Are 
you entering middle age with a renewed focus on a healthy lifestyle? Are you proud of what you have accomplished in the gym at your age? Are you excited that you have some gray hair but your six-pack is easily visible? If so, you might decide to show your new body to the world at a local men’s physique or sports modeling competition.
There is a place for every athlete at these competitions, including those in the “masters” divisions. However, unique challenges face older participants. In this article, we will focus on the four traits that you need to find success: conviction, compartmentalization, consistency, and concentration.
Conviction.
If you are in your 30s or 40s, you have survived and conquered numerous life experiences. You have found, perhaps lost, and found employment again. You have faced tragedies, and you have witnessed great joys. Merely walking on stage in front of a few hundred people should pose no problems by comparison.
You must set your mind to accomplishing your goal of getting on stage. Hold fast to this decision. Family, friends, and coworkers may be your biggest critics and naysayers. But in your heart, you have to believe that entering the competition is something that you want to do. You deserve it.
Do not be afraid to push back if people discourage you. Think about what may be keeping them from a healthy lifestyle, and resolve even harder not to fall into the same trap.
Once you have committed your thoughts to a particular competition, do not second-guess or doubt. And absolutely do not allow any thought of postponing the date! By having conviction about the rightness of your decision, you will find it much easier to stay the course of training and nutrition.
After all, if you are going to appear in your bathing suit in front of 300 people, you want to look your best. Right?
Compartmentalization.
As an older athlete, you have responsibilities. The typical middle-aged male is well-established in a job or career that takes at least 40 hours of time each week. He may be married, or divorced and dating, and usually has various children-centered activities. There are social pressures, and community events.
Somewhere in that maze, you need to train and eat the proper fuel. How do you find the time? The way you accomplish it is through “time budgeting.” This is a two-step process.
First, determine how much time you can carve out of your week to devote to your competition preparation. Half of an hour surfing the internet? A couple of hours watching a televised ball game that—honestly—you can live without? A lunch break that takes over 60 minutes because your coworkers want to complain about the boss? All these examples add up.
Second, decide how much time you need for your workouts and nutrition. Can you compress your training into 90-minute workouts 4 days a week? Or will it work better for you to have shorter workouts more often, say 60-minute workouts 6 days a week? Perhaps you just need to get out of bed 45 minutes earlier and get your cardio done each morning.
Sift back and forth through these steps to find the time you need to be successful. However, ensure that you are not neglecting your responsibilities. If you do, the naysayers will get really loud!
Once you find and plan your time budget, you must “compartmentalize.” Figure out which role you are playing, and stick to it at that moment. When it is time to be a dad, give all of your energy to your kids. If you promised your wife a romantic evening, make sure you have eyes for her alone. Be more productive at work than ever before.
But when it is time to train, do not feel guilty about it. Compartmentalize. That is your time in the gym moving big objects, and it is your time on the treadmill. You have earned it. When the training session is done, close that door and move to the next responsibility. Compartmentalize.
Consistency.
There was a time in your life that you could eat what you wanted, play a game of pick-up basketball, go to the gym with the guys, eat a pizza, and you still had a 29-inch waist. That time probably was in a different millennium.
In your approach to middle age, everything is harder. That translates to slower gains. Typically, men allow themselves to deteriorate in their late 20s and throughout their 30s, partially because they just assume that they are still young enough to “get it back” overnight.
Nothing is coming back overnight, gentlemen.
If you still have weight to lose, then schedule your first competition for a realistic date. You will need to have enough time to drop the pounds in a healthy manner, and you need to give your body a chance to build muscle size. If your body fat percentage is acceptable, but your shoulders are disproportionate to your back, then allow time to even out the muscle groups in a manner that does not risk injury. In an effort to push further than your body will allow, you do not want to suffer a serious injury that effectively prevents any future competition.
It is far better to make a steady 1% advancement towards your goal every single week than to achieve overnight success that fades away.
If you are consistent with your effort and your progress, then over time the changes will become “you.” As you look back over the previous 2 or 3 years, you will realize that you are no longer the person that you used to be. The people around you will notice, too. And because of your consistency, all those critics will be asking you for your secrets.
Concentrate.
The aging process is a fickle beast. You might feel like a teenager one day, and like a senior citizen the next. What worked 2 months ago might prove ineffective today.
The ability to concentrate and listen to your own body is indispensable to your success as an older athlete. Your body will let you know when it doesn’t like something. You must discern whether it is simply soreness to work through, or a potential injury to work around. That is a tough analysis. Sometimes your muscles just hurt, and you have to conquer the soreness. Sometimes your tendons are tight, and that pain is warning you to avoid an activity before something is torn.
Concentrate on the messages your body gives you and learn the proper response.
By the way, all athletes need rest to heal and recuperate. That is even more applicable as we age. Do not be afraid to build recovery time into your training schedule to ensure proper growth. In the long run, your body will thank you.
Summary
If you are thinking about trying your first competition as an older athlete, you need to have conviction, compartmentalize your training, be consistent, and concentrate. These four traits will help you to find the success you want.
Above all else, enjoy the journey. If you are entering middle age, but have the desire to compete, you are in a small percentage of your peer group. Be proud of that.
Carpe diem!
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