Retirement Training: Manage Your Fitness Like Your Money

Reframe your fitness like it's money to motivate yourself to plan better for your physical future.

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Fitness is like money.

Having extraordinary amounts of it, like these guys…

More than enough fitness

…may stroke your ego and get you laid more, but it doesn’t guarantee you everlasting happiness.

But having too little…

Too little fitness

…causes constant consternation and limits how much enjoyment you can extract from life.

So it makes sense to work diligently for some, but not excessively for more than necessary.

How much?

All you really need is enough fitness to feel free to do fun stuff with cool people.

Cool stuff with cool people

Well…

not really.

It’s wise to build up a surplus.

Because if you scrape by when you’re young, you risk running out of reserves when you’re older. Then you’ll be in for a world of pain.

Old people in pain

And it may be too late to recover.

Doctor diagnosis

Plus, you’d rather not be dependent on your kids to look after you, right?

Being pushed in wheelchair

So consider asking yourself:

What little investments and concessions can you make to be more physically prudent?

Like making retirement savings, invest in retirement trainings.

Long term fitness goal cover image of centenarian racing in the olympics

Train to Be an “Old-lympian”?

Following the logic of physical prudence, the most rational fitness objective is this:

To be the fittest 100+-year-old possible. 

Look at it as if you’re training for what Dr. Peter Attia coined “The Centenarian Olympics.”

For more on how I ended up focusing on this goal of being an “Old-lympian” and why I think it’s inevitable you will, too, race over to my new post:

The Ultimate Long-Term Fitness Goal Is To Be an “Old-lympian”

Thought Starters

  • 🤸‍♀️ Do you have a well-balanced physical portfolio? You may end up broke if your retirement training doesn’t include strength, mobility, balance, coordination, and endurance.
  • 🎯 Rather than aim for goals, go for aims. Short-term goals are fine for motivation. Just make sure they’re in line with aims you’re shooting for—even aims you may never arrive at, like the Centenarian Olympics.
  • 🤤 True motivation. What would need to change for your to want to do something rather than have to do something? – Clayton Christensen
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About the author

I decode what makes people different and help them build extraordinary things with it. Creator of Innate Edge. Writer of The Zag.

2 responses to “Retirement Training: Manage Your Fitness Like Your Money”

  1. Pat Avatar
    Pat

    I lost weight and became trim and fit by working in my backyard moving A LOT of rock 2 yrs ago but now that my project is done, where can I get that same kind of workout?

    1. Chris Avatar
      Chris

      One idea would be to continue moving rocks. I do so at the beach for strength training. I think it’s fun. Find what’s fun or practical for you. Help neighbors if you have to.

Chris profile

Hey, I'm Chris.

I’m a "human uniqueness engineer," researching how to leverage your one-of-a-kind wiring for compounding advantage.

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