I'm glad you found something that works!

OP here. I am embarrassed to admit this, but things are better due to a simple suggestion some of you made-stretching. For many years I did extensive stretching before exercise. I stopped a few years ago because I kept reading it was useless or even bad in some way. Well guess what? I need it. Big difference!

Muscle soreness fine; joint soreness not so much. Be kind to your knees, back, and shoulders.

I would try swimming, free weights, and yoga. Make sure you're doing exercises properly.

Don't fret about mixing it up. Accept that you can be in great shape (but probably not look the way you did when you were 20.)

FYI - I am a fit person, but every time I've gone to a trainer, I end up really sore. That's because they are completely breaking you out of your comfort zone. That's their job. And when you break out of your comfort zone, you're working your muscles in a different way, and you get sore. I would assume that you will probably be a little sore every time you see your trainer, or he's not doing his job! That said, I bet after awhile, you'll be *less* sore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous -40 is hardly old and neither is 45. if you continue to only do one type of exercise you will see no significant gains in health or fitness - soreness is a sign that you are working out muscles you haven't previously (or lately) used. It's a good thing - keep going and stop blaming things on your age. Go look around the gym and see all the much, much older people who are in phenomenal shape and use them as your inspiration. Also, if you haven't consulted a certified trainer than you should do so to ensure that you are actually doing whatever you're doing the right way. Soreness doesn't mean you are overdoing it!

Not the OP, but a 40-yo trying to get strong. I am very concerned about form, so have started with a great trainer, but I keep wondering how long I will be sore. I am also wondering how long it will take me to get rid of my bat-wings. But, I'm in it for the long haul and this is great perspective.

When did you start with the trainer? How often? what do you do inbetween?

For me, I was pretty sore for about the first two weeks. Then just mild soreness after works outs. Now I get excited if I get sore because it is a reflection of me working a new muscle or working extra hard.


I'm with a trainer doing weights 2xs a week and give it 100%. I do weights myself once a week and give it 75%. Inbetween I put in about 15 miles of running. I think all of this activity outside of the trainer keeps my body pretty well conditioned so the trainer is no longer a shock to the system.

For your bat-wings...that is diet. A trainer cannot help you lose fat. A trainer will help you shape the body that hides under the fat. Also diet is wayyyy harder than exercise. Exercise produces a reward of feeling good afterwards. Eating well, leaves many of us piggies wanting more.

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous -40 is hardly old and neither is 45. if you continue to only do one type of exercise you will see no significant gains in health or fitness - soreness is a sign that you are working out muscles you haven't previously (or lately) used. It's a good thing - keep going and stop blaming things on your age. Go look around the gym and see all the much, much older people who are in phenomenal shape and use them as your inspiration. Also, if you haven't consulted a certified trainer than you should do so to ensure that you are actually doing whatever you're doing the right way. Soreness doesn't mean you are overdoing it!

Not the OP, but a 40-yo trying to get strong. I am very concerned about form, so have started with a great trainer, but I keep wondering how long I will be sore. I am also wondering how long it will take me to get rid of my bat-wings. But, I'm in it for the long haul and this is great perspective.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um, I get pretty damn excited when I'm sore after a work out. I'm thrilled if I have to take advil to sit on the toilet after a heavy dose of lunges and squats. The only way I can shape and maintain this body is via muscle soreness.

You don't stop exercise becasue you get old. You get old because you stop exercise.

My mom is 70 and lifts weights. She still looks great in a short dress. I would need a catastrophic event not to exercise. Most middle aged women I see at the gym are wasting their time prancercising.

Not if they're happy.

Seriously, I see a lot of women who are either exercise addicts or borderline anorexics. None of them seem happy on a daily basis.

Sure, once in a while, having to take advil after a hard workout is one thing. But daily or even weekly having to take advil because you are that sore is not what I view as a healthy, happy life. If the point of not getting "old" or "out of shape" is to avoid conditions that cause pain and discomfort, it seems to me sort of ridiculous and pointless to try to combat that with a regime/routine that causes just as much pain and discomfort.

I'm a fan of moderation, and that includes exercise. It's good to be active. But I don't think it's good to on any kind of regular basis be in so much pain that it's hard to sit on a toilet.

And frankly, I hope when I'm 70, I don't obsess over my body and how I look in a short dress. That doesn't fit my definition of happiness. I want to be able to be active and to get around, but I don't think you have to kill yourself at the gym every day to achieve that. And in fact, there are a lot of fitness nuts who end up with pretty serious chronic conditions when they're older because they over did it too much and too often.

They don't seem to be happy bellyaching and complaining in the locker room that they are flabby and fat.

I don't regularly get sore because I am fit. If I do get sore, it is a windfall.

My 70yr old mom, looking awesome in a mini is pretty damn happy. Happy to be a nationally ranked tennis player in her age category, happy to have just hiked Mt Kilamanjaro, and happy to still be able to consume 2,000 calories as a senior citizen, and happy to run the ATM each year with her kids and happy to steal clothes out of her daughter's closets. I think she would be very unhappy fat and tired, shuffling about like most of her peers.

I feel that she is not injury prone due to good genes and having a comprehensive work out approach that still includes weight lifting-plus varied cardio. Anyone who is a lifelong exerciser who does not work the whole body, especially parts they hate exercising are going to open themselves up to injury due to not having a balanced body. Same thing goes for inconsistent exercisers. It is never a good idea to take extended breaks and then try to get back into it at the same levels as when they left off.

I feel so lucky to have a mother who is an amazing role model from a fitness perspective. Growing up, exercise and the outdoors was always a part of our lives, so for me exercise and eating well is about as natural to me as birthing a baby. Out of shape and overweight is just not something we do. Underweight is not something we do either. I'm a sturdy 5'9" and 145lbs. You can't get too light packing muscle.