40something fitness guide: stay healthy and future proof your body

If your 20s were basically a fitness free-for-all, and your 30s a time to prepare for what lies ahead, then your 40s represent the time when the realities of your health start to hit home. You're now in your fifth decade, and there's just no hiding from previous missteps or ongoing indulgences. It's time to face up to the realities of ageing.

There are a few signs to look out for. For example, your metabolism tends to slow during this period in your life, which can lead to muscle loss (sarcopenia, to give it the technical name). Equally, you might notice that your recovery from intense exercise begins to slow down.

But – stop the funeral music – these signs aren't things you have to accept with helplessness. Your 40s are perhaps the years in which your action (or inaction) has the most significant bearing on your long-term health. Take the right steps and you really can slow the hand of time.

Below, I've outlined some of the steps you can take to future proof your body in your 40s. Before you begin, a quick word to the wise: now is a great time to get a thorough check from your GP to make sure that everything is as it should be. The power of prevention and early diagnosis is not to be underestimated – and there are plenty of tests available on the NHS that will give you an indicator of where your body is at.

Nutrition

As I advise my clients of all ages, you’ll want to ensure that you are on an anti-inflammatory diet throughout your 40s. This helps reduce systemic inflammation and stops the body holding on to unwanted body fat and water.

Remember that certain cancers, heart disease, Alzheimer's, diabetes and arthritis are all diseases of inflammation. Tumeric can help here – it's been shown to have impressive anti-inflammatory properties.

Inflammatory foods to avoid would include: 

• Refined sugars 
• Processed meats
• Fizzy drinks
• Processed milk
• Gluten products

Another important point here is to keep your protein intake relatively high, in order to preserve your existing muscle mass (and, along with resistance training, fight off the nefarious villain of sarcopenia). This doesn't mean going overboard and eating like a bodybuilder; just make sure you have adequate amounts of quality high protein foods such as lean meat, eggs, nuts and seeds.

You may also want to start thinking about your ratios of fat to carbs. Many of us vastly overeat carbohydrates, especially in the evening, which gives our body a surplus of energy that we fail to burn off. As a result, the body converts the carbs into fat and stores it away for a rainy day that probably never arrives. 

In your 40s, this process of fat accumulation tends to become more pronounced – most likely because you don't have (or make) time for exercise. It's why you may have noticed a bit more blubber around your midriff, and possibly back pain too. 

A low-carb diet should help fix things. Experiment for a week with not eating carbs for dinner and take a note of how you feel afterwards. You might be surprised to learn that you feel both full and light – a good combination!

Training

Exercise in your forties should be split into three main objectives: 

1. Maintain muscle mass
2. Improve mobility, essentially to avoid myofascial problems and back issues
3. Maintain a base level of healthy body fat and fitness

1. Maintaining Muscle Mass

To maintain your existing muscle mass you’ll want to send the signals to your body that you’ll be using it rigorously and often. Resistance training is your friend here – it indicates to your muscles and joints that they need to be better and stronger to deal with everyday existence.

For most lifters, I would recommend total-body workouts. Ideally, aim for 8-10 exercises with a weight that's heavy enough so that you can comfortably perform 8-10 repetitions with good form but no more.

An example workout might look like this: 

• Front Squat 4 x 10 
• Barbell Deadlift 4 x 10
• Kettlebell Swing  4 x 10 
• Seated Shoulder Press 4 x 10 
• Barbell Upright Row 4 x 10 
• Incline Dumbbell Fly 4 x 10 
• One Arm Dumbbell Row 4 x 10 
• Barbell Bicep Curl 3 x 12
• Overhead Tricep Extension 3 x 12

2. Improving Mobility

There are many ways to enhance and maintain mobility. The degree to which you’ll need to focus on this area and the route you take will largely depend on how you have lived your younger life. If you feel like your mobility is broadly ok, then great: just keep doing what you've been doing up to this point. Just make sure that your work includes plenty of core strength exercises. 

However, if you are getting regular aches and pains, especially in the neck and back and feel like your mobility is restricted, I would strongly recommend that you take up a course of Pilates and regular stretching. Whilst you can get high-level Pilates workouts online these days, I’d still recommend doing at least a month in a Pilates studio. Form is key and there's really no substitute for hands-on time with a qualified instructor.

3. Maintaining Base Fitness

Your core aerobic fitness is something that you always want to keep in hand – it makes so many of your everyday bodily functions more efficient and helps lower your risk of encountering multiple health issues.

However, you might want to be calculated in how you spend your time here. People in their 40s tend to feel that they don't have hours (or inclination) to spend on long evening jogs or early morning bike rides. Which is OK, because the science increasingly suggests you can get all the stimuli you need from shorter bursts of action. Try High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), where you blast your body for a minute or so, get your breath back, and then do it again. A bit like old-school circuit training (although without the embarrassing PE kit that you used to have to wear).