My clients come from all different age groups but everyone has one thing in common – a determination to improve their health and fitness. Whether you’re 25, 40 or 65, a willingness to work hard to improve your health and fitness is the only thing you need to work out. It’s never too late.
That being said, there is one scenario where it is impossible to achieve results but it isn’t your age. It’s when you don’t make a start! As we get older, some aspects of getting in shape will inevitably get harder. But some will actually improve as we age.
Either way, you should never let age be a barrier to getting started! You should simply be proud of yourself for making an effort at self-improvement. No matter what your age, you can ALWAYS improve your health and fitness.
Staying Ahead of the Game
We will all face unique challenges with our fitness. Whilst some things might get harder as we grow older, others may well get easier. Age brings experience and maturity, youth brings hormone levels and a higher metabolism.
As we get older, our metabolism may potentially slow down. I say potentially as we still have some say in the matter! Some people are fitter and healthier in their 40s then they were in their 30s or even 20s. It’s very much on a case-by-case basis but there are some common factors. As we age, our levels of physical activity will typically decrease and with this comes muscle atrophy. Less muscle and less movement result in fewer calories burned every day.
It’s all about knowing what you’re dealing with and figuring out a solution. And you can fight back! Keep ahead of the game by staying active and make sure you include resistance training in your fitness regime to stimulate muscle growth and maintenance. Feeling stronger and fitter will in turn encourage more movement.
Time for Training
There’s also another aspect to training past 40 and that is time. For a lot of people, being too busy is a real problem for staying in shape. As we grow older, responsibilities seem to totally consume our time. You may feel too busy to work out while looking after the kids, holding down a job, enjoying your hobbies and socialising. Gym sessions are often one of the first things to drop.
Tackle this issue by focusing on quality over quantity with your exercise routine. Use your experience to plan effective training that doesn’t take hours and hours out of your day. Circuit training, intervals and superset gym sessions can boost results and reduce gym time if done right.
You can also keep up movement in general and look to stay active in every aspect, whether that’s taking the stairs instead of the lift or walking short distances instead of hopping in the car.
A Solid Nutrition Plan
You should also focus on good nutrition. Whilst you may not have as much free time, most results are built on solid nutritional habits. Get your food right and you can spend less time in the gym and more time focused on what is most important to you.
So, there’s your solution! Quick workouts, effective workouts, finding the best times of day to squeeze in exercise and combining fitness with daily life.
Remember, no matter your age you are still in charge of your health and fitness. It’s never too late to look after yourself and do your bit to have a longer life and a better quality of life, too. The key is to approach getting in shape with the balance of exercise and healthy goal-focused eating. And this applies to every single one of us.
