From Fitness Warrior to Fitness Craftsman: Lessons and Program Design After 50

By Rob Shaul, Founder

I was never a great athlete, but I was always a gym rat. Fitness wasn’t my sport — it was my passion. From my pre-teen years, I gained deep satisfaction from hard training. I was admired for how hard I trained, and I liked being admired.

Looking back, for decades I was a **Fitness Warrior**. Every session was a battle. Victory was measured in pounds lifted, miles run, heart rates maxed out. The goal was clear: push harder, go faster, lift heavier.

This attitude extended beyond the gym to the mountains. I saw my mountain movement and climbs as another battleground. Long loops, peak bagging, fast ascents. After lifting in the gym, I’d head to a steep hill, load my pack with 50 pounds of rock, climb it as fast as I could, dump the rocks, and run down. I loved it.

At MTI in the gym, I was able to push hard into my late 40s. My fellow older veteran “lab rats” and I relished crushing young mountain guides or visiting special forces soldiers.

But at 50, things changed. A right foot fusion to repair a collapsed arch, soon followed by a left hip replacement, signaled a new reality. My body was telling me the game had changed, and mentally, I felt it too.

The thrill of crushing a session evaporated. I was okay letting younger guys beat me in the gym. I no longer enjoyed sprinting in the mountains — I wanted to take my time, to appreciate the view and the experience.

Muscles and cardio age slowly. Joints and connective tissue do not. I first noticed knee pain at 44 — it worsened as I aged (I’m 57 now). Minor injuries that healed quickly in my 30s lingered in my 40s. In my 50s, they demanded attention and recalibration.

Not fragile. Not delicate. But different.

It wasn’t a matter of discipline, toughness, or work ethic. It was biology, changing interests, and shifting priorities.

But the warrior is still there. I still thrive on and enjoy hard training, but age and experience have refined my approach. At 57, I’m not chasing 1RM records, but I can still grind. I still push. Intensity isn’t abandoned — it’s shifted.

This isn’t a step backward. It’s a transition: from “Fitness Warrior” to “Fitness Craftsman.”

The Fitness Warrior

Mindset: Conquest and Immediate Readiness
Purpose: Peak performance “now” — strength, speed, endurance under immediate demand.
Mental Model: Fight mode. Willing to burn today for victory today.
Risk Tolerance: High. Injury is acceptable collateral with knowledge that healing is fast. Recovery is secondary to performance.

The warrior isn’t worried about tommorrow – he’s worried about today’s battle in the gym or on the track, road, mountain.

Training Priorities

1. Maximal Strength and Power
– Heavy compound lifts: squat, deadlift, press, pull.
– Olympic lifts: cleans, snatches.
– High-intensity, low-rep strength cycles.

2. Tactical Work Capacity
– HIIT, ruck runs, shuttle sprints
– Multi-Mode AMRAP events – 5-20 minutes
– VO2 max intervals — redline work.

3. Combat Chassis Durability
– Core stability under load.
– Heavy carries, sandbags, awkward loads.
– Heavy Rucking, ruck running

4. Ignore Recovery
– Who needs rest when there’s ibuprofen?
– Recovery isn’t the priority — training is
– Often overtrained — and happy that way!

Programming Approach
– High frequency: 5–7 days a week, sometimes multiple sessions daily. Training for fitness and knowledge, but also as an escape.
– Assessment-driven programming – 1RM Lifts and progression, Work Capacity event progression, Endurance assessments and progression. 

Fuel and Nutrition
– Clean high-protein and high carb intake. Eat clean with 1x cheat day weekly.
– No caloric restriction – hard training and youth keep the fat off

Lifestyle
– Recovery?  Plenty of time to sleep when I’m old! 
– Weekends = fitness focused mountain movement (peak bagging, loops, etc.) 
– Injury risk? Not a concern

Philosophy in One Line: You’re young. Use it!

The Fitness Craftsman

The “fitness warrior” thrives on intensity, adrenaline, and conquest. The “fitness craftsman” thrives on precision, patience, and presence. Where the warrior seeks domination, the craftsman seeks consistency and learning.

Precision over Power: In youth, you get away with sloppiness. Poor technique hides behind strong muscles and forgiving joints. After 50, imprecision costs you.

Form over load: The days of chasing bigger numbers at all costs are over. Proper alignment, full range of motion, and control are emphasized.

Exercise selection: Movements that build, not break. Squats, hinges, pushes, pulls, carries — with variations that honor aging joints.

Consistency Over Dominance: Training is no longer about dominating. Mentally, interests have shifted, and physically, constant high intensity has become stale. 

– Strength: Low Volume, Heavy Load. 20-30 minutes per session, max
– Zone 2 conditioning: Build an aerobic base without joint destruction. Long, sustainable, easy pace, 40-120 minutes.
– Work Capacity – Rare, deliberate, joint-friendly

This is not fragility. It’s smart. You stay fit by staying healthy and being able to train. 

Recovery Evolves: In youth, recovery was ignored. Now I pay attention

Training Frequency: High, but intensity is dialed. Because of my high training age I can take a lot of volume. As well, becasue I’m still a gym rat, I love to train often – just not redlining every session.

Rest Days: Taken when needed. I don’t schedule rest days … but I listen to my body. If my body and mind don’t want to train, I don’t force it. I rest without guilt. In my youth I would have pushed through.

Sleep: Surprisingly less needed. 5-6 hours in my 40s has dropped to 4-5 hours in my 50s. 

Nutrition Tightens:
– There’s no room for bullshit with nutrition. Metabolism slows considerably and even with a high training load, eating clean without caloric restriction adds body fat. Extra weight slows me down, and hurts joints. Low carb didn’t work – and now I’m trying nearly zero carb with a carnivore diet and seeing results. 
– Anti-inflammatory nutrition through and high-protein quality fat diet has significantly decreased day to day joint pain. When I cheat and eat carbs or sugar I feel it in my knees and see it in my mid section.

The Fitness Craftman’s Mindset
– The warrior chases intensity. The craftsman chases consistency.
– The goal isn’t to be the fittest today. It’s to be training tomorrow — and for the years beyond.

I wouldn’t trade my years as a Fitness Warrior for anything. And I’m not convinced that hard training prematurely wore down my joints — plenty of sedentary people my age have replacements.

I loved the intensity. But the shift to “Fitness Craftsman” was both forced by biology and welcomed by changing interests.