useful.
Think about the movements you actually need in your life:
Getting down to the floor
Getting back up
Reaching overhead
Rotating
Squatting
Lunging
Carrying things
Getting in and out of a car
Playing with your kids
Playing sports
Traveling
Fitness isn't just about how much weight you can lift.
It's also about how well you can move.
4. Getting Lean Isn't About Finding the Perfect Diet
The fitness industry has spent decades convincing people that there is a perfect diet.
There isn't.
There are different approaches that can work for different people.
The bigger challenge is finding an approach you can actually maintain.
Getting lean requires attention to nutrition, energy intake, food quality, activity and consistency.
But the best nutritional strategy is often the one that fits your actual life.
If your diet is so restrictive that you can't maintain it, it isn't a sustainable solution.
The goal isn't to win a 30-day diet challenge.
The goal is to build eating habits you can live with for years.
5. Muscle Matters More as You Get Older
Building muscle isn't just about looking better in a T-shirt.
Muscle is part of physical capability.
As we age, maintaining strength and muscle becomes increasingly important because we want to preserve the ability to do the things we enjoy.
Strength training can help you maintain the physical capacity to:
Lift
Carry
Push
Pull
Climb
Run
Play
Travel
Participate in sports
Handle everyday life
That's why strength training after 40 should be viewed as more than a bodybuilding activity.
It's an investment in your future self.
You don't need to train like a professional bodybuilder.
You need to consistently give your body a reason to remain strong.
6. Recovery Is Part of Training
When you're younger, you can sometimes train hard, sleep poorly, eat whatever you want and somehow show up the next day ready to go again.
That doesn't always work forever.
Recovery becomes increasingly important as your life gets more demanding.
That means paying attention to things like:
Sleep
Nutrition
Stress
Training volume
Rest days
Mobility
Workload
Life outside the gym
Training creates the stimulus.
Recovery allows you to adapt to it.
The goal isn't to avoid hard training.
It's to make sure your hard training actually contributes to your long-term progress.
7. You Don't Have to Train Like You Did at 25
This may be one of the hardest lessons for people who were athletic or very fit when they were younger.
You remember what you used to be able to do.
You remember the workouts.
You remember the weight you lifted.
You remember how quickly you recovered.
And you want to get back there.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to be strong, lean and athletic.
But your training should account for the person you are today.
That doesn't mean lowering your standards.
It means changing the strategy.
Train for the body and life you have now, not the body you had 20 years ago.
8. Longevity Is About More Than Living Longer
The word "longevity" gets thrown around constantly in the health and fitness world.
But simply adding years to your life isn't the entire goal.
What do you want those years to look like?
Can you walk comfortably?
Can you get off the floor?
Can you carry your own luggage?
Can you play with your kids or grandkids?
Can you participate in the activities you enjoy?
Can you travel?
Can you maintain your independence?
Can you still do the things that make life fun?
That's where fitness and longevity intersect.
The goal isn't simply a longer life. It's a more capable life.
9. Health Isn't Just About Workouts, Food and Supplements
This may be one of the most important ideas in the entire episode.
We have more fitness information, technology, supplements, wearable devices and online programs than ever before.
But there is another piece of health that doesn't always get enough attention:
Human connection.
It's possible to build a lifestyle where almost everything can be done without interacting with another person.
You can work from home.
Order groceries.
Order food.
Shop online.
Train alone.
Watch entertainment alone.
Communicate through a screen.
Technology can make life incredibly convenient.
But convenience isn't necessarily the same thing as connection.
Humans are social creatures.
Community matters.
Relationships matter.
Having people around you matters.
And your health isn't just what happens during the hour you spend exercising.
It's also the life you build outside the gym.
10. Maybe Fitness Should Be About Building a Better Life
This is where all of these ideas come together.
The ultimate goal of fitness shouldn't be to spend your entire life chasing fitness.
Fitness should help you live your life better.
Train so you can be strong.
Build muscle so you can remain capable.
Improve your conditioning so you have energy.
Work on mobility so you can move.
Eat well so you can perform and recover.
Recover so you can continue training.
Build relationships and community so you don't live your life in isolation.
And take care of your health so you can actually enjoy the years you're working so hard to create.
That's a very different approach than simply chasing a number on a scale.
What Changes After 40?
Getting older doesn't mean you need to stop training hard.
It means you may need to become smarter about how you train.
For many adults, the priorities begin to shift from simply asking:
"How do I get in shape?"
to asking:
"How do I stay strong, mobile, athletic, healthy and capable for the next 20, 30 or 40 years?"
That's a much more interesting question.
And it requires a long-term approach.
You don't need to be perfect.
You need to be consistent.
You don't need to chase every new fitness trend.
You need to figure out what actually works for you.
You don't need to train like you're 25.
You need to train for the life you want to live at 45, 55, 65 and beyond.
The Fitness Lessons That Change With Experience
One of the benefits of spending decades in fitness is realizing that your perspective will change.
You learn.
You experiment.
You make mistakes.
You discover what works.
You discover what doesn't.
And sometimes you realize that something you were convinced was important really wasn't that important after all.
That's not failure.
That's experience.
The best fitness plan isn't necessarily the one you believed in 20 years ago.
It's the one that makes sense for your goals, your body, your schedule and the life you want to live now.
Fitness After 40 Isn't About Doing Less
There's an important distinction here.
A smarter approach to fitness after 40 doesn't mean becoming fragile.
It doesn't mean avoiding heavy weights.
It doesn't mean you can't run.
It doesn't mean you can't play sports.
It doesn't mean you can't push yourself.
It doesn't mean you have to spend the rest of your life doing gentle workouts.
Quite the opposite.
You can still train hard.
You just need to understand why you're training hard, manage your recovery and make sure your training supports your long-term goals.
The goal isn't to become less capable because you're getting older.
The goal is to remain capable for as long as possible.
What Have You Changed Your Mind About?
One of the best things you can do for your health is periodically question your assumptions.
Ask yourself:
Am I training because it actually helps me, or because I think I should?
Is my current workout routine sustainable?
Am I prioritizing strength?
Am I doing enough cardiovascular work?
Am I maintaining my mobility?
Am I recovering adequately?
Is my nutrition realistic for my lifestyle?
Am I trying to train like my younger self?
Am I focused only on appearance?
Am I building a life that supports my health?
Do I have enough community and human connection in my life?
You don't have to completely reinvent your fitness routine.
Sometimes one small change can make a major difference.
The Bottom Line
The longer you spend in fitness, the more you realize that there isn't one perfect workout, diet, supplement or training philosophy.
Your needs change.
Your goals change.
Your body changes.
Your life changes.
And your approach to health should be allowed to change with it.
For adults over 40, fitness should be about more than looking good.
It should help you stay strong, move well, maintain muscle, recover, stay athletic, protect your independence and enjoy your life.
That's the bigger picture behind this episode of the Jeremy Scott Fitness Podcast.
And perhaps the biggest lesson is this:
You don't have to believe the same things about fitness forever.
Sometimes changing your mind is exactly how you get better.
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