Over the last six years of coaching at The Golden Life Project, I've had a front-row seat to what happens when people start moving with intention.
I've watched members get stronger, surprise themselves, build confidence, and do things they never thought they'd be able to do. I've also watched how our bodies change through different seasons of life. What worked for us in our 20s or 30s doesn't always feel the same in our 40s, 50s, and beyond. But one thing I don't think we should do as we get older is stop challenging ourselves.
In fact, I think we need to get a little more intentional about how we do it. One type of training I've become increasingly interested in is Sprint Interval Training (SIT).
First, what actually counts as a sprint?
A sprint isn't just a hard effort. It's a short, all-out effort. As fast and as hard as you can go relative to your individual ability.
SIT involves brief bouts of maximal or near-maximal effort, followed by enough recovery to allow you to repeat that effort.
And that recovery is important. If we're not resting enough, our speed and power start to drop. We're no longer producing the same high-quality effort. We're essentially turning the workout into something else.
It's tempting to think that more work and less rest automatically make a workout better. But with sprinting, that's not the goal. The goal is to give it everything you've got, recover, and do it again.
One of our Golden Rules is Prioritize Balance. I think that applies here perfectly. Push when it's time to push. Rest when it's time to rest. The recovery is just as intentional as the effort.
Why does sprinting matter?
Beyond the obvious benefits of getting faster and more powerful, sprinting can have a meaningful impact on our metabolic health.
Our muscles play a major role in managing blood sugar. When they contract during exercise, they take up glucose from the bloodstream, helping our bodies regulate blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity. Sprint training can also stimulate improvements in mitochondrial function, which helps our cells produce energy.
This matters more as we age, particularly as we work to maintain muscle and support our metabolic health.
Dr. Stacy Sims has had a big influence on how I think about training women, especially through midlife and menopause. Her work is a reminder that our bodies and training needs change. Hormones shift, recovery can look different, and maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important. We shouldn't necessarily train less as we get older. We should train with more intention.
I've also been reading Weightless by Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen, and it's been a great reminder that metabolic health is about so much more than the number on the scale. It's about what's happening inside our bodies: how we manage blood sugar, maintain muscle, support healthy body composition, and ultimately how we feel day to day.
Sprinting is one piece of the puzzle
I don't believe there's one workout, one diet, or one magic solution to staying healthy as we age.
Heavy strength training helps us build and maintain muscle. HIIT and other forms of conditioning challenge our cardiovascular systems. Mobility helps us keep moving well. Nutrition matters, too. Prioritizing protein, getting enough fiber, and being mindful of added sugars and highly refined carbohydrates all support our metabolic health.
And for some people, medical support like estrogen therapy or GLP-1 medications may be appropriate. Our needs are individual, and those decisions belong in a conversation with a qualified healthcare provider.
This brings me back to another one of our Golden Rules: Lead With Your Values.
What do you value most about your life? What do you want to be able to do five, ten, or twenty years from now? Maybe it's keeping up with your kids, traveling, running, playing, or simply feeling strong and confident in your body.
Those things should help guide how we train and care for ourselves today. Not what everyone else is doing. Not what the latest fitness trend tells us we should be doing. Our choices should reflect what matters most to us.
And ultimately, living in alignment with what you value most is what living your Golden Life is all about.
We're living longer. Our bodies, and our internal engines, are running longer. We need to take care of them as they evolve, change, and age.
After six years at the GLP, one thing I know for sure is that being strong and capable isn't reserved for a certain age. I've seen people surprise themselves at every stage of life. I want us to keep doing that. Keep getting stronger. Keep trying new things. Keep challenging what we think we're capable of.
And maybe that's one of the reasons I love sprinting. It's a chance to remind ourselves that we're still capable of powerful things. That we can push, adapt, recover, and do it again. We don't have to shy away from intensity just because we're getting older. We just need to be intentional about how we approach it.
Because living your Golden Life isn't about slowing down. It's about taking care of yourself so you can keep showing up for the things, people, and experiences you value most. And sometimes, that means sprinting toward them.
