I can still party right???

As much as we all think we can still go out drinking followed by the compulsory fast food takeaway and then get up at 6am to start work the next day, it isn’t happening for us now.

For me, hitting 40 was a wake up call. I could no longer get away with eating or drinking anything I fancied as it was beginning to show!  Sadly, an injury to my wrist also side-lined me from playing badminton which took up at least 3 evenings a week and was a great cardio workout.

Unfortunately it’s true what they say that as we get older and approach our late thirties and forties, things start to change. We get fatter, balder, stiffer, less energetic, more stressed out, lose muscle mass, our metabolism slows and we gain body fat easier.  That sounds depressing doesn’t it!

Excuses, excuses

We can fight against these things but we often use our age as an excuse to stay fat or unfit

‘The gym is for young people’ or ‘I’ve been like this for years so it’s too late to change now’ are just a couple of excuses that I’ve come across from men in their 40’s for not training. The strangest comment I’ve had whilst working out was from a young lad, who was very impressed at my effort but then went on to say that he doubts he’ll still be training at my age. My reply was ‘I’m 40 not dead’.  These are just poor reasons not to make a lifestyle change because there is no physiological reason we, as men in our forties, cannot be in the absolute best shape of our lives.

Time to swap the bar for the bar

No more lifting pints, time to lift those weights!  If you want to look and feel good it’s never too late to start just make smart decisions to change those things that do you no favours and embrace the things that will benefit you in the long term.

‘Strength training, particularly compound lifts such as squats and deadlifts, improves the strength of the muscles that support your hips and back, ensuring good posture. Deadlifting alone strengthens the back, abdominals and legs and is one of the best weight-bearing exercises you can do at any age. As you age, this becomes even more important because no one likes to have difficulty picking things up from the ground.’ http://www.livestrong.com

Strength training has numerous benefits physically and mentally, even for those of us over 40.

Train Smart

For me, badminton was no longer an option so it’s been replaced by 5-aside-football. I can’t have the excuse that an injury holds me back, I just work round it and train smarter. For most of us we need to make small adjustments on how we train to get the most out of it and avoid unnecessary injuries. In your 20s and early 30s you may have been able to lift heavy weights much more frequently, now you may need to limit a heavy session to once a week and stay in the 8-12 rep range on other training sessions. Find a routine that suits you. I’ve tried supersets, tri-sets, giant sets to name a few and have finally settled for now on a routine where I can see the most difference.

Don’t let age hold you back, you can get into the best shape of your life starting from now! After all 40 is just a number.