What Everyone at 40+ Needs To Know About to Balance In Their quest for Health
4 key questions (and answers) that deliver the sweet spot between staying healthy and living your best life.
If you want to make changes, know yourself.
THE BRIEF
Time to read: 2 minutes 30 seconds
Time to action: 10 minutes
Mantra: Trying not to push it can deliver the best results
Main message: Fitness is a steady state, not a panicked state
Stat: 66% of people who think their work/life balance is poor – let’s put you in the top 34%.
Your 40s are fantastic. There’s the obvious wins. You know yourself. You do more of what you want. You care less about others’ opinions about you. There are also micro joys, like knowing you no longer have to go hard or go home. You can rediscover fitness for yourself, not for others, and you can do it all at your pace.
We’ve aggregated the 4 most frequently asked questions by 40-year-old-plus fitness enthusiasts looking for honest, straightforward answers to find that sweet spot of where you need to be vs what you want to do.
Enjoy. At your own pace, of course.
I Only have 10 Minutes To Exercise. Help?
Can we suggest a 7-minute workout? There’s plenty of time to recover either end that way.
Aim for 10 bodyweight moves quickly. A circuit-style approach that covers the whole body in multiple planes of motion is best, such as the moves below.
1. Body weight squats (20 reps)
2. Rotational push-ups (10-20 reps)
3. Lateral jumps (20 reps)
4. Jumping jacks (20 reps)
5. Pull-ups (10 reps)
6. Diamond push-ups (10 reps)
7. Lunges (20 reps)
8. Side planks (1 minute each)
9. Planks (1 minute)
10. Sit-ups
This is a lot, but you will hit that sweet spot between time-poor and results-rich.
I travel for work, how do I shape up?
It’s worth getting a pair of resistance bands. You can do a lot of drills using them that are functional for general fitness. They occupy almost no space in your luggage and can be used in the tiniest hotel rooms. You can also use them with all the exercises listed above for upgraded resistance.
I eat healthy but the weight stays on. Why?
Use a calorie counting app for everything – there is an underestimation of up to 40% of calories consumed without one. People who record what they eat can better keep it off long-term.
Regarding the exercise factor, it is hard to beat interval training for 30-45 minutes up to 5 days per week. It’s intense, but it will make it happen. But at least it’s not dull, like running at the same pace each day.
You must burn an extra 3500 calories per week to lose a pound of body fat. The treadmill might seem like the place to install that calorie deficit, but it will eat up some muscle in the process, regardless of how much protein you eat. Putting less stuff on your fork is easier than putting more miles on your legs.
I can’t sleep so my training sucks. Help?
This is good news: eat some carbs. They release serotonin and help you sleep. You also need them to think clearly and have the energy to exercise.
Next, at the risk of sounding frou-frou, try meditation to slow down your parasympathetic nervous system. If you’re not an “om” sort of a person, meditate differently: allow your mind to wander, but only into happy thoughts about happy things, good people, great places… just the good stuff.
Ask your mind an enjoyable question: what would I do with a lottery win? Where do I want to go next on my holiday? What are we doing for Christmas this year? It doesn’t matter what it is, but it allows for a release of anxiety that is anchored in the now. And right now, you don’t need that.
If you somehow wind up worrying about the presentation you have to give in the morning again, start again. Combining the two will help you sleep deeper when it happens, and the energy reserves for training will only increase.
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.
