Michael Grogan is a Personal Trainer/Movement Coach in Melbourne CBD & Clifton Hill, Australia. He uses a combination of Gymnastic Strength, Advanced Mobility and Barbell Strength & Power exercises to achieve increased levels of performance and body composition with his clients. For more information follow him on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelgrogan_movement/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelGroganMovement and for enquiries contact [email protected]

I recently turned 29, as I normally do when I pass another year I find my self looking introspectively into my life and (over) thinking about what I have/have not achieved at this stage. When I look to my past I do something incredibly smart and judge myself critically with my 20/20 hindsight firmly engaged and tell myself what I could of done/should of done differently – hypothetically, I then have another equally bright idea of smacking my head into a brick wall over and over again as I come to the realization that both things are just as productive to my overall well being.

As I visit my 18 year old self, I jump into his naïve mind to think where I would be at 29 years old – he then tells me that life is over and once you turn 30 so you may as well give up now. My 21 year-old self is a little more mature, he has his goals and dreams written down and he has detailed how he is going to achieve them over the next 9 years to get to a place where he wants to be in life, I quickly ask him:

“what happens after the 9 years though 21 year old Michael?”

“Who cares mate, after 30 you are done, you may as well give up” maybe 21 year old Michael isn’t as mature as I thought? But then again, does he have a point? – Yes our bodies start declining physically after the age of 30 – we generally lose 1% of muscle mass every year after this age, maybe I should just give up?

Or Maybe 18/21 year-old Michael is a Jerk?

I know so many people who have given up on learning new skills or doing things they enjoy just because they turned 25 or 30 or 40 or 50 – and that is an absolute travesty! With modern medicine we are now living longer with far more quality of life until old age, you wanna tell me your done at 30 when you may have 50-60 years of good life left in you – you have barely started buddy!

The purpose of this article is to highlight 3 Reasons why your inner-voice will already tell you that you’re too old, it will also tell you how to combat the negativity of your inner voice through becoming self aware, this in turn will allow you to carry on doing the things you enjoy and allow to keep learning new skills, no matter what your age.

1. Your inner voice really is a jerk…sometimes

Time to PB that Deadlift - even though you are old AF

Time to PB that Deadlift – even though you are old AF

This one is a no brainer, your inner-voice will come up with all kinds of ways to kick you in the pants – his favourite time to do this is when you’re already down.

Look at my example; I was going into my own head and asking my 18 YEAR OLD self what he thought about me turning 29. I wouldn’t trust my 18 year old self to prepare a sandwich safely, let alone allow him to pass judgement on where he thinks my 29 year old self should be.

Your inner voice will try and communicate all sorts of negativity towards you, including that you’re too old to try gymnastics or that you should now stop trying to PB your deadlift because you will never be as strong as you were 5 years ago.

Its up to you to have enough self-awareness to recognise this and overcome these thoughts and realise what is actually happening – that you just need to spend time on your deadlift or the Olympic rings to get better at them, it really has nothing to do with your age.

Ego Disclaimer:

That’s not to say you can just walk up to your PB deadlift and smash it out just because you overcame your negative thoughts and you were feeling frisky on your 45th birthday. You still need to put in the training hours required.

2. Want to know the ideal time to start anything at any age?

Get on that new skill - your getting older and being boring AF isn't compulsory

Get on that new skill – your getting older and being boring AF isn’t compulsory

Here’s a serious tip for all you “I’ve just turned 30 so its too late for me to learn how to learn a new skill because there’s not enough time for me to be as good as people who have always done that particular skill” crowd:

My first recommendation would be to slap yourselves with a wet sock to wake you up from your self-justified comfort zone.

My second and more logical recommendation is to inform you of the best time to start anything: 10 years ago.

You can think of any skill in the world: handstands, Olympic lifting, learning to DJ…Twerking… and the best time to start any of things was 10 years ago! Then you would have 10 years of learning this skill under your belt already. What good is it me saying this? Well, thinking like this is what its like when you start thinking about how other people already have the skills you want and then you find yourself being discouraged by that.

So given we cant go back 10 years in time to start that new skill you best get started NOW (the second best time to start anything).

Ego Disclaimer:

You will be surprised how quickly you learn new things and become proficient at particular skills. If you take a new sport for example Brazilian Jui Jitsu you can spend around 12 months learning it and become proficient enough to compete in amateur tournaments.

Or can sit around and beat yourself up over the fact you will never be good enough to fight in the UFC because you just turned 30…your call.

3. Comparing yourself to similar people of the same age

You probs shouldn't be doing Spider-Man Push Ups at your age: but who gives a F 

You probs shouldn’t be doing Spider-Man Push Ups at your age: but who gives a F

“I turned 30! Panic! All my friends have started having babies and are getting married!!!”

“But I don’t want to get married or have kids yet”

“But everyone else is doing it who are the same age as me so I should do it too?”

For my first recommendation I shall refer you to the wet sock example from section number 2.

Your inner voice loves comparing you to others of a similar age – “I mean Geoff from High School owns a Ferrari, why don’t I have a Ferrari?” – Come on guys there are 800,000,000 different circumstances and thought processes that go on that determine where we end up at particular moments in your life, do you really think you should be doing the same thing as what other people from your old high school are doing? Plus, the game is long, where you are at 30 is a long way from where you will end up in life.

Do whatever it is that you want to do, and don’t apologise for it or base it on what someone else’s idea of what you should be doing is.

Ego Disclaimer:

Don’t justify ‘who you are’ as someone who wants to burn down parliament in a fit of rage or someone who wants to smoke weed all day and sit around on the couch. Make the person you are something productive!

To Conclude:

So there it is, my wild anti-depressive rant on how one should celebrate their 29th birthday.

But seriously, that inner voice is going to doubt what your doing at all stages of your life, and right now it is probably preventing you doing a number of things that will enrich your soul under the guise that you are ‘too old to do that’ or that ‘you should no longer be doing something you enjoy because of your particular age’.

I am not saying you have to go clubbing on your 60th birthday in order to emphasize my point. But what I am saying is that you should not stop doing things you enjoy because you have hit a particular age or that other people in society your age are doing certain things that you are not. Stay true to yourself and follow your path closely and you will always end up where you are supposed to be.

….But maybe ask Geoff how he got that Ferrari though!

For all those wanting advice their training/lifestyle goals get in touch: [email protected]

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Michael is a Human Performance Coach based in Melbourne, Australia creating high performance human machines since 2009. Michael believes in building physical performance using gymnastic strength, advanced mobility and barbell strength & power. Building mental performance through constant challenge, goal setting and skill based activities. Building lifestyle performance through discipline and mental drive.