FITNESS OVER 40
By Noelle Walker at New Fitness Personal Training
Do your fitness workouts really have to change when you are 30, 40, 50 or older? Is it any different than when you were 20? You see many articles, blogs and videos stating that when you are older, more specifically older than 40 that your workout needs to change from when you were 20. This is a complete fallacy. Fitness workouts and programs change because you may have different goals or you might be bored with your current one. But it certainly does not change because you get older. This actually makes me laugh.
BAD FITNESS ADVICE
One day I was watching a video on this topic and it was trying to tell everyone that because you over 40 you should avoid strength exercises like Squats, Deadlifts and Bench and just focus on Yoga. This was the most ridiculous piece of “advice” I have ever heard. Well I have heard some pretty ridiculous things but this was at the top of the list. I know many older people get into Yoga. I’m not sure of their reasons but it shouldn’t be because you are older. It should just be because you enjoy Yoga and meditation.
WHAT ABOUT MY JOINTS
You are probably thinking well what about joints? Maybe your joints are not as strong as when you were younger. If this is the case then you absolutely need to do resistance training. This will actually help your joints. You are also thinking maybe you can’t do high impact such as HIIT when you’re older. Unless you have some condition like arthritis or an injury there is no reason why you can’t do HIIT workouts such as Burpees, Jumping Squats, Hops, etc. This goes for running as well. You can run just like any other 20 year old out there.
NO LIMITATIONS
There is literally no limitations on workouts when you are older. If you want to do it or if a certain fitness program is going to get you to achieve your goal whatever that may be, then just do it. I am 48 years old(young) and I do HIIT about four times per week along with running and lifting weight twice per week. Have my workouts changed from when I was 20? Yes. But only with time. I used to workout for three hours every day when I was in my 20s. I can’t do that anymore because I have a family and responsibilities, not because I’m unable to do it physically. The only difference you may find is you need a bit more recovery time after a hardcore workout. But usually this comes down to good nutrition, not age. Because we tend to be busier when we’re older we might neglect certain nutrition needs that will help in recovery and growth and also fat loss.
FITNESS AND MENOPAUSE
Ok so some will argue with me that menopause changes your workouts and how fast you will get results especially when losing fat or weight. But this is also completely false. It doesn’t take longer to lose weight when you are in menopause. Go ahead and get mad at me but anyone that says this is using it as an excuse not to get out there and work. Yes losing weight and or fat takes effort. Real effort. This does not change from when you were 20 or 30. You had to work at it back then and you still have to. Estrogen does decrease when you are in menopause but this has little effect on actual bodyfat storage. Insulin and cortisol and thyroid hormone have greater impacts on fat loss than lack of estrogen does.
So as you see if you are free from injury, arthritis and joint problems you can literally do any fitness program or workout out there.
