For many the idea of hitting the gym is off putting; besides feeling pressure to wear fitness attire which may reveal a less-than-perfect body, being around fit and toned individuals when you’re starting out can have your self confidence wobbling along with your butt. This is where a personal trainer can be invaluable.
Lisa Kable runs the Sydney-based fitness and wellbeing operation, Emerging Butterfly, and specialises in training women aged 40-plus. A mother of three herself, Kable became a personal trainer at age 47, because she hadn’t been able to get the results she wanted from being trained by someone else. “Even though I’m slim, I just couldn’t get a flat tummy, because the ‘elastic’ principle doesn’t work as well after having a third child,” she explains. “So I studied, and I learnt why I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. Now I drill into my clients the tip that had eluded me for so long; to feel good, you need exercise and healthy eating to become second nature. I can help women with both.”
There are many reasons why a personal trainer can be beneficial, especially for anyone returning to fitness after having children, or because they don’t feel they have quite the same body they used to as a 40-something. One is to help avoid problems such as injuries. “Everyone needs to be careful,” says Kable, “but women aged forty-plus have had more years to sustain injuries from life situations, such as car crashes, trips and falls, skiing accidents, and other broken bones, that can affect their ability to exercise.” Kable says a good personal trainer will know how to work around long term injuries, and what is more important, how to avoid new ones. “A full discussion of all your previous weaknesses and injuries with a new personal trainer is essential,” she says. “From the start, the trainer can prepare an effective session that doesn’t exacerbate an ‘old war wound!'”
Kable says it’s also important to take things slowly when starting out, whether you’re new to fitness, or starting again after a period of inactivity. “Do too much, too heavy, too fast, too soon, and an injury could be on the cards,” she warns. “Exercise is for life, not a fad or a short-term fix. People need to look forward to exercise, not dread it or see it as a chore, so it becomes a part of life that just happens. A good personal trainer makes exercise fun, challenging and different.” Goal setting is also essential. “A forty-plus woman in good health can do most exercises,” says Kable. “Intensity is the key, and to build up everything gradually. That’s building up the number of repetitions of an exercise, the duration of a session, the number of sessions per week, the number of kilometres or miles walked or run, and the amount of weight being lifted. The fitter and stronger you get, the faster and easier exercise gets. And then you need a new challenge, a new goal, and there’s always one to be found.”
Becoming fit isn’t just about working out, however; it’s also about what you eat. “By the time you’ve hit forty, you should know what your weaknesses are when it comes to diet and exercise,” says Kable. “But a key thing is not to beat yourself up about it. Try one small change every week, which will equal fifty-two changes in a year, and which will make a massive difference to someone looking for a lifestyle change.” Simple examples include having one less teaspoon of sugar in a cup of tea, eating brown rice instead of white rice, and taking a walking around the block every other day. “In just three weeks that would equal an improvement in sugar and fibre consumption, and an increase in fitness,” says Kable.
Besides a dislike for gyms, there are other stumbling blocks that women in their fabulous forties sometimes have to overcome, and it’s here a personal trainer can be invaluable. “There are so many places to get fit with minimal equipment, or using your own body weight,” Kable says. “Think push-ups, on the knees it’s a lift of sixty-five per cent of body weight, while on the toes it is seventy-five percent. A chair will work for tricep workouts, and just a single step and you can go hard with cardio. A little imagination, plus a bit of direction from a good trainer, can give you an unlimited supply of exercise options. Thera bands or tubes are fantastic; take them anywhere and you have a portable gym. Use a pillow to strengthen inner thighs or the kitchen bench for inverted push ups, even a wall can work your lower half with wall sits and push off with your hands to strengthen the upper body.”
Many women also benefit from group training. “We laugh a lot before during and after class, and even my dawn class in the middle of winter class starts with a laugh or two or three, with our multilayer outfits and beanies creating much hilarity,” says Kable. “There’s definitely a social aspect to group training, but there’s also a satisfaction element. An hour later, we’ve exercised and have the whole day ahead of us.” Ultimately, for Kable, the most important key is to make a start and get moving, even if you’re not keen on exercise. “I just don’t get what there’s not to like about exercise,” she says. “You will have more energy, more flexibility and muscle tone, you will radiate health, keep up with your kids, and carry more shopping bags. In fact, all daily activities are so much easier. Also, personal satisfaction from a strong, healthy body means a happier mind.”
This is an extract from Joanna E. Hall’s e-book 40 and Still Fabulous: The Next Chapter.
