Raise the Floor: An Approach to life for the Athlete of Aging

In the world of competitive athletics, business, sports psychology and fitness people are focused on improving performance.  Many focus on the top and trying to improve their best performance and “raise the ceiling.”  However, the method of “raising your floor” is a more realistic and sustainable approach to improve performance or growth.  This strategy focuses on improving baseline performance, ensuring that even on “bad days,” you’re still operating at a higher level than before.

For athletes of aging—those who prioritize health, longevity, and functional strength as they age—this philosophy offers a path to steady, meaningful progress.

The Philosophy: What Does It Mean to “Raise the Floor”

Attempting to “raise the ceiling” can help in ways but it also can create an all-or-nothing mindset where “off days” feel like failures. Raising the floor, on the other hand, means focusing on improving your worst days. It’s about ensuring that even your lowest levels of performance are significantly higher than they used to be. Over time, this approach builds a stronger, more consistent foundation, which leads to greater overall performance.

Squatting is one of the most functional movements. Strength to get out of a chair, car and off the toilet

Andy Gillham, is a friend of mine who works with athletes, coaches & business leaders on improving performance through mental skills development. He uses this basic approach of improving our everyday, bottom level performance and over time this will result in improving our performance. He also teaches clients should focus on what they can control.  Preparation, effort, and recovery are a few things under their control.  By focusing on these aspects and improving lagging areas they focus on the process—rather than chasing perfect outcomes. This shift in mindset allows athletes to avoid the ups and downs, maintain confidence, and experience more consistent progress.

Strength Training – Raising the floor

Dr. Baraki & Feigenbaum of Barbell Medicine, are prominent voices in the strength training world who echo this idea in its approach to training. Their philosophy prioritizes consistency over perfection, especially on days when lifters “don’t feel as good.” Barbell Medicine emphasizes effort and maintaining a baseline of quality work, even when energy, mood, or recovery are subpar. On those "blah days", instead of skipping a workout entirely or feeling defeated, the goal is to adjust intensity, volume, or exercise selection while still completing the session. This approach acknowledges that performance fluctuates, but the baseline work you put in still moves you forward. Over time, these “blah-day” efforts accumulate into meaningful gains.

Key Lessons from Barbell Medicine’s Approach:

1. Consistency Over Intensity: Not every workout needs to be a personal best. Showing up and completing the work is the real win.

2. Autoregulation: Adjusting the load, reps, or intensity based on how you feel each day keeps you training consistently.

3. Process-Focused Mindset: Success is about the process, not the outcome. Even a “bad day” is still a day of progress.

Why This Approach Matters for the Athlete of Aging

For athletes of aging, consistency is paramount. As we age, recovery times lengthen, and the risk of injury increases. Realizing that you may not feel good and every workout will not be great is important.  Some days you may feel sore, tired or just unmotivated.  Lack of sleep, life stress, other hobbies/activities or a small injury can cause aches, fatigue, and affect your training.  On average out of five workouts, one you will feel great, one you will feel like doo doo and three will be just ho-hum / average.   Instead of skipping the workout, athletes of aging can adjust their expectations and aim for a “minimum effective dose” of work. This might mean lowering the weight on a lift, doing fewer sets.  Often though when you show up and “do something” you feel better and over time, this strategy yields impressive results. By consistently raising the baseline, the body becomes more resilient, injuries decrease, and performance on “good days” naturally improves.

How to Implement the “Raise the Floor” Mindset

1. Set Baseline Standards: - commit that you will get up and at least move your body.  Commit to showing up knowing the consistency is the number one key.  Often you will be able to do more than you initially thought.

2. Track Progress: If it is not written down, it did not happen.  Create a journal for your training.  You can track your progress and make notes on when and why you are struggling. Overtime you this will help you see where stress is coming from and help you look back and see improvement.

3. Prioritize Recovery: As the athlete of aging, sleep, nutrition, and stress management are as critical as the workout itself. You do not get stronger by lifting weights, you get stronger by recovering from lifting weights. There are many gimmicks out there for recovery but sleep, nutrition and stress management are 98.5% of recovery.  By managing these factors, you ensure that your “floor” stays higher.

4. Celebrate Small Wins: Completing a workout on a low-energy day is a victory. Remind yourself that showing up is the goal, not perfection.

Final Thoughts

“Raising the floor” is a shift in how we approach performance. This approach offers a smarter, more sustainable path to growth—especially for the athlete of aging. Instead of chasing peaks, we build a higher baseline, ensuring that every day, even the rough ones, still moves us forward. This mindset not only leads to better performance but also fosters resilience, confidence, and lifelong health. For those looking to age with strength, grace, and power, the message is clear: don’t aim to be perfect. Aim to be better, even on your worst days.  If you are ready to raise your floor by raising the bar please reach out today.

Nate

Everyone Needs Moe Strength

605-695-0496

Moestrength50@gmail.com