| Hi Friend,
Should you alter your diet once you approach your 40s? The media suggests so. Open your morning newspaper and you’ll read how “middle-aged spread” is inevitable for anyone beyond the first flush of youth.
But is the media right? Well, the science says different — and not only that, but research shows how a slowing metabolism isn’t inevitable as you hit your 40s.
If you are near (or beyond) 40, you will be familiar with the 10,000 pounds pink elephant standing nonchalantly in the room, i.e., your “slowing metabolism.” You will also be extremely familiar with how age affects the speed at which you burn calories.
Yet is this really true?
The folks behind the Katch-McArdle calorie formula suggest otherwise.
In their textbook “Exercise Physiology”, authors Katch and McArdle confirm how folks tend to get fatter with age — no surprises there — but they ALSO say how “there’s probably no biological reason for it.”
So if biology isn’t to blame, then any increases in body fat are more a function of inactivity than age?
Makes sense.
But a sedentary lifestyle is only partly at fault. The other factor that plays a significant role in a slowing metabolism is muscle atrophy. That’s why for every pound of muscle you lose with age, you can expect to replace it with more (and much more) fat.
Ouch.
So what’s the answer?
Well, you can put paid to the myth that you can’t build muscle in your middle years. For sure, you’re never going to gain like when you were a testosterone-fuelled teenager, but that doesn’t mean your muscle building machinery is broke.
In fact, studies show older guys and gals build muscle just fine, provided they follow a sensible resistance training routine like the ones you’ll find in our books and on our site.
And that’s this week’s take-home message: regardless of your age, you can halt the threat of “middle-aged spread” with an abbreviated workout.
Until next time,
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