{"id":2452,"date":"2020-07-29T17:59:38","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T15:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/?p=2452"},"modified":"2025-03-08T14:38:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T13:38:45","slug":"30-days-of-daily-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/30-jours-de-sport-quotidien\/","title":{"rendered":"30 days of daily exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"

I've always played sports, especially between the ages of 20 and 30, but for the last few years my routine has become less regular and less intense. For my 50th birthday I'd set myself a goal: to get my toned body back, and take a shirtless photo. That's (almost) how my \u00ab30 days of daily exercise\u00bb challenge began.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All that for a top-off photo! The approach might seem narcissistic\u2026 and it undoubtedly is a bit. My idea was to keep a record, an image of \u00abwhat I was like at 50\u00bb, to look at by the fireside when I can't do anything else anymore!<\/p>\n

But here's the thing, I turned 50 in April... and I didn't take a photo. Despite working out more than once a week (2 to 3 times a week) since the beginning of 2020, the \u00abmuscular\u00bb body wasn't there in April! I was still a sportsman who spends more time watching BeIn Sports than actually working out. So I gave myself an extension, but this time by giving myself the means to succeed, and by getting into the habit of working out every day. And I'll take that famous photo before blowing out my 51st candle!<\/p>\n

So I started this challenge right in the middle of lockdown, with gyms closed and the heat starting to arrive in Marrakech. I alternated running<\/a>, kick-boxing<\/a>, weight training on equipment at a friend's house who has a private gym and long sessions of kettlebell swing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Excuses are easy to find<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main difficulties I encountered were the heat and minor aches and pains, but I didn't have any motivation issues in completing this challenge. In Marrakech, the temperature sometimes rose above 45\u00b0C during this period. It's particularly difficult during jogs, even when running early in the morning or at the end of the day. Otherwise, I had a large blister under my foot right at the start of the challenge, lower back pain, and elbow tendinitis that hasn't left me since the first few days.<\/p>\n

The lesson of this challenge is that you mustn't listen to yourself, otherwise excuses are easy to find. Some days the body sends you signals to tell you it doesn't fancy going, but you have to impose on it what you want to do, and then generally after a 10-minute warm-up it's forgotten. Recovery is an important variable for top-level athletes, but for amateur athletes the most important thing... is training! If you are not convinced by this point of view I invite you to watch the video of David Goggins: \u00abTrain first\u00bb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Several times the workout session I had planned was cancelled. You have to adapt, and you can always fit in 30 minutes of exercise in any context. For example, I had a \u00abbarbecue-pool\u00bb day with my colleagues. That day I spontaneously organised a 3-a-side football match on a bit of lawn, and that did the trick.<\/p>\n

4 kilos down without a diet<\/h2>\n

Committing myself to a daily exercise routine led me to change my diet without really thinking about it. It was as if my body was gradually telling my brain what it needed. As a result, I lost 4 kg without going on a diet. I stopped eating crisps and sweets, and I started drinking more water, without forcing myself. It happened naturally, out of a desire to perform well.<\/p>\n

In reality, nobody can say they don't have time to do sport. That's not true, it's an excuse. We all spend at least 40 minutes a day on social media, on the phone to friends and family, in front of the telly, having a drink, or smoking fags.<\/p>\n

Aside from a lack of motivation, the main threat to daily sports practice is alcohol consumption, which causes fatigue in the body, increases the risk of injury, and increases the risk of a heart attack from a certain age. It is for this reason that along the way, I started a second challenge, that of not not drinking alcohol for 30 days<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Daily practice has really allowed me to rediscover my love for sport, as I\u2019ve got back to a level of fitness that allows me to enjoy exertion. I\u2019ve realised that a drop in physical condition ultimately has little to do with age. Or at any rate, much less than I thought. Of course, you\u2019re less explosive at 50 than at 25, and the body has stiffness and aches that it didn\u2019t have a few years previously. But what I feel above all is that the drop in physical condition mainly stems from a decrease in training. You can still be a good athlete at 50 and over. Mike Tyson might well demonstrate that in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Physically the sensations confirmed what I already knew: I've lost a lot of core stability. Unfortunately without a heavy-duty abdominal binder<\/a>, it is difficult to perform well in sport. I am not discovering anything new and I am not teaching anyone anything by saying that, but I just felt it very clearly over the course of these 30 days. The return of muscle tone in the glutes, lower back and abdominals allows for a better posture, and the benefit is felt in all activities. This will be an important area for improvement for the future, as I have decided to continue doing sport on a daily basis... at least until the photo for my 60th birthday!<\/p>\n

Quantified review of my \u00ab30 days of daily exercise\u00bb challenge\u00bb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2013 10 jogs for a total of 66 km
\n\u2013 7 gym workout sessions on machines
\n\u2013 6 kick-boxing sessions
\n- 6 fitness, muscle strengthening, core stability sessions
\n\u2013 1 football match<\/p>\n

My Toolbox<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Wireless earbuds<\/a>
\n\u2013 Deezer
\n\u2013 a good pair of trainers: Asics Gel Pulse 9<\/a>
\n\u2013 the application Runtastic<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

J\u2019ai toujours fait du sport, surtout entre 20 et 30 ans, mais depuis quelques ann\u00e9es ma pratique est devenue moins r\u00e9guli\u00e8re et moins intensive. Pour mes 50 ans je m’\u00e9tais fix\u00e9 un […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defi-30-jours","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3462,"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452\/revisions\/3462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/defi30jours.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452"}],"curies":[{"name":"well played","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}