Unfortunately, you can’t turn back the clock or slow down time as you get older. And sadly, there is no magic pill to make you look 10 years younger. However, establishing healthy lifestyle choices, such as developing exercise habits, can help you stay fit, improve your fitness, and even extend your life.
If you’re an avid gym goer or workout enthusiast, you’ve developed essential fitness routines over the years to help you reach your goals. Your top priority might be losing weight, working on toning up a specific part of your body, adding muscle to your skeleton, or simply staying fit. No matter what your focus is, there are some sneaky habits that can negatively impact the progress you’ve made by working hard. Moreover, they can pose a great threat to your body.
To keep you all fully informed, we spoke with: RJ Williams, PT, DPTFranchise Regional Consultant FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centerdetails five fitness habits that can destroy your body after 40.
The next time you lace up your sneakers and hit the gym, take note of these fitness habits that can break your 40-plus body. Keep reading to find out more, and when you’re done, don’t miss his 7 Strength Workout Habits to Break Your Body by 40.
“You can’t afford to take your car in for service once in a while, even if you drive it a lot,” Williams explains. “Similarly, if you don’t maintain your body regularly, mileage builds up and failure is imminent.”
A monthly massage membership would be ideal, but sadly for many it’s an unaffordable luxury. please do not worry. There are a few beneficial things you can do right at home to show your body the TLC it deserves. Williams suggests starting with mobility and soft tissue training.
“Soft tissue work is easy with a tennis ball and a few rules,” he explains. “Find a tight spot in the muscle and apply pressure with the ball. A good example is around the shoulder blades on the back. Stand facing a wall and pin the ball between the muscle and the wall. From there, you can take a few deep breaths to sink deeper into the pressure, or move your body in small directions for a rolling effect, like a bear scratching its back with a tree.”
Next is mobility. Yoga is a seamless and incredibly accessible form of training that helps increase mobility and flexibility. Download the yoga app or surf YouTube for helpful videos that demonstrate common poses and flow. “The goal is not just to get into a stretch position and hold it,” explains Williams. “We want to slowly move in and out of shape with relaxed breathing to reshape the tissue and facilitate future access to these shapes and positions.”
Eating a healthy diet and following a solid fitness plan go hand in hand. One of the “non-negotiables” is getting enough protein every day.
“If you look at the three macronutrients that make up our food (fat, carbohydrates, and protein), protein is very different from other nutrients,” Williams says. “Its main job is to build and repair muscle tissue, not to provide fuel and energy to the body. The amino acids found in protein provide something” that other macronutrients cannot. ”
Williams recommends consuming 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Spread out these servings throughout the day and avoid taking too much at one time. Depending on your weight, this may amount to 3-5 servings per day.
Next on our list of the worst body-wrecking fitness habits after 40 is lack of hydration. Drinking good old water may seem a little boring, but keeping his fluid intake right is what he needs during the day. “The fitness and beverage industry has done a great job of making us think that water is not enough for hydration during activity,” Williams said. “Be careful with sugar and artificial drinks, as they can actually rob your body of the proper balance it needs to perform at its best.”
Adequate hydration for your weight can support a solid workout and curb your appetite. Your body’s connective tissue needs to be well hydrated, so pushing it to its limits in what Williams calls “vulnerability” makes it more prone to injury.
“When we’re regulating nutrition and preparing most of what we eat, we can start talking about electrolytes,” notes Williams. “Certainly, when you’re eating clean, you may need to add electrolytes back into your water to maintain proper salt balance. Electrolytes include sodium, potassium, and magnesium. There are products that are easy to add to water, but beware of those that are high in sugar, or high in other additives or artificial sweeteners.” Choose something simple, not a “chemistry class” drink.
With a busy schedule, you may need to remove extra tasks and activities to make your day more manageable. For example, skipping your pre-workout warm-up might seem like an easy way to cut corners and catch up on time. Keep in mind, however, that not warming up can make your body more prone to wear and tear, both in the short and long term.
“Warming up before exercise forces our bodies to perform several important functions. First, it increases our heart rate and breathing rate, which quickly delivers fresh blood and oxygen to our muscles. , prepares the body to supply these important ingredients when the demand for work increases,” Williams explains. “A proper warm-up also warms up your muscles, making them more flexible and reducing the risk of injury during exercise. Warm-ups should be dynamic, gradually increasing in intensity and mimicking the movements you are actually doing. .” To train in everyday life. ”
Willimus suggests aiming for a 10-minute warm-up. The goal is to get your heart rate up, feel a little short of breath, and possibly sweat.
Last but not least on our list of the worst fitness habits that can ruin your body after 40 is going to the gym too much after a break or minimal physical activity. “This can be very difficult to explain, because you never want to discourage yourself from getting back into fitness,” Williams says. “However, we must respect that long periods of inactivity diminish the ability to act and perform as before.”
Williams went on to say that the typical “weekend warrior” is likely to end up in physical therapy. He decides to play a fun pick-up basketball game at the family barbecue, only to tear his hamstring. The unacceptable thing about fitness is that it may be perfectly fine to exercise or be physically active, but the days that follow can be filled with pain. This would be known as delayed onset muscle soreness, aka DOMS.
“This is common and should be expected, but should subside within 24 to 48 hours. However, this is a lagging indicator, so it may take several days until you have difficulty moving or Worse, you don’t know you’ve overdone it: “It’s more serious,” warns Williams. “Our goal for recovering fitness is to always maintain the ability to train tomorrow. If we can focus on being more consistent, the results will come in time. Build up days, then weeks. With it, we can consistently reach our goals.” It is strong, but it grows on a solid foundation. ”
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