Five Rules I Break for Fitness

There are a lot of rules and so much conflicting information out there. For working out in fitness, it can be super confusing which theory or method is best.
And that can cause us all to go in circles, get overwhelmed, switch from one philosophy to another, and just throw your hands up in the air and say, never mind. Analysis paralysis.
And so while I'm not a personal trainer or a fitness guru, I have been working out my entire life. In fact, it's a huge part of my life.
And I feel like I look better today at 52 than I ever have, mostly because of what I've been doing for the last five years. And also whenever I post a workout video or a picture of myself on Instagram, I get a lot of comments and DMs asking that I please share what I'm doing.
So today I'm going to share the five fitness rules that I break to look super fit over 50 and stick around till the very end because I'm saving the one rule that I never break. Hi, it's Hillary.
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So the first rule that I break is I don't do cardio. I don't do any cardio workouts just for cardio's sake.
So the only cardio that I do is walking and running, and I only do it when I want to. I do it because I enjoy it.
I do it because it's good for my mental health and my emotional well-being. It's good for my mind.
And actually, I get really creative when I'm walking and running. Sometimes I actually create these podcasts in my head while I'm out there.
I can't help it. It's just what happens to me.
And my pace is really determined by the music that I'm listening to, so how inspired I am, or actually where my thoughts are taking me. And so that's it.
I literally stopped doing cardio all the time. And some of the other workouts that I do give me some cardio benefit.
I will sweat and I will sometimes lose my breath a little bit, but I'm not just grinding it out on the treadmill or the elliptical to get 30 minutes of cardio in. I don't believe in that at all.
So the second rule that I break, I don't do a scheduled workout like arm day or leg day or push day. I don't write down my weights and my reps in a notebook or anything like that.
What I do is I just get myself to the gym every day and I do what I want. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm gonna be doing until I just get there and I figure it out as I'm there.
It's more like, what haven't I done in a while? Which movements do I feel like doing today? What part of my body needs attention? What movement will make me happy today? And that just means that each day is always different for me and it's more enjoyable and it keeps my body guessing. Number three, I don't do sit-ups.
Yep. I have the abs that I do and I never do sit-ups ever.
Instead, I do core workouts and twisting movements. I feel like sit-ups actually push my muscles out rather than sculpting my midsection in a feminine way.
I don't like the way the six pack looks. I have one, but I don't really like that because to me, it doesn't look feminine.
I want a strong core that supports my body and my back and that is also feminine and soft and sculpted all in the right ways. And I feel like doing hardcore ab workouts is the opposite of that.
Number four, I don't lift super heavy weights regularly. I know, I know.
All the gurus say as you get older, lift heavy, lift heavy, especially for women. And I just disagree.
I don't want to be bulky and super ripped and muscular. That is not the body I want.
I don't want to build my body. Now, I do want to be toned and fit and feminine and strong, but I prefer to sculpt my body to look how I want it to look.
This means I only do heavy weights about one to two times a week for strength, but I'm not doing the same movement heavy weights twice a week. So meaning I might do squats and work out my glutes with heavy weights.
The second time during the week, if I do heavy weights, I'm doing my biceps heavy weights. The rest of the workouts throughout the week, I will mix it up and do light weights with lots of reps.
I also do some kind of Tracy Anderson routine about five times a week. That is very heavy on the core and on the booty.
And for her, like when I do one of her routines, I'm not doing the whole thing. So if you've ever seen her workouts before, she starts off with arm workouts and it's kind of like dancing.
And I don't like that. I feel like an idiot.
So I skip that and I just do the mat workout. And so sometimes I do the whole mat workout routine and then I'll mix it up with some finishers at the end or I'll mix it up with some weights at the end.
Or if I've done a weight workout that day, I might do a 15-minute body boost and just do 15 minutes of booty on the floor with her. But I like to mix it up.
Now, she's this guru and if she had her way, I would do only Tracy every day, and I would do it from beginning to end. And again, I break the rules because that doesn't work for me.
I'm taking the best of the best of all the different things that I like and putting them together and making it my own. With Tracy, her workouts work the smaller muscles rather than just the larger ones.
And this really prevents bulking and it tightens in all the right places. I feel like instead of bulking, I've shrunk actually, but I'm still strong, kind of like a dancer.
Dancers have super strong muscles, especially in their legs, but they're not bulky. And her workouts have actually helped me with flexibility, which is really a big deal.
As we get older, we want to stay flexible. It prevents injuries.
I've been streaming Tracy Anderson since before COVID and I love it. I highly recommend checking it out.
But the rule here that I'm breaking is heavy weights only and all the time. Number five, you may not like this one, but I don't take rest days.
I move my body every single day. A rest day for me is a day when I do a long walk or a run and nothing else, or I'll do something active that isn't part of my normal routine.
So for example, a couple of weeks ago, I went for a mountain biking ride with my husband. Now he's an avid mountain bike rider and I mostly gave that up a long time ago.
My bike literally hangs in the garage from the rafters just in case I ever want it for something. And I hadn't been on my bike for over two years, but I wanted to spend time with him and go up to the mountains and enjoy the fall colors.
So we did about 10 miles mountain biking and that's pretty tough, but I'm fit enough to do that. So what I'm doing actually proves that it's working.
And while I didn't actually enjoy the ride, I kept thinking to myself, I'm going to fall. I'm going to break my face.
What am I doing here? What is he thinking bringing me here? But the point is I don't do rest days because there's always something I can do to move my body. I'm not lifting super heavy every single day, so my muscles don't need to rest.
I'm really just rotating what it is that I'm doing and keeping my body on its toes, basically. I shift my attention to a different kind of workout or a different muscle group or different movements each day.
When I do skip moving entirely, it's very intentional. I'm listening to my body and my body is saying, I'm tired.
And so not working out and not doing anything feels really good to me and I don't feel bad about it at all. Here's the most important thing that I'm going to say.

What allows me to break these rules when it comes to fitness and beyond in all areas of my life? All the other rules that the gurus and the latest trends mandate for us about how to work out and how to live is my philosophy of life, which is to be self-centered. It gives me the freedom to break the rules, to not do what experts say, but what I say.
I take in all the information and then I decide for myself what works for me. Being self-centered, how I teach it, is not about being narcissistic or selfish.
It's opposite, actually. It's being centered in myself..
It's I know what's best for me. I trust myself.
I ask myself. I listen to myself.
I honor myself, prioritize myself, consider myself. I have all the answers for me.
If I need the data or the information to help make decisions, I get it. All of my workouts that I do are coming from places where I've learned what to do, but I don't just do what I'm told.
I make it my own, and I trust myself to do that. Trusting myself to do what is best for me is about my relationship with me.
Being fit like this is something that I want, to be as strong as as I age, to be healthy, and yes, to look good too. Being self-centered in this way is how I get what I want with my body and the results that I have, but also everywhere in my life.
And it's how you will also get what you want in your life. It all starts with you.
The best way to get started with making this

shift to a more self-centered life is to grab my free mini video training called This Changes

Everything. Go to hillarysilver.com forward slash subscribe.
I'll put the link in the show notes

and then the description down below. Thanks for listening and I'll see you next time.