Is It Ever Too Late To Get Fit?

If you’re not in good shape in these crucial middle years, can you still cruise into old age well? Jane Druker investigates

At this stage of the exercise game – I’m 52 – I’ve graduated from Jane Fonda workouts in the 80s to Cindy Crawford videos in the 90s to aerobics, swimming and gym memberships aplenty. I’ve never jogged (my body simply wasn’t made for it: thank you, boobs!), and I’ve avoided cycling (never learned to ride a bike, shamefully), but I did have a personal trainer once and it was transformative (and prohibitively expensive) – I gained tone and definition, and I still mourn actual biceps! But, here’s the thing, while I’ve flirted with fitness my entire life, I’ve fallen off the wagon recently – like lots of my friends. Not enough time. I am simply walking from A to B as often as I can. So, I’m curious – just how fit do I have to be to ease into mid to later years with strength and energy?

You can always get fit, it’s literally never too late, according to Healthspan wellness expert Nicola Addison. “Simply put – you either use it or lose it, and the benefits of regular exercise lower the risk of many diseases, reduce stress and anxiety, help us sleep better and make us feel happy!”

There’s one caveat – your body adapts really easily to both good and bad habits, so it’s important to make the building blocks of your lifestyle the right ones, especially from your fourth decade on. “Muscle mass declines every year after age 30 by 2-5%, depending on your biology,” says Annelies Harte, personal trainer at Third Space gym. “If you don’t do anything by your fifties, your support system diminishes and you’ll get progressively weaker year on year.”