Are you worried about getting older and not being able to train as hard? Maybe you are not at your best, but you can continue to gain muscle and burn fat from the age of 40. Your testosterone may be declining, and there may also be a reduction in the vascularity of the tendons and ligaments, but it is fixed by training better and smarter.
“Suddenly you think your training needs to change and you’re not going to be able to give it your all anymore. And it doesn’t have to be,” says Ebenezer Samuel of Men’s Health US. And you don’t have to make big, dramatic changes to your workouts, just get a little smarter with your training. That includes correcting some mistakes and bad habits that you might have developed. (Train like this to gain muscle naturally.)
4 training mistakes after the age of 40
1- You do not train to gain energy
A trap that many forty-somethings fall into is betting on classic routines and leaving time under stress aside. From a strength and muscle building standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, one essential aspect to be overlooked, power and energy training, cannot be overlooked no matter your age.
How to fix it:
A good start is to add an exercise like kettlebell swing to your routine. Just three sets of eight to 10 reps, a few times a week, will help you build and gain power. You can also incorporate power training with exercises like bench presses, squats, or deadlifts, using lighter weights.
2- You are training too much
You no longer need to train every day, because with age it is more difficult to recover after a hard day of training.
How to fix it:
Your 40s is the time to start training more comfortably in the six to eight rep range (or even eight to 10). And move less kilos than before…
3- You do not do enough isolation exercises
One thing you may have noticed is that modern fitness trends prioritize strength. But, at the same time, it is advisable that your training includes some isolation exercises.
How to fix it:
Consider adding two isolation movements to each workout to help complement the deadlifts and squats. If it’s leg day, try quad extensions and hamstring curls after your squats.
4- You do not do enough cardio
Your metabolism starts to slow down after 40, so burning calories with cardio is essential. That’s why it’s important to raise your heart rate.
How to fix it:
Six to eight minutes of cardio in the warm up is important. Treadmill, exercise bike, rowing machine… whatever you like. And, at the end, the same, more moderate cardio.
