Fitness Gone At 44?
I just performed the first Surfgym balance and stability class using the Rooboard at a private class in London.
At 44 years old you may think I am a little too old to start teaching fitness again. Ten years ago I would have thought the same thing. But I am also fitter, stronger and more mobile than I was ten years ago. How did that happen?
For as long as I remember I have been fit and healthy. I enjoyed playing sports and my upbringing in New Zealand gave me the perfect environment to exercise in.
I competed in triathlons and multi-sports for many years and ran the Auckland marathon. I was a member of team from the London surf club who swam the English Channel.
I have been lean, muscled and somewhere in between depending on my focus at the time. You could say I took my body and fitness seriously – at the time I certainly thought I did.
However, on a cold wet morning just a few days after my 40 birthday I assessed what I needed to do to get my body through the next 40 years, hopefully in good health and hopefully injury free.
I acknowledged a few things:
I would never again reach the cardiovascular heights of my triathlon days. I would not have the time to surf as much. Due to work and career commitments my gym workouts would be limited to three sessions a week and some weeks this would be none. Running on hard surfaces had lead to lots of niggling injuries, I could still run but only once a week and it had to be off road.
So what did I do? I took my training seriously. I forgot about the vanity exercises and focused on good old fashioned functional fitness. Then I experimented with how I could speed up my functional fitness workouts.
From this I invented and launched the Rooboard balance and core board and now I am in the process of launching the Surfgym fitness classes and workouts.
At 44 years old am I putting my feet-up? Definitely not, my fitness journey to true muscular symmetry and perfect balance is just beginning.
Mason Gilmour-Platt
