Not long ago, doctors told people to slow down once they reached 40. To take it easy. But it’s never too late to get in shape and reap the health benefits of physical fitness. In fact, increasing physical activity later in life has the same health benefits as being active from adolescence through adulthood. It has benefits like reduction of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. According to a study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Getting fit after the age of forty can seem daunting. Not only do you have to build muscle where there is none, but due to the aging process, your skin could lose elasticity, you may develop weak joints that are more susceptible to injury along with hormone fluctuations. But don’t fret, many recent studies have shown that exercise and physical activity can help you maintain and even restore your strength, balance, flexibility, and endurance.
Melissa Neill is living proof of this. She is over 40 and a successful bikini competitor. She is passionate about health and fitness and creates content to help women over the age of 40 to get in shape and maintain a healthy lifestyle. From workout videos, diet advice and more Melissa is helping women over 40 recognize just how amazing they are.
Losing Weight After 40
If you’re over 40, you may have noticed that it’s easier to gain weight — and harder to lose it — than it used to be. Changes in your activity level, eating habits, and hormones, and how your body stores fat all can play roles. Hormones changes and a slower metabolism can make it tricky—but it’s *not* impossible. Melissa has resources that provide tips on how to lose weight after 40. Check out one of her videos below:
Strength Training After 40
While it is true that muscle mass tends to decrease with age, something known as sarcopenia, this does not have to be inevitable. The key to strength training after 40 is adapting the exercises to your abilities, minimizing stress to your joints, and also understanding the science behind muscle growth. Melissa always recommends that women include weight training or strength training as part of their exercise routine if they are trying to lose weight. Check out her video on weight training:
Diet Trends After 40
Both nutritional needs (the food and water) and metabolism (how fast your body converts food to energy) change after 50. The metabolism gets slower and what you eat is even more important. Fad diets don’t help keep off the weight in the long term. The other problem with following fad diets after 40 is they can cause nutritional deficiencies and lead to a host of additional health problems, including negatively impacting hormonal health and metabolism. Diets affect mental health, too, by causing stress, guilt, and anxiety over food choices. Melissa provides resources to help with considering diets like keto or habits like intermittent fasting. Check out one of her videos below on keto after 40:
Of course, no amount of physical activity can stop us from getting older, but there’s plenty of evidence that proves that physical activity can increase life expectancy by limiting the development and progression of chronic diseases—something that Melissa is proving to the world.
Learn more about Melissa on her Youtube channel and be sure to follow her on Instagram for more inspiring content.