Five Minute Friday

Welcome to 5 Minute Fridays, my weekly newsletter, where I reveal my latest tips to help you get lean, boost energy and live a long active healthy life in Midlife.

You can also read this at RuthSheridan.me​

What’s in store for today:

• The trip we shelved
• Harvard study on aging
• A book that’s aligned with how I coach women today

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Hey friend,

I turned 64 this week.

Reg took me out for dinner just has he has every year for the last 15 years we have been together.

A new restaurant opened up in our area and it’s all the rage. We hadn’t been to it yet so that’s where we headed.

The restaurant was tiny…. wood oven pizza, and amazing salads and appetizers. On a week day night it was packed, loud, and it took weeks to get a reservation.

We opted for a seat at the bar because people were literally crammed in the small floor space, one table next to the other.

I have this weird hearing thing. I hear everything. Its like supersonic bat ears! It makes it tough for me to focus on one conversation in noisy environments so being seated at the bar was the best place for us.

We split an amazing salad topped with burrata cheese, a small side dish of warm olives and then split a pizza and tiramisu for desert.

We even shared a glass of wine which I rarely do anymore but being my birthday it was a nice treat.

The place reminded me of our favourite restaurant in our old neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. Same great food, same vibe.

I felt great for about two hours.

Then I felt awful for the entire next day.

Bloated, sluggish, foggy, my joins were stiff, and at one point I thought I was going to have to go lay down.

My body basically sent me an invoice for that pizza dinner and made me pay it in full.

A few years ago I would have just felt guilty about it, no big deal, and get on with my day.

This week after the horrible feeling left, I mostly just felt curious.

I had planned to shoot a video the next day but I just felt so horrible I had to wait.

Because here’s what I keep coming back to as I get older: it’s not really about the pizza. It’s about what I want my body to be able to do for the next 20, 30 years.

So next time I decide to celebrate something like that ( yes my memory is short and I will probably do it again next birthday) I know I shouldn’t have much planned the next day!

Picking up where we left off

Reg turns 66 this year. I just turned 64.

Back before the world shut down, we had a trip planned. Arizona, then up into Moab Utah, spend some time in Colorado then up to ski in the Canadian rockies. Mountain bikes on the truck, skis in the back, hiking boots packed, dogs excited, the whole thing.

It was March 2020, we were supposed to leave the week everything closed down, and that trip just… didn’t happen.

The world got weird, life got rearranged, my two grandchildren were born, I started my Youtube channel, and somewhere in there the plan quietly got shelved.

We’re picking it back up.

Our house is going up for sale. The goal is to get back on the road, chase some good singletrack ( the mountain bike I bought as a ” happy birthday to me present” is dying to get out into the mountains), get back on my back country skis in the winter, and stop putting “someday” trips on hold.

None of that happens if our bodies can’t keep up with it.

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​The research behind why this matters

Here’s what’s actually happening in the background as we age, whether we notice it or not.

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In a Harvard study on Age and Muscle Loss: muscle loss runs about 1–2%/year starting at 35, accelerating to ~3%/year after 60, adding up to 4–6 lbs lost per decade without training — and disability rates run 1.5–4.6x higher with significant muscle loss, but strength training can reverse it. (Harvard Health)

Here’s the part that matters most: strength and power training can reverse this. Not just slow it down, actually restore muscle function that’s already been lost.

If you missed this week’s video you will see how my client got back the things she loves to do by strength training​

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That’s the whole reason I train the way I do, and why Reg and I aren’t willing to just accept “getting older” as a reason to shrink our plans.

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Muscle isn’t vanity at this age. It’s the deposit you make now on the trip, the hike, the ski run, and the life you still want later.

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One Thing to Do This Week

Pick one thing on your someday list. A trip, a hike, a race, a physical goal you shelved.

Then ask yourself honestly: could my body handle that today? If not, what’s the one thing standing in the way — strength, endurance, mobility, confidence?

You don’t have to solve all of it this week. Just name it. That’s the first step to training for it on purpose instead of hoping it works out.

Hit rely to this email and tell me what it is! I would love to hear.

One Thing I Love This Week

I’m recommending “Younger Next Year“ by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge.

It’s built around the same idea as today’s issue: the biological decline most of us assume is “just aging” is largely optional, and consistent exercise is the closest thing we have to a real countermeasure. It’s an easy, motivating read, not a dense science textbook.

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If you want more structure while you’re at it

If you’re in the same boat, wanting your body ready for whatever “someday” you’re chasing, come join the free community. It’s the easiest first step, no pressure, just support and accountability while you build the habits that make the big stuff possible.

​Join the free community HERE ​

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One Quote to Finish Your Week Strong

“Your world doesn’t shrink because you got older. It shrinks because you stopped training for the life you still want.”

Have a beautiful weekend,

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