What happens at the age of 40?
Does metabolism really tank? Why do so many women say that they gain weight that they just can’t let go of after the age of 40?
What’s the secret to getting and staying fit in your 40’s and beyond?
Below is an interview that I did with my friend Dr. Dan Ritchie. I answer the above questions:
It’s true that many women tend to have some difficulty with weight gain when they hit their 40’s, but it has nothing to do with the number forty.
Typically, women are less active at this age. During their 30’s and beyond, most will trade muscle for fat due to inactivity. If women are lucky, they will stay the same weight, however, most women will say that their weight has gone up too. This is bad news since they’ve lost metabolically active tissue and traded it for fat, which is pretty much dead weight.
The key to weight loss is to increase lean muscle tissue once again. You don’t need to hit the gym and pound big weights for this to happen. Simple bodyweight movements will be enough to stimulate muscle growth and NO, you won’t look super masculine either. In fact, muscle will help shape up the body so you look lean and sexy.
Aside from the need to add muscle, the fact is simply MOVING will increase caloric output to burn more calories as well.
I can’t emphasize the need to LOSE the steady state cardio and step up the HIIT along with resistance training to boost the metabolism. Many women decide to run a marathon at this age. I have nothing against marathons, but women need to understand that doing so won’t give you the body of your dreams. You’ll get fit, but don’t expect to look a whole lot different from just running.
If you want a program that will shape the muscles and get you super fit, check out my program. Here’s a sample workout for you:
Metabolic Charger
Equipment – mat, DB, timer
Duration – 35 minutes.
Warm up – Do the following:
- 30 jump rope
- 20 jumping jacks or step jacks
- 10 kneeling push ups
- 30 second plank hold
Repeat three times
Work out Description – Do 4 complete sets of the exercises on the list:
- Prisoner squat (hands behind head)
- T push up (or regular push up)
- Knee ins
- Lunge with DB pass
- Inchworm push up
- 180 squat switch (or squat jump)
- Lateral lunge
- Seated cross punch
- Body bridge circle
- Plank
- Gets ups
- Prone shoe touch
Timing:
- Set 1 – 30 seconds/exercise for a 6 min set.
- Set 2 – 25 seconds/exercise for a 5 min set.
- Set 3 – 20 seconds/exercise for a 4 min set.
- Set 4 – 15 seconds/exercise for a 3 min set.
Take 2 min rest between complete sets.
Cool down: Take 5 minutes to stretch, cool down and relax.