Ella’s favorite cartoon right now is Spidey and Friends.
Couldn’t make me happier—Spidey’s tied with Captain America as my favorite superhero. Add her obsession with dinosaurs and sharks, and you can imagine the stuff that clogs my social media feeds.
So when the newest episode had Spidey… plus dinosaurs… plus sharks… all in one?
Man, you just knew it was going to be amazing.
But as I’m watching, I can’t help but quip to Ella:
“Talk about jumping the shark.”
And that is the reason so many people get hurt when they start lifting after 50.
They’re excited. They want it all at once. So they pile on heavy weights, endless cardio, every “must-do” workout they can find—until the whole thing looks like Spidey, dinosaurs, sharks, and pirates crammed into one 20-minute episode.
Entertaining? Maybe.
Effective? Not really.
Same with training. CrossFit, Orange Theory, the “mix everything together” approach—it tries to be all things at once. And that’s usually when injuries happen.
The better approach?
Let cardio be cardio.
Let strength training be strength training.
Enjoy each thing for what it is.
Then move on to the next.
Because in cartoons, the worst case is bad writing.
In the gym, the worst case is you getting sidelined.
“Nate is amazing! He really does know how to work with every age and body type.”
Larisa West, 5- Star Google Review
Written by Nate Stowe, NASM-CPT, NCSF-CPT, CES, TRX Certified
Nate Stowe is a personal trainer and movement specialist based in Austin, Texas, with over 16 years of experience helping adults over 50 move better, get stronger, and live pain-free. He’s the founder of Stowe Personal Training, creator of the GET STRONGER LIVE LONGER Program, and author of Revitalize at 50+, a best-selling book on strength, longevity, and reclaiming your body after middle age.
Over the past two decades, Nate’s training system has helped hundreds of everyday adults avoid surgery, reduce chronic pain, and get back to doing the things they love—without needing a medical degree or spending hours in the gym.
Don’t worry—he saves the third-person talk for bios, not your training sessions. Sixteen years in, he’s still awkward when writing about himself.
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