Age Is Just a Number: Thriving in Fitness After 40

“The wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings.”

– Hippocrates

Age is Just a Number

Health is truly wealth. Without our health, we don’t have anything. The ancient Stoics emphasized the importance of maintaining physical well-being through healthy eating habits and regular exercise. There is a common misconception people have,  thinking they can’t lift weights or exercise because they are getting “too old”. Strength training is one of the best things you can do for longevity, physical, and mental well-being. It is a lifelong practice. In this post I will share some thoughts on how to optimize fitness after 40.

I chose the age of 40 because I am now in my 40s this has been on my mind lately as I have made some adjustments to my training over the past 17 years of exercising. Based not only on age but on my priorities and changes in my goals. These same principles and ideas can work for any age person.
It doesn’t matter what your age is you should never give up on yourself. Incorporating strength training into our exercise routine as we age is crucial for maintaining muscle mass, bone density, metabolic health, joint function, and overall physical and cognitive well-being. No matter your age, you can always work to improve your physical strength and health. However, adjustments may need to be made as we age. In this post, we will explore practical ways to continue exercising, and staying motivated,  and how we can adjust our training as we age.

Understanding the Body After 40

It’s important to understand that as we age some important physiological changes occur. Changes in metabolism, muscle mass, and the impact of aging on cardiovascular health. As we age, it becomes more challenging to avoid muscle loss, but it does not mean there is no hope. According to an article by Harvard Medical School “Age-related muscle loss, called sarcopenia, is a natural part of aging. After age 30, you begin to lose as much as 3% to 5% per decade”. However, with regular strength training, this can be stopped or slowed significantly. One of the main factors as we age is changes in hormone production. Testosterone levels do start to slowly decline but this can be curved by making some simple and effective lifestyle changes. Another thing to keep in mind if you have not been lifting or never have you will still see significant gains in muscle in those first couple of years. The key is to work to maintain that muscle as long as we can

Boost Testosterone Naturally

Low testosterone is becoming an issue in our modern age. You will see ads pushing this new supplement or TRT as the cure. However, there are several things we can do to naturally boost our testosterone (more on that soon). These days TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) has become very popular and is being pushed by doctors as the solution. This in many cases is not necessary and I would highly recommend trying other routes before messing with your hormones in this way. The first thing you can start with is having regular or at least annual blood tests to have your hormones checked. That way you can get a baseline to see where you’re at. Then you can start making some lifestyle changes and track your progress. Don’t get me wrong if you have really made an effort to change your sleep, stress, nutrition, and alcohol habits and still do not see a response in the right direction, then perhaps TRT may be a viable option for you. I believe when we give our bodies what they need they are very capable of healing and running more optimally. I have been getting blood work every year for the past five years and the first time I had my testosterone checked it was on the lower end of the spectrum roughly at 350. Throughout the last few years, I have made some big changes to my lifestyle to see what would happen. The first place I started was sleep habits, then stress, nutrition, alcohol consumption, and finally adjusting my training volume. The last time I had my testosterone checked it had increased significantly now in the 700s which is on the higher end of the spectrum.  This may sound like a lot of work, more than taking a TRT supplement but to me we have nothing more than our health and it has been worth the work as these changes have increased my overall health. Don’t get me wrong, if there becomes a time when these numbers start to decline despite my efforts I may consider something like TRT but for now, all is good. All of these adjustments have become a regular part of my life and do not feel difficult to maintain any longer. The main things we can do to increase our testosterone naturally are improved sleep, quality nutrition, hydration, lower alcohol consumption, reduced stress, and regular exercise (especially strength training). Start with making one change at a time until it becomes dialed then start with the next and so on. Remember,  it’s a marathon, not a race. 

Training after 40

The principles of building muscle after the age of 40 don’t differ much from those in our 20s and 30s. A few things that do become different may be the time it takes to warm up, training volume, and recovery time. It’s important to listen to your body each day and make sure you feel that you are recovering well. Smashing yourself in CrossFit or HIIT workouts every day or twice a day may not be the best approach as we get older. It doesn’t mean you can’t still do the things you love but you may need to have a slightly different approach. One of the best things I did as I turned 40 was reducing volume, only training one time a day, and making sure to take two days of complete recovery or some light cardio like bike riding and walking. 

Varying your workouts is another thing we can do, not only to change the stimulus to the muscles but to keep things interesting and avoid burnout. Remember strength training is a forever thing not a temporary thing so keep it fun! For me, it was going from doing CrossFit every day to only doing CrossFit 3-4 times a week and incorporating some bodybuilding in my workouts. If you are having joint pain try adding in some tempo training or sub dumbbells with resistance bands for a while. You don’t need to be pushing as heavy as possible every time you are in the gym. Switching things up trying lighter weights and higher reps can help confuse the body and help prevent plateaus. 
Stay consistent with your exercise, I recommend between 3-5 days a week of strength and cardiovascular training. If you don’t know where to start you can check out my instagram or this blog, where I post a weekly workout to get the week off on the right foot. You can use that weekly workout as an outline for your other workouts in the week. For example, if I post a workout for the chest and you need an idea for a lower body workout, you sub the chest exercises with leg exercises and even keep the reps the same. It does not need to be complicated and the body will respond accordingly. It’s all about the consistent effort or the long haul.

Nutrition and Recovery

This is a very important piece of the puzzle. So many people just focus on the workouts but what about the rest of the 24 hours in the day? This is where we need to work on recovering from our efforts. This includes some of the lifestyle changes we talked about earlier. Sleep, nutrition, hydration, stretching, and more. Like I mentioned above start by focusing on one of these things until you start feeling good about it and then layer on the next thing and so on. Before you know these changes will be easy and a part of your regular daily routine. 

I think the two biggest levers you can pull are sleep and nutrition. Many studies are showing the incredible benefits of healthy sleep habits. The increase in growth hormone and cognitive benefits are enough to take advantage of this important recovery tool. Plus it’s free! The next big one is the food we eat. This can be a very complicated topic, especially with all of the influencers out there pushing the “perfect diet” or supplement. I will make a more in-depth post later on this but remember to keep it simple, eat real food (food with no ingredients) things like fruit, vegetables, and meat. Things that come from the earth are all we need to thrive. Aim to eat your desired body weight in grams of protein each day, this is huge for body composition and recovery.

Closing thoughts

Remember it’s consistency, not perfection that will move the needle. Start with baby steps find success with one thing then layer on another until these things become part of your everyday life. Feeling strong and healthy in life and as we age is the best thing we can do for a better life. We can significantly slow the decline of our bodies by incorporating some of these simple principles into our lives. Till the next time!

In Strength and Purpose,

Corey