Retaining Muscle After 40 With a Great Diet and Exercise Regime

A lot of people dread growing older because of the unpleasant side effects that come with it. Your metabolism slows down and you start getting a belly. You aren’t as energetic and bedtime is earlier than it’s ever been. Your joints stiffen up and you can’t gain muscle as easily.

Sure, there are some things that we have to make peace with as we age. However, we don’t have to lay back and submit to all the changes. You may not be able to gain muscle as easily but it’s far from impossible. In fact, you can make some changes to your diet and exercise regime today to prevent muscle loss and ensure that you still feel happy, healthy, and strong.

Get your omega-3 fats in
Omega-3 fatty acids do quite a bit for your body every day. Not only does it strengthen your cardiovascular health but it boosts your mood. Of course, it also plays a role in muscle maintenance. This is because stress and inflammation in your body can weaken and break down your muscles. Omega-3s counter this with anti-inflammatory properties. Aside from this, it improves the way your muscles use protein. It can even be used to treat sarcopenia! Make sure you include plenty of foods like salmon, walnuts, eggs, and flaxseed in your diet to get enough omega-3s every day. Especially when it comes to fitness for men over 40.

Enjoy some sun every day
Vitamin D is known to be good for your bones since it helps your body absorb calcium. Aside from that, however, vitamin D is able to promote muscle protein symbiosis. Like omega-3s, vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties. These two things will help you increase muscle strength, power, and control. It’s important to get some sun daily so that your body can produce vitamin D. However, as you age your body doesn’t produce vitamin D through sun exposure as well. Therefore, you may want to supplement with a tablet.

Do some resistance training
Experts recommend around half an hour of resistance training three times a week. However, one to two short workouts can still do your muscles a lot of good. The important thing to remember here is that you need to tire out your muscles and mix things up a bit to make sure every part of your body is being worked. You can try out different exercises, increase the number of reps, and vary the weight. A lot of people have high volume, low rep days and low volume, high rep days for some variation. When doing resistance training, it’s also important for you to get in your protein. Have a protein-based snack before or after you hit the gym so that your body is all fueled up. Milk or whey protein is a great way to get in some protein to recover after your workout.

Remember your cardio
It’s incredibly important for you to get your cardio in. This will strengthen your heart health as well as contribute to muscle maintenance. When you do cardio, blood flows throughout your body. This means nutrients are brought to the muscles and toxins are whisked away more quickly as well. Make a point of engaging in a cardiovascular exercise for thirty minutes for at least three days a week. This may be by fast walking, jogging, biking, or swimming. It may be difficult at first but it’ll definitely pay off when you feel and look much better than your friends at the same age.