Why you should keep challenging yourself even if you’re no longer getting faster — I recently took part in a masters swimming competition. These are pool-based events for older swimmers (masters is over 25, but seniors age 18 to 24 often also take part) with a programme of races typically from between 50m to 400m. …

And access swimming’s many benefits — I’m biased, but swimming is an amazing activity. You can turn to it at any age. You can use it for fitness, competition, long-distance challenges, relaxation, mental health, rehabilitation and fun. You can swim laps in a pool or take it outside to explore rivers, lakes and the ocean. You…

It’s not all doom and gloom — Perceived wisdom about sport is that as we get older we slow down, get more injuries, take longer to recover and suffer declines in strength, aerobic capacity and flexibility. These changes are seen as remorseless and inevitable, but don’t despair. There are advantages to getting older that we talk about…

And when to give up — Big physical challenges rarely run smoothly from beginning to end. However fit and well prepared you are, there are times when your body protests. I remember one long swimming race where I started to feel nauseous and weak before I’d even reached the halfway point. Or maybe something outside of…

And what to do about it — Spend some time browsing the internet, watching adverts or listening to people discussing their lifestyles and you could well come away with some or all of the following (mis)perceptions about exercise: Exercise is a chore Exercise is hard You need to be disciplined to exercise The main reason to exercise…

One is potentially lucrative, but risky. The other is safer, and has other benefits too. — My computer is littered with book ideas: books I’ve started that didn’t go anywhere, and even a couple of completed books that will rightly remain forever buried on my computer. Writing a book-length piece of work is relatively easy. Sit down, type, eat, sleep, repeat. Writing a book worthy of…

You should — Think of a field in which you’re an expert. Then ask yourself, is there a subsector of this field in which you have relatively little experience? Found one? Good. Now go and have some fun with it. Becoming a beginner again can be an enlightening and thought-provoking experience, as I…

I practiced Italian for 10 to 20 minutes every day for four years — The last time I studied a language, we barely had computers. Mobile phones hadn’t been invented. ‘App’ wouldn’t enter my vocabulary for another 20 years. I struggled with languages at school but found I picked up a usable amount of Spanish and French while working and travelling in Central America…