Does Age Matter When We Train?

I think it’s easy to, when we’re discussing fitness, catalog folks into certain age groups as needing one thing or another from their training.

And to a certain extent that’s totally true, but I think it matters less how old we are and matters more what’s going on in our individual lives.

So if we’re going to have a discussion about strength training and longevity, it’s important that we acknowledge that a focus on lifespan (how long we live) and healthspan (how long we live relatively free of disease) doesn’t suddenly start at age 50 or 65 or 70.

There are things we can do at every age, from birth onward, that will set us up for a long and healthy life.

When it comes to maintaining our overall health and fitness, one thing makes all the difference: moving well.

That’s one of the reasons why we (trainers and coaches) have a tendency to focus on movement patterns, not just exercises or muscle groups.

I think moving well generally leads us down two paths: balance and mobility.

Balance is our ability to keep our center of mass aligned with our center of gravity. 

And while this is generally thought of as a “on the feet” thing, balance happens across all sorts of positions, conventionally standing and not.

Mobility is our ability to access and control range-of-motion at joints.

Loss of mobility is a primary inhibitor of fitness through our lives, as losing both range-of-motion and control means not being able to get into (and out of) certain positions that may be pertinent to the athletic activities that we love or simple daily tasks.

Once we’ve developed this foundation of movement, though, it’s important to consistently layer strength on top of it.

Balancing in a half-kneeling position is great, but standing up from a half-kneeling position (a split squat) is even better.

But this type of thinking isn’t something to be left until retirement day. 

Training a variety of foundational movement patterns builds muscle in the right places and works much better when we start much younger.

The good part? Training the same compound lifts that build strength throughout the decades will build supreme, Instagram-ready strength and muscle mass to envy when you’re younger.