re: Nearing 50 and Hit Rock Bottom

Mindset helps a lot. Remember that 100% effort at 50 years old will not be the same as 100% effort at 20-30 years old. No matter what you're doing, try to find a pace that you can sustain day after day.

Also try and find some joy in whatever you're doing. Frankly, I got tired of weights and stretching. I still lift but a lot of my exercise now comes from functional activities like dancing & gardening. It's easy to pace both and they return your time invested in ways that weights simply can't.

I can garden for hours, day after day - squatting, sawing, pulling, farmer's walks, etc. It's probably not as efficient as pure lifting but then weights just stay weights whereas a garden grows constantly and returns your investment