​Let's start with a dubious quote from Rocky as it was Sly's birthday when I wrote this.

"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky Balboa

(Happy Birthday Sylvester Stallone the original fitness influencer)

I've been curious on your behalf this week and have been investigating the following:

1. Gratitude - See above image
2. Aerobic Base Training - Fat loss and health

Let's start with the "gap and the gain", something I've stolen from Dan Sullivan a strategic business coach.

Recently I got a laptop for my studies for next to nothing but it wasn't quite as good as I was expecting / hoping and I remember telling someone about this. They were happy to tell me that I had my head up my ass and that I was lucky to have such first world problems.  The computer was fantastic and it was free! So what the hell was I complaining about?
Refer to the image above.

How many times I see and hear this kind of thing each week with regard to health and fitness in general. Nope I'm not encouraging you to sit on the couch watching tv gorging on Pizza and Ben and Jerry's and being thankful for your lot in life.

I am encouraging you to look at how far you've come in your fitness journey, the obstacles of work and family commitments you've overcome yet still make it to your training session.  

Take a moment to look at the "gain" and know that you have the capacity to achieve your fitness goals even if you aren't as far ahead as you think you should be right now.

Ok, on to aerobic capacity training.
Not going to dive to deep down this rabbit hole today but suffice to say that training your heart and keeping it healthy can and will help in all areas of your life.

The simplest way to do this training is by using the Maffetone Method which you may already be familiar with. 180 - (Your age) with adjustments for injuries or level of fitness. Hit the link for further explanation.

If you want to check out the efficacy of this style of training you can go here>>> In short running, rowing or cycling at a slow pace so that you don't exceed your prescribed heart rate can and will have profound effects on your fitness.

Heart rate monitors are used to maintain optimal training zones and can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. Here's a pretty reasonable deal at Decathlon >>> Chest straps are usually going to be more accurate than activity watches.

This may not be in step with the current trend of HIIT 20 min blast but in truth having a stable aerobic base allows you to push harder in any HIIT session as it allows you to recover better in the intervals.

Aerobic base is just that, the base upon which other energy systems can be trained more effectively.

If you're not actively training your aerobic base in your 40s and beyond then you're missing an opportunity to improve your health and fitness beyond what you see in the mirror.