Fitness and Flourishing in your 40’s and 50’s - More Than Just Abs
When you think of fitness, you likely picture physical aspects of health - strength, endurance and a lean, toned body. True fitness encompasses much more than just the body, moving beyond just gym stats, cardio and calisthenics. It's also about emotional strength, mental sharpness, social connectedness and overall well-being.
When we think about fitness more broadly, it becomes clear that preventing the decline in health and well-being often associated with middle age is possible and within reach. Acting with intention, our 40s, 50s and beyond can be the most meaningful and vibrant years yet.
Listen to this episode of Midlife Mojo or read on to find out how fitness goes beyond just being physically fit to encompass emotional and social aspects and explore the important idea of human flourishing, what it means, and why it matters.
Table of Contents
What Does Being Fit Really Mean?
Cultivating Social Fitness: Why Meaningful Connections Matter for Midlife Health
The Key to Midlife Fulfillment: Understanding Human Flourishing
Your Flourishing Future Awaits
What Does Being Fit Really Mean?
We tend to view physical fitness in terms of aesthetic appearance, cardio ability, strength, balance, and flexibility. Improving these markers are important – regular exercise provides well-documented health benefits like lower blood pressure, reduced disease risk, better sleep, and elevated mood.
But the components of overall fitness extend far beyond the gym. Achieving fitness also relies on effectively managing stress, getting quality sleep, eating well, and cultivating healthy thinking patterns. Our mindset and lifestyle choices greatly impact our physical vitality. Those who feel overwhelmed by stressors or struggle with disordered eating patterns or insomnia won’t ever achieve peak fitness, regardless of their workout routine. A growth mindset that fuels motivation and self-efficacy is also key. Fitness requires viewing health behaviors as something we “get” to do, not “have” to do. It’s a lifelong journey, not a temporary diet or program.
Cultivating Social Fitness: Why Meaningful Connections Matter for Midlife Health
We are wired for connection. Yet in our busy modern lives, meaningful social ties often get deprioritized, especially as we roll into our forties and fifties. Social fitness involves carving out time for the people and communities that nurture us. It means being proactive in forging bonds – with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and support groups.
Social connections provide mental stimulation, purpose, joy, and emotional healing. People with strong social ties enjoy better cognitive functioning and live longer. Socializing also builds emotional intelligence, self-confidence, and resilience. A socially fit individual can give and receive care while setting healthy boundaries.
The Key to Midlife Fulfillment: Understanding Human Flourishing
Flourishing moves beyond basic functioning to encompass living vibrantly and reaching our full potential. The concept was developed by sociologist Corey Keyes, who concluded flourishing individuals have high levels of emotional, psychological, and social well-being. They see life as meaningful, generative, purposeful.
Flourishing encompasses emotional fitness – constructively coping with stressors and orienting the mind towards hope, optimism and gratitude. It requires viewing life’s twists and turns as opportunities for growth, not reasons to despair. Flourishing people make fitness a lifelong journey, not a short-term goal. They constantly challenge themselves physically, intellectually, and creatively. They focus on leaving a legacy.
Research shows mindfulness, embracing change, finding purpose, and contributing to others fosters flourishing. Though flourishing takes work, the payoff is huge – improved health, cognitive abilities, professional success, and deeper fulfillment. It allows us to fully experience the richness of being human.
Your Flourishing Future Awaits.
True midlife fitness goes beyond vanity metrics and involves living with purpose, wisdom, and generosity. The path forward begins by crafting a unique vision for holistic health, then setting goals aligned with deeply held values.
Being fit and flourishing in midlife goes beyond six-pack abs and 10k times. It means caring for both the vessel - our physical body - and the contents of the vessel - our mind, emotions, and spirit. Things like managing stress, boosting mood, sharpening cognition and connecting meaningfully with others are important elements. Flourishing - living with purpose, growth, and generosity—is the ultimate goal. Flourishing enables us to thrive physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually.
The path to flourishing begins with believing in yourself, understanding your own definition of health, and connecting goals to core values. It continues through practicing mindfulness, optimism, gratitude and relationship-building. And it unfolds through lifelong learning, exploring talents, and leaving a legacy.
I invite you to start crafting your vision of midlife fitness and flourishing.
What does being fit mean for you at this life stage?
How will you improve emotional and social fitness? Imagine who you could become if you nurture emotional, social, and creative vitality.
What goals align with your values?
Your most meaningful decade lies ahead.
Email me at lisa@lisadupreecoaching.com to share your vision and suggest other topics to that you’d like to see addressed to support being fit and flourishing in your 50’s. Make midlife a springboard to your happiest, healthiest years yet.