ANYTHING You Start Doing Now And Keep Doing Will Pay Dividends As You Age

This image illustrates how much more money must be saved if one waits until 50 to save for retirement.

I’ll bet you have seen such diagrams before, and you know that saving a little early on is easier said than done, but if you can manage it, it will pay off.

Well, guess what: your fitness is the same!

If you exercise regularly in your teens and continue doing so throughout your life, you will be highly fit compared to your sedentary age group.

If you didn't do that and waited until 45 or 55 or 65 to work on fitness, you can certainly still get fitter - but you'll be digging yourself out of a hole compared to someone who exercised regularly for all of those decades.

However, note that starting late is not pointless - ANYTHING you start doing now and keep doing will pay dividends as you age.

Strength training should be a base foundation for everyone, and then you should layer on the activities you enjoy, whether walking, skiing, biking, basketball, swimming – whatever gets your heart rate up a little.

FITNESS TIP: Consistency is usually more important than the specifics of what you do. Much like saving for retirement, even if the amount varies due to life events, the market fluctuates, or some investments don't pan out, consistency will make up for all those variables.

If you could go back in time, at 25, you'd be investing 3% from every paycheck, lifting 2-3 days per week, and finding fun ways to be active on the other days.

But you're (probably) not 25 now - so what should you do?

Exact same advice: lift 2-3 days per week and be active on the other days, in whatever way you enjoy, and thus will keep doing consistently.

The biggest difference is it's a lot less optional now than it was then!