The Most Dangerous Phrase in Fitness: “I Used To…”

Kevin Moore
Jan 12
3 min read

If I could pull one phrase out of the vocabulary of my patients, it would be this: “I used to.”

“I used to run a half marathon every season”
“I used to lift four days a week without fail.”
“I used to be able to go 100% on zero sleep.”

I hear this constantly from people who are deeply committed to being capable, high-performers, parents, athletes who find themselves stuck in a cycle of injury and frustration 👋 (me too).

When I ask a new patient about their activity level, the answer is usually vague or sporadic—a list of things they used to do, but with no clear purpose for what they’re doing now. Usually, the timeline for that activity is: 'Not since before the kids,' or 'Not for about ten years.' Then, a spark of motivation hits, and they try to bridge a decade-long gap in a single weekend. But you can’t use a 22-year-old’s map to navigate a 35- or 50-year-old’s reality.

The Problem with "The Ghost"

The problem isn’t your memory; it’s your anchor. When your fitness is anchored to who you were a decade ago, you aren’t training for adaptation. You’re training to prove something.

In midlife, "proving it" usually leads straight to a blown-out back, a strained hip, or total burnout. When you train to meet a past version of yourself, you stop listening to your current biology. You ignore the "nagging" pain or the fact that you’ve had four hours of broken sleep, because "Old You" could push through it. But that version of you lived in a different body, with a completely different recovery capacity.

I Am Learning Too

I’m 36. I have three kids five and under. I’m right there in the trenches of sleep deprivation, a hectic career, and a schedule that doesn't belong to me anymore. (That's okay!).

For a long time, I refused to pivot. I tried to hit my workouts with the same "no days off" intensity I had in my early 20s. The result? I spent half my time hurt and the other half so exhausted that I couldn't show up the way I wanted to. I realized I wasn't building healthspan; I was just accumulating mileage I couldn't afford.

The Kinplus Pivot: Training for the Long Game

The people who age well, the ones who stay strong, mobile, and vibrant for the next thirty years aren’t "lowering their standards." They’re changing the rules. They’ve traded the "I used to" ego for a strategy that actually works for their current life.

Selective Intensity: They don’t chase "exhaustion" as the goal. They know when to push and when a 20-minute mobility session is actually more "productive" than a brutal workout.
The "Tomorrow" Test: They care less about what the workout looks like on a spreadsheet and more about whether it allows them to be active, present, and pain-free tomorrow.
Recovery as a Metric: They realize that recovery isn't "lazy"—it’s a physiological requirement. If you didn't sleep, your training has to adapt. Period.