I still remember the first time I walked into a gym in my 20s. The music was pumping, the mirrors made everything look shinier, and it felt like I had stepped into endless possibility. Almost like passing through Narnia. I thought, this is it.. THIS is where I will change my life. I posted posed photos, a ton of progress photos, and of course with the cliche of ‘if I can do it, you can do it’ because I wasn’t mature enough in my fitness journey to imagine that people are multifaceted.. with different life experiences, and different struggles too. What a twerp 😆
But fast-forward a decade (and then some), I know that walking a gym feels… different. Not because of lost motivation but because after 35, life looks and feels different.
Back then, I didn’t care that the guy next to me was curling twice my weight. I wasn’t worried about how many steps I’d get in while working on shift, or whether waking up early at the gym meant sacrificing sleep I desperately needed. The grind-hard, go-harder vibe doesn’t inspire me the same way. I’d like to think… I have matured? lol the original thought was ‘I’m just older now’ but really what works for us in our 20s, can look different into our 30s, and 40s.. and so on. And I don’t mean “Im tired, I need sleep first so I’m not sacrificing sleep for my workout” because some days it’ll be sacrificing sleep for working out. I wish I could tell you it will always feel balanced, but it won’t. However, we can work on improving our sleep and managing our stress (that’s another blog entry) in order to maintain a functional level all while giving ourselves grace for those things that aren’t controllable. There’s a lot of grey area between listening to our body and also having discipline.
Anyway..
After 35, most of us (not everyone, but most) aren’t chasing six-packs or smaller jeans sizes anymore. We’re chasing energy to get through long days. Strength to carry groceries and kids at the same time. We’re seeing our parents change, and that’s sparked something inside of us to get into mobility and strength training. If you are chasing a physical appearance goal, that’s alright too because everyone is different. In saying this as well- I know a lot of people do this for sport purposes (ie bodybuilding/transformation shows because I did at one time too) but remember dieting and lifting for a sport is different than every day functional fitness, healthy eating and long term weight loss eating. Meal prep for a short duration, a sport, depletion- again different and that usually comes with a lot of other things to unpack like reverse dieting, weight gain, feeding into body dysmorphia, etc.
When you walk into your work, and someone is preaching about their newest diet to lose weight fast, or when you enter a gym that’s full of mirrors, headphones, and everyone staying in their own bubble.. it can feel lonely and sometimes that feeling of comparison comes up. You start to wonder, where do I fit in here?
And maybe that’s why so many people hit that wall. It’s not that we stop caring about our health- it’s that we crave a space that feels human. Where you can wear what’s comfortable even if it’s not trendy. A place where the goal isn’t just to burn calories, but to build confidence, to remember we are more than the work version of us, the spouse version, the parent version. Where connection matters just as much as the workout. Where you can laugh, sweat, and feel strong without pretending to be someone you’re not.
Most gyms feel wrong after 35 not because we’ve outgrown fitness, but because we’ve outgrown the idea of fitness as punishment or performance. What we really want is a place that reminds us who we are and gives us the tools to find ourselves again.
Fitness after 35 is less about proving yourself, and more about building yourself back up to be your strongest, steadiest version of yourself while being surrounded by people who get it.
Christina
The Transformation Station 