US Edition
What I learnt when I became a personal trainer at the age of 50
From Midlife Fitness Files: The Telegraph’s health series, where we glean advice from midlifers as they talk us through their weekly regime
Mark Jerling, 59 is a former car sales manager, now personal trainer, who lives in Worthing, West Sussex with his wife
I’ve been quite sporty all my life. I played rugby at county level in school, then continued all through my adult life, and always loved keeping fit with cycling and going to the gym.
In 2010, my wife got ill and I took a year out from work to help her – I’d been working in management, car sales and things like that. When that year was over, I interviewed for a new job, didn’t get it – and realised that actually I didn’t want it. At that point, my wife said: “Well, why don’t you do what you love?” I booked myself onto a six-week intensive personal training course and have never looked back.
Along with being rewarding, it’s obviously been great for helping me to stay fit myself. Before, when working out with heavy weights, I’d occasionally get a little niggle – but now, I do calisthenics-style stuff, lifting my own body weight, which is probably safer. I’ll do workouts using gymnastics rings and bars, stuff like archer press-ups and pistol squats – it’s pretty intense.
I’m now a personal trainer and group class instructor, and so I’m taking part in about 15 classes a week, always aiming to work just as hard as everyone else. Outside of that, I like cycling and I’ll do the odd triathlon.
What’s really changed my body shape is diet. I entered a bodybuilding contest about eight years ago, and I had to totally change what I ate to get my body to where it needed to be to compete. Everyone says you can’t out-train a bad diet, but until you actually see it, it’s hard to understand it. People come to me and they say they want to lose weight – I say well, I can get you stronger and I can get your muscles to work better for you. But the only way you can lose the weight is with good nutrition.
I think my age is a real USP for my clients and hopefully it’s inspiring for them. An example I like to use with them is if you go to the park, you'll see a seven-year-old absolutely sprinting and jumping everywhere. The 20-year-old might be walking briskly or jogging, and then a typical 50-year-old will be walking slowly. One of the reasons we lose muscle as we age is because we’re training less.
My parents didn't do any fitness, and didn’t have great nutrition, and their health suffered from that. So I want to try and be an example to people, to show that if you just put a little bit of effort in you can make your life a little bit more pleasurable.
One of my aims is to be the oldest bodypump instructor in the UK – I’ll probably hang on until I can do that. I’ll keep going at my current pace until I’m about 65, maybe, and then start winding down. I don’t think I’ll ever retire.
My workout week
Outside of all the classes I participate in, I typically do two training sessions on my own and they tend to be heavy bodyweight training. I also do cardio sessions on my road bike, and do bigger events occasionally – I recently did a 350km mountain bike race that took three days.
What I eat in a day
Breakfast: Porridge. I mostly eat a plant-based diet these days – I tend to only eat meat maybe three or four times a year now. My fear is losing muscle, so I try to keep protein high.
Snack: I like cashews – they fill you up and they’re easy to carry around.
Lunch: This tends to be egg-based – normally an omelette or something like that, with a bit of tomato or mushrooms thrown in. We keep chickens, so I’ve got lots of eggs to eat.
Dinner: My wife is vegetarian – we might do spicy potatoes in the oven with a salad base for dinner.
Luxuries: I drink maybe once or twice a week, just a couple of pints or a bottle of wine over the weekend, something like that. I used to drink a lot more – rugby is a bit of a drinking haven – and that’s completely gone. That’s been a good thing for me because my body fat levels have dropped tremendously.
Lifestyle asides
I’m normally in bed by 10pm; I try to get a lot of sleep. I sometimes have a little nap at lunchtime if I’ve got time – it keeps me energised for the afternoon classes.
Mark Jerling is a personal trainer with David Lloyd Clubs. The group is looking to recruit more older people as trainers. For information visit careers.davidlloyd.co.uk
Interview by Joel Snape