exercise for diabetesIt has been known that decline in muscle mass is one of the inevitable body changes while aging, but more recent findings showed that much of that loss is due to inactivity rather aging itself. Building muscles after 40s aids in weight management, enhances bone density, improve sexual life, self-image and many other benefits.
Starting body transformation and raying to gain muscles may sound intimidating and difficult after age of 40 but it can be done; especially for persons who hasn't workout long time ago or ever before; but the psychological, physical and mental gains of are worth the efforts, that why we don’t only tell you that you can do it, you should do it, but pay attention to the following tips.
Considerations for training after 40s
Exercise
Exercise recommendations for building muscles after 40s are somehow different from when you were 25 year old; the key is to start gradually and take these guidelines into consideration:
- Warm up: Since joints and ligament tend to get stiffer while aging, warm up becomes very critical and necessary for longer time; 10-15 minutes minimum before weight lifting session.
- Frequency: Because it takes more time to recover from strength training in older people; you need to make sure to allow enough time between sessions for recovery especially for gaining muscle tissue; 2-3 strength sessions per week are enough.
- Criteria: Avoid doing too much exercises per muscle group in every session, perform no more than 6-8 exercises each session, 2-3 sets for each muscle group, with moderate (6-12 reps) and moderate weights.
- Stretching: Stretching after weight lifting is very important to increase range of motion and avoid stiffening your joints and tendons; focus on dynamic stretching (stretching that incorporate movement) more than static stretching (keeping a stretched position for 15-30 sec).
- Cardio: Do 20-30 minutes moderate intensity training of your favorite cardio, most days of the week. Keep in mind that quality is over quantity, a 20 minute HIIT can be more efficient than 40 slow, low intensity cardio.
Find exercises you need in fitnessyard’s exercise directory and build your own plan.
Nutrition
Healthy eating tips for men and women after 40s are almost the same as those in their 30s, but with the exception that as we get older, our metabolic rate naturally declines, and tendency for fat storage increases –especially in the center of the body-, that’s why watching caloric consumption is more critical for them; any excess of it can be readily stored.
Need more help planning and executing your body transformation after 40s? Get the help you need in Fitnessyard forums.
References:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/
http://aginginmotion.org/