How to work around a sore knee, hip, or other issue of the day

A few weeks ago I overdid it.

I had switched up my cardio program — something I was actually excited about — and my hip had some thoughts about it.

They were not good thoughts.

The truth is, I have a chronic hip issue. I don’t love talking about it because frankly it annoys me, but it’s part of the deal right now.

So last week meant scrapping the plan I’d been looking forward to and rebuilding my workouts from scratch.

Again.

I hate being “realistic.”

But here’s the weird part: that same week I heard from three clients in a row — all apologizing because they needed to change up their workouts too.

One had tweaked her back shoveling (it’s Maine, it happens). One had been on caregiver duty with a family member and her shoulder was letting her know about it. And one was coming back from the flu after being sidelined for days.

As I mentioned, they all felt apologetic and vaguely guilty, like they should be “toughing it out.”

Here’s what I’ve learned: all of these little detours in our fitness and wellness journeys? It can feel like the norm if you’re a woman over 50.

Having a randomly sore knee and/or feeling tired? This is not the exception. This is probably just a Tuesday.

After 20+ years of working with clients, I’ve learned that this is part of it.

The real question is: How are you supposed to build a consistent routine when your body doesn’t always cooperate?

Consistency doesn’t mean doing the same thing every week.

It just means doing something.

For me last week, that was shorter workouts, subbing in exercises that didn’t hurt, hitting my macros (for the most part), and finding alternate ways to get my cardio.

It’s not glamorous, but it is how you stay in the game for decades!

Here’s how to build your own backup plan.

Women over 50 who make consistent progress over the long haul aren’t the ones who never have setbacks.

What they do have is a Plan B: something else they can do in the meantime to help reinforce their goals.

A few things that help:

• Start with one thing. Pick the single most important thing and do that. For most of my clients, that’s their strength work. Even a short session beats nothing, and it protects the muscle you’ve worked hard to build.

• Mobility work counts. Sometimes just getting warm and moving your muscles through different patterns is the best thing you can do.

• Think minimums, not maximums. A 20-minute resistance workout is a workout (even if your brain tells you it’s not enough).

• Know your non-negotiables. Mine are strength training, my hip rehab exercises, and hitting my macros.

• Tell your inner critical voice to shut up. Missing a workout (or scaling one down) doesn’t kill your progress.

The women I’ve watched make the most progress over the years aren’t the ones with the fewest obstacles. They’re the ones who stopped waiting for a perfect week and got really, really good at Plan B.

You can do that. You probably already are.

If you want someone in your corner when the plan falls apart — that’s kind of my whole thing. I’m currently full for online coaching but have space for local training. Interested? Let’s talk. You can email me here.

Wendy