The Over 40 Fitness Equation

Table of Contents

Input vs. Output
By Tracey Cooper



The fitness goal of the over 40 fitness crowd is to simply begin moving your body on a daily basis become smart on feeding your body the way it needs to be fed.

Our goal with movement is to get in the habit of producing blood flow every day. The body movement possibilities are endless. List the possibilities in your environment. The gym is only one of many.

Incorporate resistance exercises at least 3 times a week. Think compound exercises. Think major muscle groups. Think push pull. The pushing motion works your shoulders, chest and triceps. Pulling activities work your back and biceps.

For your lower body, carrying your body weight on a flight of stairs is usually good resistance for phase 1. Walk up and down stairs, one at a time, then every second stair, then every third stair. Slow and safe, then speed up. Eventually, if so motivated, you can sprint up stairs like a professional.

Shoot for intensity vs. time on station. The over 40 crowd does not have time or stamina to spend 1 to 2 hours at the gym.

Therefore, spend 20 minutes of intense exercising with zero rest or limited rest in between sets. Get a burn, go for the burn, push to muscle failure, whether on free weights, machines, or using your body weight with different angles of pushups, setups, pull-ups, dips, or body weight squats.

Combine aerobic with resistance training not on purpose, but as a result of your intensity and the working of your large muscle groups.

No rest between sets increases your aerobic effect. For those of you who can run. Then run. Many of us cannot run. So we must utilize the many other large muscle groups to create aerobic benefits.

Keep it simple, your routine must be fun and you must must forward to it. Try to find camaraderie in your training program.

Workout with partners, workout in classes, compete at places where groups of people are training, gym, courts, parks, tracks. If no groups are available, strap on your ipod and train with music.

Remember, this is Phase 1. Phase 1 gets you moving and involved in the fitness process. You must get moving and into a routine before we advance into the intermediate and advance training stages (phases 2 and 3). Once started, the Fitness Lifestyle becomes your routine.

On the input side of the equation, stop the work place happy birthday celebrations and junk food fests. Just say No! Give the birthday person a hug instead.

Plan and pack for your daily snacks the night before. After 40 years, 3 meals a day, that's over 40,000 eating events, we should all be experts at forecasting our eating patterns and hunger periods.

Buy your almonds, sunflower seeds, assorted nuts, beef jerky or any protein bars , protein shakes or protein cold drinks at discount stores on the weekends. You know one apple and one plum isn't going to cut it for snack time.

Stop inputting into your non-value added nutritional items. Stop the diet cokes. Chew gum, not a Butterfinger. Drink water or green tea. Your body is a machine and a work of art. Be nice to it.

Go from 3 meals per day to 6 feedings per day. Eating is fueling your body, not satiating your hunger desire. Keep your evening meal for savoring and romantic cuisine experimentation.

Don't count calories. Later in your Fitness Lifestyle, you may want to track calories. Right now, start walking the walk. Work on your snacks, reduce the big meal syndrome, cutout the daily happy desserts, and these small steps will set you on a course of change.

In conclusion, start your physical movement anywhere and everywhere. You don't need a gym, just start moving your body. Use your body weight if that's the only resistance you have. Plan your snacks, start feeding your body six times a day, and begin saying no thanks to the multitude of desserts. You will begin seeing and feeling results in no time.

Train smart!