Getting there: Training the over-40 body
Feb. 22nd, 2008 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabrinamariTen more minutes left in my break...
Pants are getting baggy and items that didn't fit now fit once again. Muscles are returning in real seriousness.
I'm still working all body parts except abs 2x a week...I just got myself to do the same with abs *this* week.
90% of my cardio now is for 45 minutes or longer. This is hard to get used to, but it's really working!
I'm using a motivational podcast to keep my nose to the grinder.
It's called 'Motivation to Move,' on iTunes. There's a free feed, with 1-minute fitness downloads (fantastic) and a 30 minute 'Motivation to Move' show (just OK). There is also a free Daily Boost feed (utterly fantastic---see below) that shows up once a week for free.
The Motivation to Move premium feed ($19.99 a month) adds a Daily Boost (utterly fantastic: general life coaching in 7-9 minutes daily doses) every day and gives access to a 30-day, 90 podcast 'Get Moving, Stay Moving' Program (aimed at new exercisers but excellent for just getting anyone off the counch and into daily sustained exercise). The program starts every day with a short podcast (5 min), a longer podcast to listen to during cardio (15 min or so) and a guided meditation (7-8 min: FANTASTIC!) to listen to at night. The premium feed also gives access to a short podcast called the 'Afterburner' which is less formal and varies greatly in its applicability to my life.
It was very good at keeping me motivated and helping me regain the habit/committment of daily sustained exercise. More programs on nutrition and cooking, as well as interviews with people who turned around their health, will appear on the premium feed this year.
The best part: Scott Smith, the excessively chipper man who does these podcasts, is 48. He peppers his podcasts with advice for over-40 exercisers. That would be me.
This has made a real difference to me. My body cannot operate in the same way it did when I was 20 or 30. I've had to adapt, and I've been both resistant to doing so and unclear about how to do it. He's given some good advice on that score.
Some of the most important (for me):
Sleep gets more important the older you get. You need consistent, adequate rest to exercise hard in your 40s and above. Frequent late nights will not cut it.
Lay off on interval training and sprints. 40+ bodies injure and re-injure more easily than younger bodies. Concentrate on long, slow burn cardio instead. If you must do intervals, start them after 20-30 minutes of long, slow burn ('long, slow burn' refers to doing cardio at 75% of your maximum heart rate for a longer period of time, usually 45-60 minutes).
Most people do well with their eating during the week but screw up on the weekends! Over 40, this gets more important. On Thursday, plan your eating and activities for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Strategize about how you will stay within your eating plan. On Monday, you'll have to face what you did over the weekend. A key tool to help you: on Thursday, ask yourself, "How do I want to feel on Monday?"
OK, back to work!
Pants are getting baggy and items that didn't fit now fit once again. Muscles are returning in real seriousness.
I'm still working all body parts except abs 2x a week...I just got myself to do the same with abs *this* week.
90% of my cardio now is for 45 minutes or longer. This is hard to get used to, but it's really working!
I'm using a motivational podcast to keep my nose to the grinder.
It's called 'Motivation to Move,' on iTunes. There's a free feed, with 1-minute fitness downloads (fantastic) and a 30 minute 'Motivation to Move' show (just OK). There is also a free Daily Boost feed (utterly fantastic---see below) that shows up once a week for free.
The Motivation to Move premium feed ($19.99 a month) adds a Daily Boost (utterly fantastic: general life coaching in 7-9 minutes daily doses) every day and gives access to a 30-day, 90 podcast 'Get Moving, Stay Moving' Program (aimed at new exercisers but excellent for just getting anyone off the counch and into daily sustained exercise). The program starts every day with a short podcast (5 min), a longer podcast to listen to during cardio (15 min or so) and a guided meditation (7-8 min: FANTASTIC!) to listen to at night. The premium feed also gives access to a short podcast called the 'Afterburner' which is less formal and varies greatly in its applicability to my life.
It was very good at keeping me motivated and helping me regain the habit/committment of daily sustained exercise. More programs on nutrition and cooking, as well as interviews with people who turned around their health, will appear on the premium feed this year.
The best part: Scott Smith, the excessively chipper man who does these podcasts, is 48. He peppers his podcasts with advice for over-40 exercisers. That would be me.
This has made a real difference to me. My body cannot operate in the same way it did when I was 20 or 30. I've had to adapt, and I've been both resistant to doing so and unclear about how to do it. He's given some good advice on that score.
Some of the most important (for me):
Sleep gets more important the older you get. You need consistent, adequate rest to exercise hard in your 40s and above. Frequent late nights will not cut it.
Lay off on interval training and sprints. 40+ bodies injure and re-injure more easily than younger bodies. Concentrate on long, slow burn cardio instead. If you must do intervals, start them after 20-30 minutes of long, slow burn ('long, slow burn' refers to doing cardio at 75% of your maximum heart rate for a longer period of time, usually 45-60 minutes).
Most people do well with their eating during the week but screw up on the weekends! Over 40, this gets more important. On Thursday, plan your eating and activities for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Strategize about how you will stay within your eating plan. On Monday, you'll have to face what you did over the weekend. A key tool to help you: on Thursday, ask yourself, "How do I want to feel on Monday?"
OK, back to work!
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My problem with aging is a bit different...
Date: 2008-02-22 10:47 pm (UTC)I'm having a hard time exercising to fitness levels (weight loss & increased muscle tone) without ending up hurting later.
I'm 35, not that much younger than you, and I really wonder how I am going to keep a fit life while being so sensitive to injury.
Re: My problem with aging is a bit different...
Date: 2008-02-25 01:17 pm (UTC)1. Start taking glucosamine-chondroiten supplements (not sure about the spelling). Some web exploration will tell you more about the joint support they offer.
2. Take it really, really easy when you start! Like me, you are super Type-A personality. You want to progress quickly and perform strongly. But the more mature body enforces moderation and caution! It is the bane of the Type A personality!
Start by doing less than you think you should be doing and progress (in terms of time spent and weight used) at rate that is painfully slow for your preferred mindset. Endure the agony of slow, steady progression! (It almost killed me---I stayed at 12 lb. chest presses for TWO MONTHS!!!!)
Your patience will be rewarded: at the end of month 4, I am doing a 25 lb. chest press.
If you try to go at more comfortable fast pace, you risk injury! Maddening, but true, as far as I can tell.
Re: My problem with aging is a bit different...
Date: 2008-02-25 07:57 pm (UTC)Now I am working a bit slower. Prior to your comment, I would have said a bit "lamer". I'm doing 30 minutes of elliptical instead of 20, between 2 and 4 times a week. I'm walking more too, and the weight training is much milder than what my trainer had me doing. I feel it but I don't suffer from it. I'm sick of swiming tho' and that's too bad, b/c it is a good way for me to exercise w/o pain. But I don't get my HR up the way I do on the elliptical (the music is key to that!) and as I said, the toll it takes on my hair, skin & schedule are too great for me to take right now.
I have been thinking about taking those supplements, I will look into them today or tomorrow when I have a moment.
Love you sweetie!
Re: My problem with aging is a bit different...
Date: 2008-02-25 09:32 pm (UTC)Scott Smith mentioned the fact that personal trainers often work their clients too hard too fast. I don't know because I have no experience working with them (well, actually, I did work with one once and come think of it, I hurt my hamstring during that session because he had me lift too much weight on machine calf raises...)
Hmmmm.
I would certainly say,"Trust yourself and your body over your trainer". Maybe there's a market for trainers specializing in a slower, more sustainable approach that's appropriate for more mature or less resilient bodies.
wild_place_king, do you know anyone who might be interested in a job like that?