Working as a health and fitness professional and catering to the over-50 population is a fulfilling career path filled with abundant opportunities. Senior living communities value the presence of skilled health and fitness experts who can lead exercise and wellness sessions. This demand is fueled by the continuous expansion of the over 50 demographic, with Baby Boomers enjoying longer, active lives, and the entire GenX generation by 2030. This mature population is increasingly health-conscious and possesses the financial means to invest in services that enhance their overall well-being. Consequently, there is a compelling need for fitness professionals to serve this older adult population, driven by a multitude of significant factors:

Health and Well-Being: The majority of adults aren’t meeting the physical activity guidelines to stay healthy and sedentary behavior is most prevalent for those over 65. The lack of physical activity contributes to health challenges such as reduction in muscle mass, bone density, and flexibility. Fitness professionals can design tailored exercise programs to improve these aspects, promoting better overall health and reducing the risk of chronic conditions like osteoporosis and heart disease.

Improve Resilience to Falls: Fitness professionals can help individuals retain muscle mass and improve bone health, bolstering their resilience to getting injured from a fall. Furthermore, specialized balance training equips adults with the adaptability and stability necessary to navigate various terrains with confidence. As individuals witness noticeable enhancements in their balance and strength, their confidence in their ability to effectively prevent falls and recover from them is improved.

Functional Independence: Helping older adults maintain their physical abilities and functional independence is crucial. Fitness professionals can focus on exercises that enhance balance, mobility, and strength, which are essential for performing daily tasks and help older adults avoid the need to stay at assisted living facilities.

Mental Health and Cognitive Function: Physical activity has been linked to improved mental health and cognitive function. Fitness professionals can create exercise routines that not only strengthen the body but also stimulate the mind, potentially reducing the risk of conditions like dementia and depression. Research has shown that exercise plays an important role in helping to reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

Social Interaction: Loneliness and social isolation can be significant issues for older adults. Group fitness classes and personal training sessions provide opportunities for social interaction, fostering a sense of community and emotional well-being. In an interview with Diana McNeill, a Bone Health exercise coach, she stated one of the primary reasons she started her business was to build a community to help address the loneliness epidemic. 

Programs that work: There are numerous turnkey programs offering training and/or certifications that have been shown to improve the health, well-being, and physical abilities of older adults, from fall prevention programs like Stepping On to Parkinson’s Wellness Recovery programs. As a health and fitness professional, you’ll have the chance to deliver these life-changing programs and help people improve their health and achieve their fitness goals.

Becoming a fitness professional can take just months to get certified. To learn more about becoming a health and fitness professional, listen to the Second Act Fit Pros podcast episode, “How to Become a Fitness Professional” or attend a free, live, online event, held every month “The Ultimate Part-Time Job for Active & Healthy Adults Over 50.” By entering this field, you can play a vital role in promoting the health, independence, and overall well-being of older adults, helping them maintain physical and mental health, improve their quality of life, and stay active and engaged in their communities.

Erin Eleuterio is an experienced fitness professional working with older adults and host of the Second Act Fit Pros podcast. Her podcast highlights the lives of individuals working in health and fitness in their second act and those that are dedicated to improving the quality of life for mature adults through movement and improved health. Click here to sign up for the Second Act Fit Pros newsletter to get information on upcoming, interactive, online events on how to become a health and fitness professional.

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If you’re already enjoying retirement and have a passion for staying physically active, consider the fulfilling path of becoming a health and fitness professional. This choice allows you to channel your love for physical activity into a rewarding endeavor that positively impacts the lives of others. Whether you aspire to work in a gym, lead fitness classes, become a dedicated personal trainer, or even venture into entrepreneurship, the world of fitness offers a plethora of opportunities to make a significant difference in people’s health and well-being. Below, discover seven reasons to embark on this journey as a health and fitness professional, accompanied by inspiring real-life examples of individuals who transitioned into a second act career in health and fitness.

1.You Will Be an Inspiration to Others: As a health and fitness professional, you will be a role model for people of all ages, showing that it’s possible to learn new skills, stay strong and active, and make a positive impact on the lives of others. Your peers and younger generations will be inspired by your commitment to lifelong learning and your dedication to living a healthy lifestyle. Take for instance, Tim Minnick, at 80, who is the world’s oldest active personal trainer. He reports that gym patrons and clients have commented on what an inspiration he is to them to continue with their exercise program.

Patricia Linderman from Fierce After 45 started adopting a healthy lifestyle in her 50s, after years of mostly sedentary living. After losing over 40 pounds and starting fitness activities she’d never tried before, like Zumba and running, she went on to become a health coach. Her journey has allowed her to be an inspiration to her clients and a reminder that it’s never too late to start on the path to improving your health.

2. An Opportunity to Learn Something New: Pursuing a new career can offer the opportunity to keep your brain and body active, and to continue developing new skills and knowledge. Just like exercise prevents physical decline, embarking on new learning experiences bolsters our cognitive capacities. Research illustrates that older adults, after just six weeks of mastering new tasks, exhibited cognitive capabilities equivalent to individuals 30 years younger.

Marla Mulkey decided to learn about nutrition and holistic health after she found traditional medicine wasn’t helping her daughter’s skin issues. Marla discovered the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and took the certification program. She started imparting the knowledge about nutrition and health she was learning to friends and family and she eventually launched a health coaching practice that helps women in middle age and beyond. 

3. It’s Rewarding to Help Others: Exercise is a powerful tool for preventing many lifestyle diseases.  Assisting people in preserving their health and improving their physical abilities is a gratifying endeavor. By becoming a health and fitness professional, you can gain the knowledge and tools to make an impactful difference in someone’s health and quality of life. 

In podcast interviews, Melinda Sukle, an experienced fitness instructor for assisted living communities, stated “I get more out of it than they do.” Adela Vangelisti, a professional dancer who teaches Silver Swan ballet classes said “from everything I’ve done, this is the one that has given me the most enrichment to my life.” Randy Bernard, a personal trainer, said “this is really an incredible way to spend your time and there’s an enormous need.”

4. Turn your passion into a career: If you already spend a lot of time working out and staying active, why not get paid to pursue the activity that you enjoy.  Entering the health and fitness field can allow you to turn your passion into a fulfilling career, as you help other live healthier, happier lives.

Traci Townsend, a retired public educator, always had a love for working out and lifting weights. After she retired she decided to get certified as a personal trainer and specialize in training women over 50 to lift weights. She now has a large following on Instagram and a successful  online personal training business.

5. Create the experiences you want: When you’re passionate about fitness, you likely have a vision of what you’d like to do to stay active as you get older. With a career in health and fitness, you can make that vision a reality and help others do the same. Whether it’s starting a basketball league for masters athletes, a rock climbing group for those over 50, or a dance class inspired by Saturday Night Fever, you can bring your passions to life and help others do the same.

Arlo Niederer, a retired geophysicist,  leads the Boomer Climb Club in Colorado Springs. It’s an indoor rock climbing club where people over 50 can improve their rock climbing skills and meet other climbers. The club has given Arlo an opportunity to use his extensive rock climbing experience to teach others and create a supportive local community of fellow rock climbers. 

6. Enjoy flexible hours: For many people, one of the biggest benefits of a career in health and fitness is the ability to set their own hours. As a personal trainer or group fitness instructor, you can often choose when and how many clients or classes you want to work with. This can make it easier to balance work with other commitments or interests, and can be a great fit for those who prefer seasonal or part-time work. 

Personal trainer Randi Bethel, with Move Thru Life, trains three clients and she’s happy with the schedule and has no intentions of growing her training business beyond the people she’s currently serving. 

Personal trainer Becky Harkema, with Fit 4 Life with Becky teaches online fitness classes to give her flexibility to travel. 

7. Connect with others and improve your own health: Retirement can mean losing the social connections at work. A career in health and fitness can be a great way to stay connected with others and build a supportive community around your shared interests. You’ll also have the opportunity to apply the knowledge you gain to your own training program, helping you stay fit and healthy as you age. 

Mary Jane Fast, a Zumba Gold instructor, says her class participants are like family. The bonds that have been created in class have extended beyond the studio walls with participants becoming friends and gathering outside of class.  

The fitness industry is currently in need of health and fitness professionals who can teach and train the mature population. You can choose to work in health clubs, community centers, or assisted living facilities, teach and train online, or even become an independent contractor or entrepreneur to start your own health and wellness business. Take advantage of this great opportunity to join the health and fitness industry and make a positive difference in the lives of others. You’ll be an inspiration to those around you and benefit yourself in the process.

Erin Eleuterio is an experienced fitness professional working with older adults and host of the Second Act Fit Pros podcast. Her podcast highlights the lives of individuals working in health and fitness in their second act and those that are dedicated to improving the quality of life for older adults through movement and improved health. Click here to sign up for the Second Act Fit Pros newsletter to get information on upcoming, interactive, online events on how to become a health and fitness professional.

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Human beings are excellent at adapting to new environments. We have powerful brains and capable bodies, and the way we are hardwired allows us to succeed in unfamiliar areas if we have to. This inherent ability sometimes leads us to question our current career path. You may have done this yourself. You are pretty confident that you can succeed in some other career, because your current occupation doesn’t reward you financially, mentally, or in some other way that you desire.

You should always be looking for ways to better yourself, physically and mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Some people decide to bounce from one career to another for purely financial reasons. Your motivation may be to spend more time with your family or to retire at a younger age. If you are seriously considering changing careers, you may have a new field of employment in mind.

Don’t leave your current career until you understand the “Big Why” behind your desire to move on.

Find a quiet room in your house where you feel comfortable. Don’t try this practice at work. Wait until you have some free time to yourself. Take a few deep breaths and clear your thoughts. Then ask yourself this simple question, “Why do I want to change careers?”

Your first answer is going to be a knee-jerk reaction. It is going to be something that people traditionally leave jobs and careers for. One of the most popular reasons for seeking a new occupation is to make more money. If that was your answer to this question, that could be a very valid reason, but it is far from your deep-down desire for a career change.

The next step in the process is “the 7 Levels of WHY” … Continue to ask yourself, “Why do I want to xxx?” until you finally get to the heart of the matter.

In this example, you may answer that you are tired of being broke all the time and living paycheque to paycheque. Now it is time to ask yourself, “Why am I tired of being broke all the time?” You may finally say to yourself that you hate being broke because it makes you feel like a failure, and you will never be able to travel and see the world, which has been a lifelong dream.

This is a real “Big WHY”!

In the beginning, you thought consciously that you only wanted to change careers to make more money. Money has very little to do with it, other than money is the vehicle which will allow you to travel and see the world. This is “why” you want to make more money. You only discovered this as your main motivating factor when you kept asking yourself “why” after each successive answer.

Sit down and ask yourself why you are considering moving from one career to another.

Your initial answer is not going to be your true motivation or desire. After each successive answer, keep asking yourself why you feel that way. Eventually, you will discover your “Big Why.” This is the emotion-driven motivation that you need to never forget. Write it down on a piece of paper and carry it with you, looking at it several times a day. This will give you the focus and courage to make the career change necessary to realize your most important dreams and desires.

A Successful Career Change Means Getting Uncomfortable

Most human beings cling to comfort, though science has proven that when you step outside of your comfort zone, that is where the most significant achievement takes place. If it weren’t for taking uncertain steps out into a scary world, we would still be living in caves and throwing rocks at dinosaurs, waiting around for someone to discover fire. Thomas Alva Edison would never have given us the light bulb, and we probably wouldn’t know that bacon goes great with everything.

Thinking about changing careers can be scary.

Most people just stay right where they are, because they are frightened by the possibility of failure. Since they have their family to provide for, they make the justification that they shouldn’t tempt fate, since moving to a new career might not turn out so well. So that person sticks with their current career even though they are not happy, years later wondering “what could have been.”

If You Never Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone, How Do You Know What You Are Truly Capable Of?

Sports records fall every day because athletes keep pushing themselves. They are not happy with their current level of achievement. They want to know how good they can be, so they train and work very hard. They push themselves out of their comfort zone, their regular training regimen. They lift heavier weights, work out longer, and run faster. The result of becoming uncomfortable, training as they have never trained before, is new personal bests and sometimes world records.

This is because of something known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law. Dodson and Yerkes were a couple of psychologists who, in the earliest years of the 20th century, discovered that stress leads to achievement. What they found was that significant achievement did not happen until a person took small steps outside of the environment, surroundings, and behaviors where he felt most comfortable.

Small Steps Lead to Big Change

They noted that when someone was put in an entirely uncomfortable, stressful environment, performance was horrible. However, taking small steps outside of a person’s comfort zone slowly began to expand the area where that person was happy and comfortable. Over time, it becomes easier and easier to take on new tasks and expose yourself to unfamiliar experiences.

If your job is killing you, physically or mentally, maybe you should switch careers. Don’t take a giant leap, take a baby step instead. Rather than immediately moving from one career to another, why not take a part-time job in a career that interests you? Maybe you can sign up for classes or certification in some field that has captured your attention. These small steps outside of your comfort zone will eventually give you the confidence to move onto an entirely different career if your current field of employment is not working out.

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How Learning New Things Helps Our Brain

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It’s difficult to stay productive when your brain is buzzing. You have so many ideas and thoughts in your head that it’s tough to focus on your to-do list. But you don’t have to let the mental noise ruin your productivity. You can quiet your brain by doing a few simple things then you’ll be able to return to work with focus and clarity.

Gain Inner Peace and Focus through these 6 Strategies

Start a Journal

When your mind is buzzing, try writing down your thoughts in a journal. This exercise will help you empty your mind so that your brain is free to focus again. Once you’ve finished with your thoughts, write about the benefits that finishing your tasks for the day will bring you. By writing about your tasks, you’ll be able to sort through and pick which ones are the most important to you.

Try Colouring

Colouring for half an hour is a great way to let go of mental clutter. Allow your thoughts to come as you focus on the design of your colouring sheet. Besides helping calm your brain, colouring also allows you to get into a creative mindset. That makes it a great activity if you’re trying to come up with a solution to a problem or seeking inspiration for a project you’re working on. If you dislike colouring, you might try doodling instead. You’ll still get the same benefits as colouring.

Practice Yoga

Yoga is another great way to calm your mind. It’s effective because it allows you to get fully in tune with your body. If other thoughts try to interrupt you, push them away and focus on your current pose. You don’t have to buy an expensive DVD to practice yoga. There are many yoga videos available for free on YouTube.

Take A Walk

Taking a walk, even a short one, is helpful when your brain is buzzing. Not only does walking get you away from your desk, it’s also a great way to relieve stress. You can powerwalk or jog if you prefer that to a leisurely pace. But be choosy with your location. Busy streets can make it hard for you to focus and relax. Instead, opt for quiet streets or walk at a local park that you enjoy visiting.

Try Meditating

Meditation is a quick way to calm your mind and body. Get into a comfortable position and focus on your breathing. Take slow breaths and feel your body move as you inhale and exhale. Release any conscious thoughts as they come to you. If you’re new to meditation, it can be helpful to choose an object or word to focus on during your session.

Take A Hot Bath

A hot bath is the perfect way to calm an overactive brain. Besides helping you relax, a warm bath can also improve circulation and ease tense muscles. After you’re finished soaking, try to take a quick shower with lukewarm or cold water. This wakes your body up and energizes you so that you’re ready to tackle the rest of your to-do list.

When your brain is buzzing, don’t try to work despite it. Instead, acknowledge how you feel right now and try one of the exercises listed above. Then you’ll be able to return to work with a focused mindset.

Take Action: Journal Your Thoughts

1. When you’re overwhelmed, what helps you relax the most?

2. Do you find yourself frequently flitting from task to task without accomplishing anything? What do you think is causing this?

3. How can you create a system that lets you capture and organize your ideas?

Up Next: Recharge Your Body

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3 Reasons Why You Can’t Accomplish What You Want To

Whether you’re running your own business, working for someone else, or simply trying to get through your day, there’s always something productive you can be doing. But some days, you may find it difficult to get into your normal rhythm.

You may feel distracted and struggle to focus on your tasks. You may experience headaches or dizziness. You might also be feeling fatigued. Instead of giving up and watching Netflix for the next few hours, take a moment to check in with your body. When you stop to check in with yourself, you may find that a simple fix is all that’s required for getting back into your normal productive mode.

Here are three things that can disrupt your natural flow:

1 – your body is hungry

When you’re hungry, it’s hard to think things through and that makes decision-making difficult. That’s why it’s important to take time to nourish your body. You wouldn’t set out on a road trip with an empty gas tank, so don’t expect your body to perform at its very best when you’re denying it much-needed fuel. You can easily remedy this situation by getting something to eat.

But steer clear of sugary snacks! They may give you a temporary burst of energy, but that energy will be gone within a couple of hours, leaving your body just as hungry as before. Instead, try to opt for healthier snacks that contain plenty of protein, like a handful of nuts or a serving of lean chicken breast.

2 – your thoughts are scattered

You go to work on one project, but get distracted by another one. Then you decide to check your email and catch up on your social media updates. Before you know it, you have twelve different activities open on your screen.

When this happens, you might be experiencing a lack of focus. You have so many ideas and tasks that you don’t know where to start working. In this case, it’s best to pause and make a list. Write down everything you need to accomplish today or this week. Then prioritize these projects by numbering them. Your most important task should be number one, so after you’re finished with your list, start there.

3 – your body is exhausted

There are many things that can cause you to feel exhausted besides a lack of sleep. Emotional stress, illness, chronic pain, and other problems can deplete your energy. When you’re exhausted, it’s hard to focu on anything.

The best way to tackle exhaustion is to practice self-care. Look at your life and ask yourself what you really need right now. Maybe you need a day off. How about hiring a sitter to help watch your kids while you work or while you get a couple of hours of “me-time”?

Is it time to let go of stressful clients or remove projects that aren’t a good fit for your talents? If you’re not working, maybe it’s certain friends that need to be on the “do not engage” list. Don’t hesitate to give yourself what you need. If you take good care of yourself, you’ll find it easier to nurture your business.

It’s important that you take time to check in with your mind and body a few times each day. When you do this regularly, you’ll begin to notice your body’s rhythms and be able to plan your work around them.

Action Time: Journal Your Thoughts

1. When you struggle to get into your normal rhythm, what’s usually the cause?

2. How often do you pause to listen to what your body needs?

3. How do you take care of your body when it has a need? In what ways, do you put yourself on the back burner?

Let me know your biggest energy struggle in the comments below.

Up next: Dealing with the hunger

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