Unfortunately, you can’t go back in time or slow down time as you get older. And alas, there is no magic potion that can make you look 10 years younger. But establishing healthy lifestyle choices, like developing an exercise routine, can keep you healthy, boost your fitness, and even extend your life.
If you’re a gym and workout enthusiast, you’ve probably developed a few fitness habits over the years to achieve your goals. Your number one priority may be to lose weight, work on toning a particular area of your body, add more muscle to your frame, or just maintain your fitness. No matter what you focus on, there are some sneaky habits that can be detrimental to the progress you’ve worked so hard for. Also, they can pose a serious threat to your body.
To make sure you’re fully in the know, we spoke to RJ Williams, PT, DPTand franchised regional consultant for FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers, breaking down five fitness habits that can destroy your body after 40.
Next time you lace up your sneakers to hit the gym, keep in mind the following fitness habits that can destroy your body after 40. Read on to find out more, and when you’re done, don’t miss the 7 Strength Training Habits That Are Destroying Your Body in Your 40s.
“You can’t put a lot of mileage on the car and not take it in for service once in a while,” Williams explains. “Likewise, if you don’t do routine maintenance on your body, the mileage will pile up and a breakdown is imminent.”
Having a monthly massage subscription would be ideal, but unfortunately it is an unattainable luxury for many. Don’t worry, because there are some beneficial things you can do at home to show your body the TLC it deserves. Williams suggests starting with mobility and soft tissue work.
“Soft tissue work can be done easily with a tennis ball and a few rules,” he explains. “Find a tight spot in your muscles and use the ball to provide some pressure. An easy example is around the shoulder blades on your back. As you push up towards a wall, pin the ball between your muscles and the wall. From there, you can take several deep breaths sinking deeper into the pressure, or move your body in small directions for a rolling effect, similar to a bear scratching its back in a tree.”
Next is mobility. Yoga is such a simple and incredibly accessible form of training to help you improve your mobility and flexibility. You can download a yoga app or browse YouTube for some helpful videos that walk you through common poses and movements. “The goal is to do more than just move into a stretch position and hold it,” Williams explains. “We want to slowly enter and exit the shapes with relaxed breathing to help reshape the tissues and promote future access to these shapes and positions.”
Consuming a healthy diet and sticking to a solid fitness regimen go hand in hand. A “non-negotiable” item is getting enough protein each day.
“When we look at the three main macronutrients that make up our food (fats, carbohydrates and proteins), proteins differ greatly from the others,” Williams tells us. “Its main job is not to supply the body with fuel and energy, but to build and repair muscle tissue. Increasing your protein intake will help you lose weight, maintain lean body mass, and increase strength! The amino acids in protein They provide something no other macronutrient can provide.”
Williams recommends one gram of protein for every pound of body weight. Make sure you spread those servings out throughout the day and don’t consume too much all at once. Depending on how much you weigh, that might seem like three to five servings a day.
Next on our list of the worst fitness habits that wreck your body after 40 is poor hydration. Sipping on good ol’ H2O may feel a little lackluster, but keeping up with your water intake is a necessary part of your day. “The fitness and beverage industry has done an amazing job of making us believe that water is not enough hydration for activity,” says Williams. “Beware of sugary and artificial drinks as they can actually deprive your body of the proper balance it needs to perform at its best.”
Getting the right water levels right for your body weight can support a solid workout and reduce cravings. Your body’s connective tissues store adequate hydration, so if you push them to their limits “into a fragile state,” as Williams puts it, you’re more susceptible to injury.
“When you’ve set up your nutrition and are preparing most of the food you eat, we can start opening up the conversation about your electrolytes,” Williams points out. “It’s true that when you eat a clean diet you may need to add electrolytes back to your water for proper salt balance. These include sodium, potassium, and magnesium. There are products out there to easily add them to your water, but be wary of those that are rich.” of sugar or contain many other additives and artificial sweeteners”. The goal is to choose something simple, not a drink that sounds like a “chemistry lesson” on the ingredients list.
A busy schedule sometimes involves cutting back on excess activities and activities to make your day more manageable. For example, canceling your pre-workout warmup may seem like an easy way to cut corners and give yourself some time. But keep in mind that not warming up can make your body more prone to wear and tear in both the short and long term.
“Warming up before exercise performs several important functions for our bodies. It starts by increasing your heart and breathing rates, which quickly bring fresh blood and oxygen to your muscles, preparing your body to supply these vital components as it increases work demand,” Williams explains. “A good warm-up also allows your muscles to warm up, helping to make them more flexible and reducing the risk of injury during exercise. Your warm-up should be dynamic, getting progressively more intense and mimicking the movements you’ll be training in your routine.”
Willimas suggests aiming for a 10-minute warm-up. The goal should be to get your heart rate up, feel a little out of breath and maybe sweat!
Last but not least on this list of the worst fitness habits that can destroy your body after 40 is hitting the gym too hard after a break or minimal physical activity. “This can be very difficult to explain because the last thing you want to do is dampen someone’s motivation to get in shape,” Williams says. “However, we have to respect the fact that if you haven’t been active for a long time, your ability to do and perform activities the way you previously did will be impaired.”
Williams goes on to say that the typical “weekend warrior” is likely the one who will end up in physical therapy. They might decide to play a fun game of basketball at a family barbecue only to end up with a torn hamstring. The hard thing about fitness to accept is that you may be perfectly fine doing an exercise or physical activity, but the days that follow can be filled with pain. You’ll recognize this as delayed onset muscle soreness, also known as DOMS.
“This is common and should be expected, but should subside within 24-48 hours. But, because it’s a lagging indicator, you won’t know you’ve overdone it until you’ve had difficulty moving around for several days or worse, suffered an injury.” more serious,” warns Williams. “Our goal in getting fit is to always preserve the ability to train again tomorrow. The results will come in time if we can focus on gaining consistency. As you build up more days, then weeks, together you can keep pushing in the intensity , but grows on solid foundations.”
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