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[jsimms615]

Yes, the reason is your six years older. Stop comparing yourself to back then and just do it.

 

[Sarah G]

You are six years older now. You haven't worked out for a long time. You are not getting enough sleep, using medication and fighting minor illnesses. Those are a lot of changes that would impact your ability to workout and how you would feel afterwards. It is important to listen to your body and not to expect to be able to what you could do six years ago or to recover as quickly. Maybe try something gentler and sustainable and build up to harder stuff if you feel up to it. I know it is hard to accept (and frustrating) but it's just the way it is. Social media gives us the impression that we need to go hard or go home which is causing people to injure themselves and or burnout. Try and be kind to yourself and workout in a way that glorifies God (keeping your body healthy) and forget aesthetics, goals and comparing yourself now to your six year ago self.

 

[HereIStand]

Maybe exercise a few times per week, instead of every day. Concentrate on a handful of exercises that you want to do. I tire from exercise too (in part due to health issues), but I do feel stronger than in younger years.

 

[Deadworm]

One of the best decisions I ever made was the decision to run along the Charles River in Boston 5 days a week when I was in grad school. At first, I felt horrible--tired, sore, and nauseous. But over time, by sheer repetition, I built up my stamina and gradually built up to 10 miles a day. At my peak, I covered that distance at a clip of 5 1/2 minutes per mile. Here are the lessons I learned:

(1) There are few greater pleasures than runner's high.
(2) My energy level for my difficult doctoral research remained very high. Sel-discipline in exercise is a transferable discipline for other tasks.
(3) Creative ideas just popped into my head during some of the runs. My unconscious was apparently incubating on my intellectual challenges better during my runs than during my sedentary phase.

During my subsequent career, my discipline slackened off until now (almost 70) I'm lucky to be able to walk briskly for 3-4 miles, but am having a hard time maintaining that discipline. I realize that, that sounder sleep, prolonged alertness, and a greater general feeling of wellbeing are enhanced by my long walks.

Here are my current insights as an older man.
(1) No matter how yucky or tired I feel, the discipline of a daily walk is most crucial. The yucky feeling gradually diminishes.
(2) I need to allow myself no more than 1 day off per week. If I allow more days, my discipline vanishes.
(3) A scenic route helps and varying the route is important to stave off boredom.
(4) My research motivates me because I've learned that my long walks are the healthiest thing I can do--even healthier than a superior diet.

 

[4x4toy]

Six years ago, I told myself I would exercise every day over my spring break...and I did! By the end of that week, I got faster, I could go longer without getting tired, I slept really well every night, my mood was much better...it was the best I'd felt in my whole life! And the more I kept it up, the more I enjoyed it. But once I had to go back to school, I decided I didn't have time to keep exercising every day, so I stopped. (I now regret that...)

This year, I've finally been trying to get back into exercising every day, the same way I did back then. But something seems to be different this time...even after exercising nearly every day for a while, I don't seem to be improving at all like I was last time. I don't feel as good as I did six years ago; also, sometimes my muscles get tired pretty quickly, and I don't enjoy exercise as much when I have to stop and rest repeatedly. I just don't seem to feel very motivated because of all this.

Could there possibly be a reason for this? Can I possibly get my motivation back and improve again? I don't remember what time of day or how long I exercised back then, but it was the same type of exercise I'm trying now. I do know that a few things have changed since then: my allergies may be worse, I'm fighting a lot more minor illnesses, I've been diagnosed with anxiety (even though medication is helping it a lot), and I can't seem to get quite enough sleep anymore...I feel bad for not exercising as much as I should, and I really want to get back into it!

You probably remember the good and not the bad too .. It seems like I've did it hundreds of time in my life . Expecting results too soon will get you down every time so don't keep score just do it ..

 

[bhsmte]

Six years ago, I told myself I would exercise every day over my spring break...and I did! By the end of that week, I got faster, I could go longer without getting tired, I slept really well every night, my mood was much better...it was the best I'd felt in my whole life! And the more I kept it up, the more I enjoyed it. But once I had to go back to school, I decided I didn't have time to keep exercising every day, so I stopped. (I now regret that...)

This year, I've finally been trying to get back into exercising every day, the same way I did back then. But something seems to be different this time...even after exercising nearly every day for a while, I don't seem to be improving at all like I was last time. I don't feel as good as I did six years ago; also, sometimes my muscles get tired pretty quickly, and I don't enjoy exercise as much when I have to stop and rest repeatedly. I just don't seem to feel very motivated because of all this.

Could there possibly be a reason for this? Can I possibly get my motivation back and improve again? I don't remember what time of day or how long I exercised back then, but it was the same type of exercise I'm trying now. I do know that a few things have changed since then: my allergies may be worse, I'm fighting a lot more minor illnesses, I've been diagnosed with anxiety (even though medication is helping it a lot), and I can't seem to get quite enough sleep anymore...I feel bad for not exercising as much as I should, and I really want to get back into it!

Could be you remember how much exercise you could tolerate 6 years ago and you are trying to get back to that point, too quickly. Once you go extended periods with less physical activity, you obviously lose the physiological adaptations that took place from exercise. You can't expect to get this back quickly, it takes time.

As a general rule, if you were in real good condition with whatever your routine was 6 years ago and went years without doing the same, it will take you at least 6 months to return to previous fitness levels.

 

[PeaceB]

Six years ago, I told myself I would exercise every day over my spring break...and I did! By the end of that week, I got faster, I could go longer without getting tired, I slept really well every night, my mood was much better...it was the best I'd felt in my whole life! And the more I kept it up, the more I enjoyed it. But once I had to go back to school, I decided I didn't have time to keep exercising every day, so I stopped. (I now regret that...)

This year, I've finally been trying to get back into exercising every day, the same way I did back then. But something seems to be different this time...even after exercising nearly every day for a while, I don't seem to be improving at all like I was last time. I don't feel as good as I did six years ago; also, sometimes my muscles get tired pretty quickly, and I don't enjoy exercise as much when I have to stop and rest repeatedly. I just don't seem to feel very motivated because of all this.

Could there possibly be a reason for this? Can I possibly get my motivation back and improve again? I don't remember what time of day or how long I exercised back then, but it was the same type of exercise I'm trying now. I do know that a few things have changed since then: my allergies may be worse, I'm fighting a lot more minor illnesses, I've been diagnosed with anxiety (even though medication is helping it a lot), and I can't seem to get quite enough sleep anymore...I feel bad for not exercising as much as I should, and I really want to get back into it!

You are 6 years older. That is the difference. It's tougher as you get older. How is your diet?

 

[bhsmte]

Thanks for your responses. I do understand what you mean! I probably need to take it more slowly and not expect too much too soon.
Also, I think it may be related to the time of day-I may be more motivated at a different time.
I do try to eat healthy too, and I'm doing all right with that, but I could probably do better. It can be a little difficult when you have food allergies.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

 

[bhsmte]

I'm 21.

If you are 21, age should have no issue at all, in you being able to see benefits from exercise and or be able to recover quickly between workouts. In other words, you have age on your side.

 

[*LILAC]

Even at the age of 21 you should still have alot of get up and go in you! I'd like to see how well you'll do at the ripe old age of 41!

 

[Earatha]

At 21 there shouldn't be an age component. There might be that you don't put on muscle as fast, or that you're misremembering. Or you could be trying to do too much too fast. I'm doing crossfit 3x per week and after 3 weeks I'm only just starting to see real results in my body composition.

I don't know what kind of workout you're doing, or at what intensity. I do know that for depression and anxiety regular exercise is WONDERFUL. I recommend high intensity workouts because the "runners high" is amazing. And not just for runners, either.

 

[bhsmte]

At 21 there shouldn't be an age component. There might be that you don't put on muscle as fast, or that you're misremembering. Or you could be trying to do too much too fast. I'm doing crossfit 3x per week and after 3 weeks I'm only just starting to see real results in my body composition.

I don't know what kind of workout you're doing, or at what intensity. I do know that for depression and anxiety regular exercise is WONDERFUL. I recommend high intensity workouts because the "runners high" is amazing. And not just for runners, either.

Agree and at 21, a person is still at their peak ability to apply lean muscle tissue, with the right workouts.

Strongly agree on the intensity of training. Many people believe, longer lower intensity workouts are best, but this is simply not true. The quality of the exercise, is more important than the quantity of the exercise, to cause positive physiological adaptations in the body.

 

[teresa]

Im doing 2 sets of 20 tricep dips on a daily basis or near daily basis.

My arms got turkey wings when I spent so much time not able to walk or to sit up striaight due to dystonia in my back and arthritis in my hip.

I am shocked! BC, by slowly building up and do more and more dips through out the day, my triceps no longer flap in the wind, and are almost rock solid.

there is just a touch of lose skin now, but its become mostly packed muscle.

I'm starting to get some deltoids too, but only doing 1-2 sets of 20 push-ups about every other day.

I'm just using my own body weight and only use hand weights to do some bicep curls.

bc its just mostly my own resistance to gravity, I'm not taking a day off for muscle repair and doing legs one day and arms the next.

Dystonia is excruciating and I've been banned from my doctor from doing anything like bent over rows

 

[bhsmte]

Im doing 2 sets of 20 tricep dips on a daily basis or near daily basis.

My arms got turkey wings when I spent so much time not able to walk or to sit up striaight due to dystonia in my back and arthritis in my hip.

I am shocked! BC, by slowly building up and do more and more dips through out the day, my triceps no longer flap in the wind, and are almost rock solid.

there is just a touch of lose skin now, but its become mostly packed muscle.

I'm starting to get some deltoids too, but only doing 1-2 sets of 20 push-ups about every other day.

I'm just using my own body weight and only use hand weights to do some bicep curls.

bc its just mostly my own resistance to gravity, I'm not taking a day off for muscle repair and doing legs one day and arms the next.

Dystonia is excruciating and I've been banned from my doctor from doing anything like bet over rows

For the upper body, if you could only perform 2 exercises to build strength, the 2 best are dips and pullups.

 

[teresa]

Thank you so much. I'm thinking the pullups are going to be better, and will finally give me some biceps to speak of.

 

[teresa]

The best ab exercise is the reverse curl with your feet on top of a swiss ball

you totally target the abs without placing your neck or low back into it like sit ups do

Start in a neutral head position, no arch in the low back:

Then curl the ball inwards, for a "crunch" and return to the starting position

 

[teresa]

No pulling on the neck or throwing low back into it-brilliant!

 

[look4hope]

First...the obvious. You get older. Bodies change, but your focus & determination can improve. Sign up for 5ks whenever possible. Something to get yourself on track.

Best wishes

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Depending on your age, 6 years could make a huge difference. For example, age 24-30 is going to be a significant change.

For me (as someone who's in his mid-30's now), the key for me is to just go to the gym in the morning and get it done first thing. I found that what killed my motivation was going to work for 8 hours, and then fighting the urge to just wanna plop on the couch and relax when I got home.

When I first got back into lifting in 2013, I was trying the evening thing...it wasn't 2 months in and I bailed. Around 2014, I gave it another shot but trying morning's instead of evenings. Huge difference!...I haven't missed a workout in 3 years. It's nice knowing that at 5 o'clock, you can just go home and relax because you already took care of the exercise earlier.