Advice for staying fit as we age

A

amyrobyn

Active Member
Hi Cathe,
I've been doing your workouts for about five years now and I love all of your tapes! All this time I have had no problem staying thin, fit and healthy; I would work out 3-4 times a week and eat an overall lower fat diet. I turned 30 last year and within the past year, I have noticed dramatic changes in my body, specifically weight gain of about 12 pounds! I have had all of the medical (blood) tests done to ensure it's not thyroid or anything like that, and it isn't. So, I'm wondering about what I can do to get back in shape again? Does it make a difference if the cardio portion of the workout is 30 minutes or 40 or 45 minutes? Should I be exercising more than 3-4 times per week, I wonder? I am varying my workouts more now, incorporating more of the stretching and strengthening exercises with the step and kickboxing and hi/lo routines.
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Amy :)
 
Dear Amy,

At thirty you are still a very long way off from worrying about how age will impact your attempts to stay fit.

I am thirty seven and cannot remember a time at which I have been more fit. I do very intense weight training, cardio (including plenty of high impact) for 60 minutes at each session - my age does not interfere with any attempts to increase my fitness levels so far. I know many women around my age who regularly workout at advanced levels.

Around early to mid thirties the body's metabolism slows down and this causes weight gain if you maintain the same eating habits and lead a sedentary lifestyle. You need to lift weights (to increase lean muscle mass, which in turn increases metabolism), or get some cardio, or eat clean (the excesses of the twenties you can no longer get away with) or preferably a combination of all 3. Try 30 minutes of cardio, 4 to 5 times a week and see if that works in gradually reducing weight (.75 to 1 pound per week). In addition please weight train 3 times a week - I feel for women 30 and up, weight training is more effective than cardio - besides body tone benefits come from weight training and not cardio.

Depending on the results, you can increase the cardio to 45 minutes/60 minutes per session if you need to. However, if you are not working out currently / working out irregularly, you are likey to see results if you merely eat clean, weight train for 40 to 50 minutes thrice a week and stick with 30 minutes of cardio. You may hit a plataue(likely that you will lose all 12 pounds without needing to up the cardio timings - 12 pounds is not much to lose) and consider upping the cardio session time thereafter. If you need more than 30 minutes of cardio to see results, another thought to consider is to break up your cardio into two sessions. Maybe a brisk walk for 30 minutes and another session of aerobics for 30 minutes.

If you are significantly over weight, impact aerobics may affect your knees so it may be best to stay with low impact until you lose some weight. However if you only have 12 pounds of extra weight, you may not expereince any issues. Make sure you warm up and stretch your hamstrings, quads and calves before proceeding to high impact to be safe. If you feel pain in your knees or feet from high impact do mixed impact or low impact workouts.

All the best with achieving your fitness goals.

Vee
 
Amy - I'm 44, and over the last two years have managed to lose 50 pounds and gain significantly more lean muscle by eating clean and exercising. After age 30, lifting weights becomes much more important than cardio, IMO. But most important of all is what you put in your mouth. I was one of those people who was never overweight and I really never dieted in my life. After I turned 35 I started gaining weight even though my eating habits did not change.

I suggest you carefully evaluate what you are eating. Avoid sugar and processed foods, and eat as many natural foods as you can. Increase your fruits and veggies and lean protein and decrease your fats.

I've also found that I've been able to decrease my body fat percentage with high intensity interval training and weight lifting, as opposed to just cardio.

good luck,
Julia
 
Hi Vee,

Thank you for writing back! It's nice to know there are people who understand what I'm saying and are able to offer some helpful advice. I'm not sure what "healthy" and "unhealthy" weights are, so if there's any help you can give me in that area, that would be good.. I am 5"3 and weigh just about 120 pounds. But for about 4 years, I weighed 108 (hence the 12 pound weight gain comment).

I will definitely try more weight training and combine that with more cardio sets and see what happens. It's true, I do eat the same amount of junk food (which isn't much, but certainly creeps into my diet every day) as I always did in my twenties; What exactly do you mean by "eating clean"? I don't want to try the Atkins thing because I know I wouldn't stick to it.

Thank you again for your help.

Amy
 
Amy, I just turned 42 and I'm in better condition now than I was in my 20's. I noticed the first major shift in my metabolism when I was about 32. And I think I may be going through another shift right now. Varying your amount, type, intensity of cardio will definitely make a difference and strength training is vital as we get older. If anything I would say focus on strength training over cardio...the more muscle you build the more calories you burn. I also find as I get older I have to be more careful about what I put in my mouth. I like the junk food too so I know it's hard but even a little bit every day does make a difference in a negative way. Hope that helps! I'm sort of battling the same thing right now as it seems my metabolism is shifting again so I'm working harder right along with you :)

Cheryl
 
I am the eldest of the bunch

I will be 49 Dec31st... as I age.. I find that I really lift weights more than cardio.. it helps me stay in shape.. and I really have to eat clean!!! I ate like a pig (so to speak) over Thanksgiving and now I am paying for it... ! }( }( smiling but it was worth it.. you have to relax and enjoy .. it makes you appreciate life!!..

I also workout out 6 days a week!

I am studying to be a personal trainer.. imagine that a Credit manager a personal trainer... DONT YOU LUV LIFE:)
 
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