5-Steps To Choosing The Perfect workout at 40
Trying to craft the right workout for you with information from the internet is like getting a drink from a fireman’s hose: too much pressure, not enough focus. To make things easier, here’s your definitive 5-point checklist for getting what you need from the net when you’re over 40 years old.
Having a clear idea about your goals and your plan make it easier to reach your objectives.
THE BRIEF
Time to read: 3 minutes
Time to action: 10 minutes
Mantra: Nothing feels better than doing, not saying
Main message: Put what you want to do, not what you think you should do, at the centre of your fitness
Stat: 1/6 of weight trainers have never thought about what they want to do in the gym
Step 1: What are your 40-year-old goals?
Goals are so yawn! When you look to set them, ask the 40-year-old you, not the 20-year-old self, what they should be. Training is a long-term gig, and improving yourself takes time, regardless of age. So, rather than a specific programme, pick a set of training principles that keep you moving forward regularly. Every week. Every fortnight. Every month.
It doesn’t matter what they are, so long as you know they are there. Know the date for the next check-in and clearly understand what you’re working towards.
Step 2: Be analogue like a man – manalogue
Peloton. Fitbit. Big whoop. Did they digitise you healthier or stronger? It’s easy to throw money at the fitness problem, but the most critical metric is this: 3 months down the line, where are you?
If you’re in the same place, it’s time to go down a different route, no doubt about it. Or, as Henry Rollins puts it, “Friends may come and go, but 200lbs is always 200lbs.”
Essentially, is there a better way to know you’ve improved than being able to lift 210lbs? A good programme should be basic movements – squats, presses, pulls, and their variations with barbells and dumbbells. It’s simple but easy to see and, most importantly, feel progress.
Step 3: Go one second better than yesterday
It never gets any easier. If it does, you might just be doing it wrong. You can do endless sets and reps of every exercise imaginable, but your progress will soon halt if you're not adding to the training.
Progression includes extra reps, sets, sessions, and shorter rest periods. Heavier weights can be an end goal, but you'll still be moving in the right direction if you can track tangible progress from one session to the next.
Step 4: Understand charity begins at home
Your body is your home, so give generously. Workouts tear you down, so use your nutrition and rest to their utmost for better and faster recovery.
Your programme should allow you to adjust, which means switching up your weights, rep schemes, and overall training volume to ensure you're fresh and ready for the next session. So remember to commit to all aspects of your recovery in precisely the same measure as you do to the workout, timings, and consideration.
Nutrition rarely means pizza. Relaxing will rarely mean playing PS5 until 3 am. It might, but it won't if you want to see results more quickly.
Step 5: Find consistency in purpose
Surprisingly, a weak workout performed consistently is still better than the best work executed inconsistently.
There is no objective metric for judging a workout’s effectiveness; exercise frequency is like the God particle of progress. Pick what you want to achieve, decide how to get there, and commit. Then do it. Consistently. Consistency is everything, especially when it comes to weight loss.
And regularly remind yourself that it’s not about the end game. It’s about the ongoing gain. So go on and get fitter – it’s as simple as 1-5.
PT WOLF
PT Wolf is a personal trainer who tries and tests every programme we put together. A celebrity trainer, Wolf has been a fitness journalist, practising what he preaches for over 20 years. Now into his 40s, Wolf has added muscle to his frame in every decade of his life and has an annoyingly healthy body fat percentage. He tries it before he says it, but even more importantly, he lives it every day.
