You can keep and improve fitness over 40, but you might have to change things up a little

Aging might be inevitable, but what you do with your aging body isn’t.

Whether you are going into your 4th, 5th or 6th decade, you can absolutely gain muscle, drop fat and improve your functional fitness.

But maybe not by doing the same things that worked for you in your 20s and 30s.

That’s good news: No more weekend warrior stress tests or starving yourself. 

Here are 3 things you DO need to do:

Lift heavy:
Hormones decline naturally as we age (yes, in all sexes). To get muscle growth (or to maintain strength) you have to lift heavy.

No 30 rep sets on a leg press. No imagining you are getting frail so need to get dainty, pink dumbbells.

Instead, lift weights at close to maximum capacity 3 times a week (once you’ve perfected your movements and gotten some basic preparation to lift that heavy).

That goes double for uterus-havers. Hour-plus cardio+weight sessions with light weights (we’re looking at you F45, Orange Theory and Peloton) are going to do less and less for you over time. 

“That kind of training doesn’t work for you because it’s putting you in a state of intensity that drives cortisol up, but it’s not enough stress to invoke the post-exercise growth hormone and testosterone response that we want,” as Stacy Sims, PhD, puts it. (Sims is a celebrated researcher who mostly focuses on female athletes.)

Our programming purposefully builds in days to lift heavy (and safely).

Eat already!

Old fashioned diets don’t work – at any age. Even nutritional researchers are surprised and thrilled to find evidence that only 10% of people can do a traditional diet and keep the weight off long-term.

If your dating strategies or work projects succeeded 10% of the time, safe to say you’d be looking for a new approach — or job.

Sure, basic thermodynamics are right. A calorie deficit leads to weight loss. But it matters just as much what you eat.

• Eat protein. Eat more of it than you think. Like 1-2 grams per kilogram of body weight. Many experts suggest even more for women in peri- or regular menopause — like 2.2 to 2.4 grams per kilogram of body weight.

 “Broadly speaking, women should aim for 1.7 to 2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. (1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds, so to figure your weight in lbs to kg, just divide by 2.2.) Women in the menopause transition should target the higher end of that range (2.2 to 2.4 grams per kilogram), aiming for the lower end on easier days and the higher end on very heavy training days. Research also indicates that when undergoing a calorie deficit, higher levels of protein intake help you keep your lean mass, and lose body fat,” says Sims.

• Eat all the colors. French fries with your buddies no longer counts as eating vegetables. Fill your plate with variety, think 30 different plants a week (including spices, nuts, fruits). The cooties in your gut (aka the gut biome) will thank you with lower glucose spikes and an improved sense of feeling full.
• Don’t drop too many calories. Your body likes food, frequently. If you cut too far, you won’t have the energy to exercise and, worse, the body tends to hoard what energy it does get as fat, because it thinks you are in a famine. Welcome to bone loss territory.

PS – Our members get a free nutritional consult so you can get started fueling your body with the good stuff.

Think bigger:

Kids, work, partners, aging parents: All this eats into the free time you had when you were younger. It’s easy to think keeping fit is a luxury you can’t afford.

Switch your mindset. Your workouts aren’t (only) to keep you looking good.

You are a key influencer for your partner, kids, colleagues and even your parents. Model a fit lifestyle.

Even if it means you are gone for an hour, you come back to work and life refreshed, less stressed and — most importantly — being who you need to be to help the people (or animals or organizations) you love.

PS – Did you know that we have a coach who specializes in working with women and men over 40? Schedule a welcome meeting here to see how she can help!