As a teenager, or in your 20's, it only took a couple of months in the gym to build noticeable muscle and start reshaping your physique. Now that you're over 50 you'll find its a different story as you return to working out to get back in shape.

The good news is that your body will react just as it did then - at least, the physiology is the same. Progressively overloading the muscles will tear them down and as long as you don't go overboard your body will respond by rebuilding your muscles bigger and stronger. What IS different is your capacity for recovery and the timeline involved. Keep these 3 P's in mind as you head back to the gym...

Patience... 
Unfortunately, getting back in great shape is going to take longer than you expect, especially if you got fast results when you were younger. You'll have to start off with lighter weights and fewer exercises and work your way up to a full workout routine. And it's going to take longer to recover from each workout than it did back in the day.

Remember, your body didn't get into its current shape overnight - chances are you're feeling (and showing) the cumulative effects of decades of neglect and misuse. You can't undo that in a few months, so be patient right from the start and just accept that every day you'll do a bit more to put you back on track. By now you know life is a marathon, not a sprint. If you want a lot of great years ahead with less illness, fewer injuries and a reduced likelihood of conditions like diabetes and osteoporosis, understand that you'll be building towards great health at a slower pace - but you WILL be traveling along the right path.

Trying to rush things at this point will defeat the purpose and run the risk of injury, a depressed immune system and in extreme cases can even result in death by stroke, heart attack or rhabdomyolysis. Instead, ease into your new fitness lifestyle. Start by consulting your doctor, both to see if there are any areas of concern and to get advice as to what areas you need to focus on first. In your teens and twenties your goal may have been building huge muscles, but now health, wellness and fitness should be your targets. Most importantly you'll need time to build successful fitness habits and develop the healthy mindset required to adjust your schedule and nutrition accordingly.

Perseverance... 
As a kid you were probably always running, jumping, swimming, tobogganing, climbing on monkey bars and slides and playing on the swings in your backyard or a local park. Then there were the phys ed classes at school, and maybe you played on varsity or intramural sports teams. So when you joined the gym or started working out at home you had a surplus of energy and could breeze through shorter workouts or battle your way through marathon training sessions.

It's going to take real focus to persevere through even a simple workout as you get started again. You'll find it's all too easy to use your chronic aches and pains as an excuse to stop part way through a workout or to only put in a halfhearted effort. Hip flexibility issues, sore knees, lower back pain and general fatigue can generally be reduced or eliminated by working out regularly - but not if you use them as excuses to avoid working out! Start with a shorter workout plan and moderate weights and persevere through EVERY workout - then be sure to get sufficient rest and proper nutrition for full recovery before your next training session.

Persistence... 
Every January gyms are full of new people working out because losing weight or getting back in shape are very popular New Year's resolutions. But by March, most are nowhere to be seen and won't reappear until the following year when they'll 'try' again. Obviously these short bursts aren't doing them any good, and can actually set them back further as they accept failure yet again.

Psychologically, try not to think of it as 'getting back in shape' but rather as 'adopting a healthy lifestyle'. The former is a limited-time endeavor with a specific end goal, and that can often lead to impatience and trying to hurry and/or cheat your way to that goal. A healthy lifestyle, on the other hand, can go on for the rest of your life, providing non-stop benefit to you as you age. And because it's a lifestyle you're trying to attain it's much easier to keep up your ongoing efforts.

Everyone is going to miss at least some workouts due to events in their lives, but your goal to adopt the healthy lifestyle makes it easy to get right back to it without beating yourself up emotionally the way you would if you were simply rushing to get back in shape. Down the road your motivation will come from your results to date and the benefits those bring you, but you'll need to really focus on your goals to find the persistence to get you to that point.

Before you head out for the gym, visualize your life once you're truly living a healthy lifestyle. See how much better you'll look, think about how good you'll feel with greater strength, improved flexibility and considerably more energy. Know that you really want that and that you really can have it - as long as you're persistent with your workouts, nutrition, rest and recuperation.

Patience, perseverance and persistence can bring health, wellness and fitness within your grasp and lead you to a happier, healthier lifestyle - get started on YOUR journey today!

Fitness publisher and certified personal trainer D. Champigny is on a mission to help the aging population get stronger, get fit and live a healthy lifestyle right through their senior years, and help bodybuilders and weightlifters get better results more safely. To stay up-to-date with the health, exercise, nutrition and weightloss tips Champigny shares across his numerous fitness sites and blogs, follow Flirting With Fitness onFaceBook and Google+ today!

If your goals, ego or business required you to be in great shape, you'd already be lifting weights regularly. If that's not the case, why not start weightlifting for the longevity and health benefits? After all, don't you OWE that to the people you love?

One of the most powerful reasons preventing people from hitting the gym and lifting weights regularly is that they simply aren't emotionally involved in their health and fitness. While they'll tell you they know they should be lifting weights and doing cardio, they'll excuse their lack of exercise and poor body condition by saying they don't have time to hit the gym often.

We all find time for the things we most want to do, so really they're saying their health and fitness isn't a priority for them. If you're one of those people who just can't muster up the motivation to lift weights, be healthier and stronger, have more self-confidence and look a heck of a lot better, maybe your answer comes from thinking more about the people you love - your parents, your spouse, partner or girlfriend/boyfriend, your children and friends who are dear to you...

First, you already know that these people want you to be healthy. They don't want to see you in pain or feeling sick. And unless you're in a very bad relationship they want you to be happy, self-confident and looking your best, right? Weightlifting not only builds muscles - it strengthens your whole system and your immune system, and helps you ward off the negative effects of daily stress. It can also help you burn off bodyfat, making everything you do each day easier on your heart.

And not only do these people want you to be healthy and happy, they want you to stay around a lot longer too. No one wants to see those they love die young, and everyone hates seeing loved ones die at ANY age unless that person was ill and in incurable pain...

And what about you? Don't you want as many happy and healthy years as possible with those people you love? And don't some of them count on you - for love, friendship, maybe even support? Chances are you don't want to check out early and leave them stranded, either.

You know that lifting weights conditions your body and strengthens your immune system - now let's look at how cardio exercise, whether in the gym or outside, can greatly extend the length of your life...

In an article that Marc Ransford published on the Ball State University website, the Director of the Human Performance Laboratory, Dr. Scott Trappe is quoted as saying that a person's Maximum Oxygen Uptake (VO2 Max) is "a better predictor of mortality than many better-known cardiovascular risk factors".

The article goes on to discuss the results of a study of life-long endurance athletes who are active in cross-country skiing and/or cardio exercise - a study of men in their 80's and 90's whose VO2 Max was found to be the same as untrained men 40 - 50 years younger! "Based upon the VO2max findings, the lifelong exercisers have a 50 percent lower all-cause mortality risk compared to the untrained men" says Trappe.

So weightlifting and cardio exercise can not only make you stronger, healthier and happier, it can also help you to live that way longer - but only if you get started and keep at it. So now the only question is who will YOU stay in shape for?

D. Champigny is well known in the fitness world - he's a published fitness photographer, certified personal trainer, fitness author and publisher of the popular Flirting With Fitness website. For more help from Champigny, add him to your circles on Google+ today!

Next summer people will be shedding their clothes and flocking to lakes and beaches or gathering around pools. What will best sum up YOUR fitness shape at that point - built or guilt? If you've ever spent a summer out of shape you already know how bad it can get...

For the ladies... 
When summer comes along, will you be strutting along the boardwalk in a thong bikini, confident and proud of your body, or at least know you could get away with a thong if that was your style? Or a short backless sun dress by the pool? Or will you be hiding your body and envying the fit and sexy look of those women who just reek of fitness? If you're 'twisting by the pool', will your butt stop shaking when you do, or jiggle along merrily on it's own?

For the men... 
Ever since you were a kid you admired the fit guys walking along the beach, by the pool, or anywhere else men take their shirts off outside. And you couldn't miss the stares those same guys got from females of all ages who would actually turn and watch them walk by, could you? Those guys might have been big and muscular or thin and sporting 6-packs - but what they had in common was a high level of fitness...

Will the same be true of you next summer, or will you hide your upper body under a baggy t-shirt? Will your legs flow out under your trunks, quads, hams and calves rippling as you stride, or will you be hiding chicken legs under long board shorts or even track pants?

Getting ready for summer... 
The thing is, there's no reason that YOU can't be 'built' for summer - unless it's already summer, in which case you can make major changes to your body by the next summer. If it's fall or winter, there's no rush - you can start exercising and eating better gradually and build up your routines and refine your nutrition as the weeks and months go by.

If it's already spring and you want to be in great shape by summer then you have to take your fitness efforts to a whole new level fairly quickly - but it's important that you realize it CAN be done! Keep your goal in mind, be diligent in your nutrition, and get as active as you doctor says you're able to - walking, inline skating, jogging, weightlifting, aerobics - there are numerous fitness levels so pick the one best suited to your current fitness level.

And as long as you have access to the Internet, you're not alone. There are numerous online communities with people looking to lose weight, looking to build muscle and/or just generally trying to live the fitness lifestyle. If you're worried you might not have the motivation to stick with it, consider joining one of the 30-day or 90-day fitness challenges online.

Sail into summer confident in yourself and your body, in great shape at best or at least much better shape than enjoy currently. You've taken the first step by reading this article - now follow through and bring your fitness level up both for a sexier body and, more importantly, for better health!

D. Champigny is well known in the fitness world - he's a published fitness photographer, certified personal trainer, fitness author and publisher of the popular Flirting With Fitness website. For more help from Champigny, add him to your circles on Google+ today!