I don’t train to look better. I train so the capacity is there for the work that matters — the long, demanding thinking a career in engineering runs on. And the older I get, the more that comes down to one unglamorous choice: training in a way I can actually sustain.
- 01 Train for the capacity that outlasts the session, not the intensity that impresses this week.
- 02 Swimming does the cardio job running does, at a fraction of the joint impact — same result, far less wear.
- 03 Strength for muscle, low-impact cardio for the joints — build strength without wearing your body down.
- 04 Track what you control — sleep and sessions — not the scale. The results show up weeks later, not the next morning.
The reframe: capacity, not intensity
The goal isn’t the hardest session I can survive this week — it’s the capacity I can still call on in ten years. High-impact training looks productive and quietly wears down the parts of you that don’t bounce back. So I optimise for what I can keep doing.
Why my cardio is swimming
Running is high-impact — every stride is a small collision your joints absorb, thousands of times a session. Swimming gives an equal or better cardio workout, works the whole body, and loosens rather than pounds. Same cardiovascular result, a fraction of the wear. Low-impact isn’t the soft option — it’s the one you’re still doing when it counts.
Strength keeps the body working
Strength work sits alongside it — a couple of sessions a week — because a desk does slow, specific damage: a weak back, tight hips, a neck bent at a screen. Muscle is the insurance against it. Not chasing a number. Keeping the body in working order.
Track what you control, not the scale
Track the inputs — sleep, sessions, steps. Those are the levers you actually control, and the results follow weeks later, not the next morning.
Watch what drives the result, not the result itself — the discipline any system worth running gets.
This isn’t a transformation story with a before-and-after photo. It’s a maintenance contract with my future self: train in a way that survives a busy decade, so the capacity for the hard work is still there when I need it. The best training isn’t the most intense — it’s the kind you’re still doing when it matters.