Training Through Change: How to Adapt Without Losing Your Edge

There comes a moment — sometimes subtle, sometimes undeniable — when your body stops responding the way it used to.

The warm-up takes longer. Recovery isn’t automatic. That session that once energised you now leaves you flattened for days.

And the temptation is to say:

“I’m just getting older.” “I’m not as fit as I used to be.” “I can’t train like that anymore.”

But that’s rarely the full story.

Your body changing isn’t a sign you’re done. It’s a sign your physiology has shifted — and your training needs to shift with it.

The friction comes from trying to train like you used to

The real problem isn’t age.

It’s identity.

It’s trying to train like the 20-year-old version of you when you’re now:

• A mother returning to training after pregnancy

• A woman navigating perimenopause or menopause

• A dad with more responsibility and less sleep

• Someone carrying decades of stress load and injury history

• Or simply a human whose hormones and recovery capacity are not what they once were

  
  

For women, change can feel especially confronting.

Pregnancy reshapes the body. Postpartum recovery is layered and complex. Menopause shifts hormones, energy, fat distribution, sleep quality, and mood.

You may look in the mirror and not recognise yourself.

You may feel slower. Softer. Different.

And if you trained hard before, the instinct is often to go harder now — to “fix” it.

For men, it can show up differently but carries the same weight.

The “dad bod.” “I used to play footy in high school.” “I’m too old and creaky now.” “I’m not flexible enough.”

There’s often grief hidden in those jokes.

Because what you’re really saying is:

I don’t feel like who I used to be.

And instead of adapting, many people either:

1. Stop training altogether

2. Or double down and smash themselves into the ground

   
   

Neither is necessary.

Physiology doesn’t care about your ego

Your body runs on biology, not nostalgia.

Hormones shift. Stress accumulates. Sleep matters more. Inflammation lingers longer. Recovery capacity changes.

And here’s the important part:

You can still lift heavy. You can still box. You can still train hard. You can still try new forms of fitness.

But you may not be able to ignore recovery anymore.

You may not be able to train on adrenaline alone.

You may not be able to override red flags like you did at 20.

That’s not weakness. That’s information.

Stress load changes everything

One of the most overlooked pieces in training through life transitions is total stress load.

Your body doesn’t separate:

• Training stress

• Work stress

• Relationship stress

• Parenting stress

• Financial stress

  
  

It all lands in the same system.

When you were younger, you may have had:

• More sleep

• Fewer responsibilities

• Less cumulative injury

• Lower chronic stress

  
  

Now?

You might be managing a household. Raising children. Running a business. Caring for aging parents. Or simply carrying the mental load of life.

And then you try to train exactly as you did before.

That’s where friction shows up.

Not because you’re incapable. But because your stress bucket is already full.

“I’m not flexible enough”

This one comes up constantly.

Men and women both say it.

“I can’t do yoga — I’m not flexible.” “I can’t box — I’m too stiff.” “I can’t lift heavy — I’ll get injured.”

But flexibility isn’t a personality trait. It’s a trainable quality.

Mobility, strength, coordination — these are built through exposure and consistency.

What changes is the approach.

You warm up properly. You mobilise intentionally. You add recovery sessions. You respect progression.

You don’t avoid training because you’re stiff.

You train in a way that addresses stiffness.

Letting go of who you were

There’s a deeper layer here.

Sometimes what creates the most resistance isn’t physical.

It’s the identity you’re clinging to.

The athlete. The pre-baby body. The footy player. The version of you who could eat anything and recover instantly. The version of you who trained without consequences.

You don’t need to reject that person.

You thank them.

You thank them for the resilience they built. For the standards they set. For the strength they developed.

And you also release the stories.

The “I’m only valuable if I look like this.” The “I have to be the strongest in the room.” The “If I can’t do it like I used to, it’s not worth doing.”

Because what you have now that you didn’t then is wisdom.

Pattern recognition. Emotional awareness. A deeper understanding of your nervous system.

Or maybe you’re just beginning to develop that.

That counts too.

Training with intelligence instead of punishment

There’s a difference between intensity and punishment.

Punishment says:

• I have to burn this off.

• I have to earn my food.

• I have to prove something.

• I have to get back to who I was.

  
  

Intelligent training says:

• What does my body need today?

• What’s my current stress load?

• Where can I push — and where do I need to support?

• Why am I training this way?

  
  

You might still lift heavy.

But you also prioritise sleep.

You might still box hard.

But you include mobility and breath work.

You might still train four days a week.

But you fuel yourself properly instead of under-eating and over-performing.

You don’t necessarily reduce intensity.

You refine it.

When your body throws red flags

Sometimes the wake-up call isn’t subtle.

Injuries repeat. Niggles don’t settle. Hormonal symptoms flare. Energy crashes. Sleep disappears.

That’s not your body betraying you.

It’s your body communicating.

You don’t necessarily need to stop lifting. Or stop boxing. Or stop pushing yourself.

You may simply need to:

• Reduce volume

• Improve recovery

• Eat more protein

• Hydrate properly

• Program deload weeks

• Strengthen stabilisers

• Work with your cycle (for women)

• Accept that 40-year-old recovery isn’t 20-year-old recovery

  
  

Training smarter isn’t weak.

It’s sustainable.

Returning to fitness is part of the story

For some, this stage isn’t about adapting — it’s about returning.

Returning after babies. After years focused on career. After illness. After grief. After putting yourself last.

The courage to come back into a gym when you feel different in your body is enormous.

You don’t need to apologise for where you’re starting.

You don’t need to “get fit first.”

You start where you are.

And you build capacity from there.

Who are you training to become now?

This is the question that matters most.

Not:

• How do I get back?

• How do I look like I used to?

• How do I keep up with younger athletes?

  
  

But:

Who am I becoming in this season?

Stronger and wiser? More regulated under pressure? A steadier parent? A more grounded partner?

Training can still be intense. It can still challenge you. It can still demand effort.

But when it’s aligned with your physiology instead of your ego, it becomes something else entirely.

It becomes intelligent.

And intelligence lasts longer than brute force.

A question to sit with

Where are you fighting your body — and where could you start listening?

You don’t need to give up lifting. You don’t need to stop boxing. You don’t need to shrink.

You might simply need to adapt.

Because your body changing isn’t the end of your strength.

It’s the beginning of training with wisdom.