When you are over the age of 40 and either starting to workout for the first time, or coming back to it after a long layoff, it is vital that you proceed with caution. Unfortunately, as our bodies age, the likelihood of experiencing an injury increases. Furthermore, what our bodies need evolves over time, both from the perspective of exercise and nutrition.
Getting the Right Mindset
Having the right mindset when pursuing fitness goals is paramount. If someone is unmotivated and/or doesn’t have realistic goals, they are doomed to fail. Getting started on a fitness journey is not easy, which is why I always urge people to practice a strategy that I call ‘progressive discipline.’ It is a strategy that helped me, and if people incorporate it into their lives and stick with it, it will help them too. Don’t start out trying to go full Hercules and try to match the full regimen and level of discipline that a professional athlete or champion bodybuilder does. You may last a day or two at it, or even a week or two, but sooner than later you will get discouraged and burned out.
Instead, add a few components of discipline to your fitness strategy and focus on those until you master them and they become second nature. Once those things become easy, add a few more components of discipline to your strategy. Adding to your level of discipline over time will increase the likelihood of you sticking with it and succeeding. Doing everything all at once is overwhelming, but doing it in phases makes the process easier.
Value progress over perfection, and stick to the time-tested principle of ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ Of course, you also have to set realistic goals and expectations because you will not become shredded and chiseled overnight. It will take time. Believe in yourself, trust the process, and celebrate the milestones along the way. As I always tell people when they ask for advice, the best exercises and nutritional strategies are the ones that you will actually do, and that means making it enjoyable (or at least tolerable) so that you maintain the right mindset and motivation level.
Weightlifting
When many people think of losing weight and getting in shape, they tend to only think of doing cardio on the exercise side of the equation. Cardio is very important, however, so is boosting your muscle mass. Every human has some amount of muscle even if they do not lift weights. ‘Added muscle’ is any amount of muscle that your body gains through exercise that it wouldn’t have otherwise. The more added muscle that your body has, the more calories your body burns while at rest. There doesn’t seem to be a one-size-fits-all answer as to how many more calories are burned per pound of added muscle, but it is safe to claim that there is some level of increase.
Added muscle boosts your metabolism, it helps you look and feel better, and makes you better suited to avoid injury. With that in mind, lifting weights and/or doing body-based lifting is very important for people over 40. When you are first starting out on your fitness journey, stick to the basics like push-ups and air squats which can be done at home without any equipment. If you have a gym membership, you can also start off with flat bench presses and squats at very low weight. Machines are even better when starting out because they don’t require a spotter. Lifts like pushups/bench presses and squats work a large amount of upper and lower body muscles respectively, so they are great when you are just starting out.
Focus on form and don’t overdo it, making sure that each rep counts and isn’t performed too fast. Start off with higher sets and reps such as 5 sets of 15-20 reps per lift to help avoid injury and condition your muscles. As the sets start to get easier, adjust the weight and add more lift types, but always be mindful of not overdoing it. When you are first starting out, or within a few weeks of starting out, add some light ab work into the mix to help build your core. Google ‘ab workouts’ and find ones that you are comfortable with, and avoid doing ones that require you to twist your spine. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are washboard abs, so temper your expectations and value progress over perfection.
Cardio
When I was first starting my modern fitness journey I started off by simply walking around my neighborhood every day. I am not a big fan of jogging, and if I am being truly honest, I absolutely hate jogging. I knew that if I set a goal of waking up at the crack of dawn and going on a multi-mile jog every day I would fail very quickly. Walking is a great way for people to start burning calories, particularly walking up hills.
I once did an experiment where I walked on a treadmill with no incline, and then walked for the same amount of time on the highest incline setting that the treadmill had, and walking on the incline burned 2.5 times as many calories compared to no incline. Walking on an incline is a total cheat code for burning calories and a great alternative to jogging for those of us that are not fans of jogging. Most people that I have urged to go on walks report back to me that they enjoy it a lot (as long as the weather is decent). Download a pedometer app on your phone and strive to walk 10,000 steps a day. Some days you will hit the goal and some days you will not, and that is OK, but aim for that number and don’t beat yourself up about it if you fall a little short.
The main goal on the cardio front when you are first starting out is to burn calories, and you don’t have to run sprints with a parachute attached to your back like Bo Jackson in a Nike commercial to do that. Find things that you enjoy doing such as hiking, bike riding, swimming, etc. After all, if you are burning calories while having fun, it makes the experience much more enjoyable and you will increase your odds of sticking with it. Eventually, you will need to do cardio in a more targeted way as your fitness journey progresses, but when you are first starting out, do a lot of walking and activities that get the blood pumping and the sweat flowing while being mindful of trying to avoid getting hurt.
Nutrition
Proper nutrition is vital to any wellness strategy, and for many people, it is the most difficult. Some people, myself included, have no problem getting motivated to lift weights and burn calories doing cardio. However, the fitness triforce is not complete without nutritional discipline. Similar to the other parts of your wellness journey, practice progressive discipline when it comes to what you eat and drink.
People tend to go full speed on their dieting only to crash out fairly quickly. Stay away from fad diets, and instead make dietary changes that you can maintain well into the future. Don’t think of your nutrition strategy as something that you will only do for six weeks and then stop – do things that you can maintain for the next 20+ years. If you do the former rather than the latter, your gains will disappear quickly once you stop the fad diet. Additionally, many fad diets do not provide the necessary amount of nutrients in a balanced way that humans need to be truly healthy.
Find healthier alternatives to what you like eating (like fruits or dates instead of candy), avoid added sugar and fast/processed food, and drink lots of water. Set a goal of drinking 100 ounces of water every day. Similar to the goal of 10,000 steps a day, sometimes you will hit the water consumption goal and sometimes you will not, but shoot for that daily amount and don’t beat yourself up if you fall short. Boost your daily lean protein and dietary fiber intake. Recognize that what you eat will never taste as great as a bag of fatty fast food or a pile of candy bars, but trust that in the long run, the cravings will eventually subside, you will likely feel exponentially better, and your health will thank you for it. I can’t say it enough – value progress over perfection, and believe in yourself. You got this!
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Disclaimer: The contents of this article and this website are not meant to substitute for the professional advice of a doctor, nutritionist, and/or certified personal trainer. This content is provided as an educational tool to help people on their fitness journeys. While we strive to research topics as much as possible and provide useful and accurate information to the best of our abilities, we also strongly recommend talking to your doctor, nutritionist, and/or certified personal trainer before starting any workout, therapeutic, or nutritional regimen, as each individual’s needs and situations vary depending on the person.