Another year's gone by, and so quickly! Never mind. Ageing can have its advantages, reveals GayNZ.com's fitness guru Julz Darroch. It's the sad truth that for every year that passes we get a year older. While this is a novelty when we are younger it loses its sparkle, as the numbers get closer to our weight than our shoe size and our bottoms head south for more than just the winter. It's not all bad news on the fitness front though. If looked after properly you'll be able to get a few more years out the old bod without too much trouble. Advantages of ageing The older I get the more inclined I am to believe that ageing is not the evil it was in my younger years. Perhaps old is the new black. Or perhaps I'm grasping at straws. For the girls I have good news on the exercise front, as we age our ability for endurance work increases, so we can go longer without needing rests- oh yeh! The biggest advantage of ageing is for gay men though, as they seem to age downwards from 35, I have lost count of the amount of men I have known who have been in their thirties for more years than I have fingers. This means that while us girls are running marathons the boys are back running after the school bus… Exercise to combat ageing We all age, but our rate of age is dependant on how we treat our bodies. A badly treated, unexercised 40 year old body can be biologically older than a well watered, exercised and stress-free 55 year old body. The sad news is for all of those with a hedonistic history and increasing years that the sooner you start being good the longer the effects last for. Stink man! The level of exercise you need to do to get increases in the joys of life is not monumental; the secret is in the consistency. Take part in physical activities that you can do regularly (for years not just weeks) and you'll be dancing your way into your senior years- sparkly spandex incontinence undies anyone? Up-grade the girlfriend If it all seems too much work then it's not the end of the world. Concerned with my advancing years I have taken extreme action. I've updated my girlfriend. Here's the cool thing though. Instead of ditching the old girlfriend for a younger model (as my ex did) I've gone for one with a few more kilometres on the clock. This means that no matter how my face looks in the mirror first thing in the morning it'll still be 10 years younger than the face I see when I wake up. Genius! What to watch out for The cardio machines at the gym are lying. Most fitness machines you see in the gym are American design; this means that if anyone so much as misses a breath while they're on the treadmill the gym gears off in favour of a lawsuit. So the target heart rates on the machines are set to 'no sudden movement' for anyone over 22. My advice? Don't pay too much attention the target heart rate zone and just go by how you feel. Remember: Exercise is not as much fun as sex but cheaper than plastic surgery! Julz Darroch is a Wellington-based Personal Trainer and Fitness Educator with 15 years of experience in the fitness industry. Send your fitness-related questions and personal training enquiries to julzdarroch@actrix.co.nz. There's more fitness advice from Julz on the links below. Julz Darroch - 4th January 2010