Fitness After 40

Looking around the gym at all the bulging muscles and young, fit bodies, it makes me wonder how I can ever come close to looking like that again…me, the fast-aging guy you see trying to keep up a mild walking campaign around the neighborhood.

I know I am and will continue to lose muscle mass as I age, but is that avoidable? Can I slow it down? Should I forget about heavy lifting and just concentrate upon toning?

The good news is that heavy lifting after age 40 can avoid much of the loss in muscle that people normally experience. Not only does that lifting increase and maintain muscle mass, but it increases bone density, as well, something that becomes more and more important as we age into our 50’s, 60’s and beyond. This is especially critical for women because one in five women suffer from osteoporosis.

Building Muscle Mass
Weight lifting requires lots of effort (no surprise there), but the immediate effect you receive is an increase in metabolism.

Heavy lifting usually consists of lifting at least 75% of the most weight you can lift for a single rep on a particular type of exercise. Deadlifting strengthens your back, abs, and legs, and is one of the best weight-related exercises you can do, no matter what your age. The older we grow, the more important it is to have a strong back, abs and legs for  everything from lifting a bag of groceries to moving the easy chair a couple of feet closer to the TV.

Increasing Metabolism
If you keep your lifting heavy enough, it will increase the rate at which you burn fat. Experts report that a challenging heavy weight lifting session can actually continue to burn calories for up to two days after you’ve completed the lifting. Another advantage of heavy resistance training is that, with shorter rest periods between sessions, you can stimulate the production of growth hormone (which normally decreases as you age), for healthier bone structure and immune function.

Stave Off the Sarcopenia
Not sure what sarcopenia is? It’s the loss of muscle mass that happens as we age. The major advantage of heavy resistance training for those of us over 40 is that we control and even diminish the effects of sarcopenia for a longer time.

The Bottom Line
If you’re already heavy lifting, keep it up. If you’re not lifting, check with your doctor to see if it’s ok for you to get started. Years from now, as you briskly run circles around your cane-carrying peers in their senior years, you’ll be glad you did.