Reaching 40 is one of those milestones when many of us pause to take stock of our physical selves. If you’ve recently looked in the mirror and decided that it’s time to do something about what’s staring back at you, congratulations. You’ve taken the first step toward a fitter, healthier future.
But what comes next?
There is so much conflicting information on what to eat and how to exercise out there that it can make your head spin. Should you be training like a bodybuilder, hoisting huge weights overhead or would you be better off putting your time into a more sedentary, steady-state cardio exercise program?
When it comes to eating for health and fitness, it’s even more frustrating. There are so many differing opinions that it can leave you dazed and bewildered.
This article has been designed to clear away all of that confusion and provide you with a sensible and evidence-based plan to get into the best shape of your life, whether you happen to be 40, 50, 60 or beyond. We show you how to eat to optimally fuel you body while stripping off bodyfat and building muscle. Then, we’ll lay out the ideal over-40 cardio and strength training exercise regimen—for fast, safe, and consistent results.
Establishing the foundation: Proper nutrition
Before you even think about working out, you need to get your nutrition on track. You have no doubt heard the old adage that you are what you eat. It is literally true. Food provides the energy to function as well as the building blocks that create every cell that makes you you.
Ideally, your nutritional strategy should comprise two elements:
- Carb cycling
- Intermittent fasting
Individually these elements will make big changes in how you look and how you feel. Taken together, however, they will fast-track your fat loss, maximize your muscle gain, and give you more energy than you had in your 20s.
The combined effects of carb cycling and intermittent fasting are powerful: offsetting the hormonal changes that come with aging; improving insulin sensitivity, which is a problem especially for older men; better regulating your blood sugar levels, leading to reduced body fat storage; and increasing testosterone levels, which flag dramatically as we age.
Carb cycling
Carb cycling simply involves manipulating your carbohydrate intake according to your activity. There are various methods but, in our case, we will adjust carb intake according to the type of exercise we are doing. For example, on the days when you strength train, you will eat starchy carbohydrates as well as fibrous carbs. On your non-strength training days, you will eat only fibrous carbs.
Starchy carbs (also known as complex carbohydrates) are great energy sources that are packed with nutrients, which makes them ideal for days when your lifting weights or getting a lot of physical activity. However, starchy carbs also contain a lot of carbohydrates and are digested quickly. Whatever you don’t use in the short-term for energy (e.g., for a workout) will be stored by the body as fat.
For that reason, we recommend eating starchy carbs only on days when you’re doing strength training or getting lots of exercise.
Fibrous carbs, on the other hand, contain lots of indigestible insoluble fiber and are a slow-burning source of energy. Fibrous carbs are digested over several hours, which means your body will not end up storing excess energy as fat. So, stick to fibrous carbs on days when you’re not lifting weights or plan to be more sedentary.
| Examples of Starchy Carbs | Examples of Fibrous Carbs |
| Rice Potatoes Sweet potatoes Bread Pasta Quinoa Bananas Granola bars | Broccoli Green leafy vegetables Asparagus Cauliflower Carrots Tomatoes Blueberries Strawberries |
Simple carbs—those found in candy, cakes, ice cream, etc.—generally do not belong on your nutrition plan at all, with one exception: After a strength training workout, your body will have used up its limited glycogen stores. That is when you can have a sweet treat, as all the simple carbs will go to refueling your glycogen stores.
However, you should limit yourself to less than 300 calories as a portion size. The bottom line on simple carbs is that it you haven’t earned them by working out, they don’t apply to you!
Intermittent Fasting
There are many variants of intermittent fasting. Each of them is based on the concept of going for a set length of time without food, then eating during a short “feeding window.” This cycle is then repeated. It’s generally used as a long-term lifestyle choice rather than a short-term diet.
The body of any living organized can be in one of two state: Fasted or Fed.
These two states are, obviously, counter to one another. To borrow a Chinese concept, they are the Yin and Yang of your body. You need both to balance each other.
Fasting affects the body in several key ways:
- It promotes the regeneration of stem cells [efn_note]Mattson, M. P., Longo, V. D., & Harvie, M. (2017). Impact of intermittent fasting on health and disease processes. Ageing Research Reviews, 39, 46–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2016.10.005[/efn_note]
- It helps insulin do its job of delivering glucose to your cells [efn_note]Halberg, N., Henriksen, M., Söderhamn, N., Stallknecht, B., Ploug, T., Schjerling, P., & Dela, F. (2005). Effect of intermittent fasting and refeeding on insulin action in healthy men. Journal of Applied Physiology (Bethesda, Md.: 1985), 99(6), 2128–2136. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00683.2005[/efn_note] [efn_note]Furmli, S., Elmasry, R., Ramos, M., & Fung, J. (2018). Therapeutic use of intermittent fasting for people with type 2 diabetes as an alternative to insulin. BMJ Case Reports, 2018, bcr-2017-221854. https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2017-221854[/efn_note]
- It allows the body to detoxify through a process called autophagy [efn_note]Mattson, M. P., Longo, V. D., & Harvie, M. (2017). Impact of intermittent fasting on health and disease processes. Ageing Research Reviews, 39, 46–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2016.10.005[/efn_note]
- It helps promote steady and sustained fat loss [efn_note]Welton, S., Minty, R., O’Driscoll, T., Willms, H., Poirier, D., Madden, S., & Kelly, L. (2020). Intermittent fasting and weight loss: Systematic review. Canadian Family Physician Medecin De Famille Canadien, 66(2), 117–125.[/efn_note]
All of these benefits suggest that intermittent fasting may be a promising approach to reducing the likelihood of chronic disease in men (and women).
There are different ways to intermittently fast, but one of the most popular is fasting for 16 out of 24 hours, then eating normally for the other 8 hours. An example of this would be to stop eating at 7pm, then continuing on the fast until 11am the next day. You then have an eight-hour feeding window. During that time period follow the carb cycling protocol according to your workout schedule.
What about Protein and Fat?
Protein is your secret weapon for body transformation, especially when you are over 40. It fills you up, provides muscle-building amino acids, and increases your metabolism through its high thermic effect (meaning it requires a lot of energy to digest).[efn_note]Calcagno, M., Kahleova, H., Alwarith, J., Burgess, N. N., Flores, R. A., Busta, M. L., & Barnard, N. D. (2019). The Thermic Effect of Food: A Review. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 38(6), 547–551. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2018.1552544[/efn_note]
You should strive to eat a high-quality source of protein at every meal. Be sure to also include plenty of healthy fats from such sources as nuts, fresh fish, avocados, and olive oil.
Revving the engine: Your workouts
In order to get in great shape—improve your cardio fitness, lose fat, and build muscle—you’ll need to perform workouts that cover both your aerobic (requires oxygen to produce energy) and your anaerobic (does not require oxygen to produce energy) fitness requirements.
In order to cover both of these areas you will be doing two types of training:
- High intensity interval training (aerobic)
- Strength training (anaerobic)
High Intensity Interval Training
High intensity interval training (HIIT) has emerged in recent years as a popular alternative to the slow steady-state cardio, also known as medium intensity continuous training (MICT) The reason is simple: It works, especially if your goal is to do the most effective fat burning exercise in the shortest possible timeframe.[efn_note]Maillard, F., Pereira, B., & Boisseau, N. (2018). Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Total, Abdominal and Visceral Fat Mass: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(2), 269–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0807-y[/efn_note]
Numerous studies have shown that HIIT is effective at cutting abdominal and visceral fat, even when done just once or twice per week. HIIT will not only burn a lot of calories while you’re doing it, but it will also allow you to burn more calories over the next 24 hours of your day.[efn_note]Chin, E. C., Yu, A. P., Lai, C. W., Fong, D. Y., Chan, D. K., Wong, S. H., Sun, F., Ngai, H. H., Yung, P. S. H., & Siu, P. M. (2020). Low-Frequency HIIT Improves Body Composition and Aerobic Capacity in Overweight Men. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 52(1), 56–66. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000002097[/efn_note] [efn_note]Maillard, F., Pereira, B., & Boisseau, N. (2018). Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Total, Abdominal and Visceral Fat Mass: A Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(2), 269–288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0807-y[/efn_note]
In addition, HIIT brings on a hormonal response and has been shown to boost the body’s natural production of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in older men.[efn_note]Herbert, P., Hayes, L. D., Sculthorpe, N., & Grace, F. M. (2017). High-intensity interval training (HIIT) increases insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in sedentary aging men but not masters’ athletes: An observational study. The Aging Male: The Official Journal of the International Society for the Study of the Aging Male, 20(1), 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/13685538.2016.1260108[/efn_note] Further, it may subtly improve fasting glucose and insulin levels.[efn_note]Hayes, L. D., Herbert, P., Sculthorpe, N., & Grace, F. (2020). High intensity interval training (HIIT) produces small improvements in fasting glucose, insulin, and insulin resistance in sedentary older men but not masters athletes. Experimental Gerontology, 140, 111074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2020.111074[/efn_note]
To perform HIIT, choose an exercise that you’re able to do with near 100% intensity for 20 seconds. Good options are cycling on an exercycle (stationary bike) and using a rowing machine. You’ll need some way to time yourself.
HIIT workout
Here is one method of performing HIIT:
| Start with a 2-minute warm-up at a low intensity |
| During the final 30-seconds of the warm-up, ramp up the intensity until, as the timer ticks onto 2 minutes you are performing at your maximum level. |
| Keep pushing at max intensity for 20 seconds |
| Rest for exactly 10 seconds |
| Repeat the 20 on / 10 off pattern for a total of 8 rounds |
| Finish with a 2-minute warm-down at low intensity |
This high intensity cardio workout will totally exhaust you. Give yourself with 5 minutes of rest and recovery before you move on to the rest of your workout. Be sure to drink plenty of water during that time.
As you can see from the above description, HIIT is hard work. That being said, there is no reason that you as a 40+ year-old exerciser can’t do it.
Still, you need to listen to your body. Choose a form of exercise that is easy on the joints (cycling as opposed to running) and stop if you feel like you need to. Start with just a couple of rounds and build up to the recommended eight rounds over a period of weeks.
Perform your HIIT workouts 2X per week, with a spacing of three days in between. Do not do HIIT on the same day as your strength workouts.
Strength Training
Strength or resistance training is one of the most beneficial activities that a man can do. However, it is even more vital over the age of 40.
Resistance training strengthens your skeletal muscles, tendons, joints and bones, making you less likely to suffer from sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) and osteoporosis.[efn_note]Giallauria, F., Cittadini, A., Smart, N. A., & Vigorito, C. (2016). Resistance training and sarcopenia. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease = Archivio Monaldi Per Le Malattie Del Torace, 84(1–2), 738. https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2015.738[/efn_note] [efn_note]Laurent, M. R., Dedeyne, L., Dupont, J., Mellaerts, B., Dejaeger, M., & Gielen, E. (2019). Age-related bone loss and sarcopenia in men. Maturitas, 122, 51–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2019.01.006[/efn_note] At the same time, it triggers the release of essential hormones that naturally decline as you get older, such as testosterone and human growth hormone.
One Warning: Over the age of 40, you need to be careful not to exacerbate potential aging problems through strength training. As a result, you should avoid doing exercises that place undue stress on your joints and lower back. That means no overhead pressing or barbell squats (at least, not until you’ve built up strength and perfected your form). But that’s ok, because there are terrific alternatives that you can and should be doing.
Sample strength training program
In the following sample program, you’ll be strength training three days per week. But you’ll be training each muscle group just once per week. This will provide sufficient time for each muscle group to recover and rebuild.
Here is what the program looks like:
Day One:
Day Two:
Day Three:
Workout notes
If this is you first time using resistance equipment, take it slowly and learn the proper technique. It will be hugely beneficial to pay to have a personal trainer take you through your first 3 workouts so that you can learn to do the moves correctly.
On every exercise you will follow the exact same rep scheme. Here’s what it looks like:
- Set One – 30 reps
- Set Two – 15 reps
- Set Three – 10 reps
- Set Four – 8 reps
The first set is a light warm-up. It should feel easy for the first 20 reps and then get slightly more difficult but never hard. In the next set you will increase the weight slightly so that the last 3 reps are quite challenging. Increase again so that the final 2 reps of your set of 10 are challenging. On the last set against raise the weight slightly so that the last 2 reps are difficult.
Towards a better you
You now have the beginnings of a complete, scientific program to allow you to get in the shape of your life without destroying your joints or compromising your health. It is the type of exercise and nutrition protocol that deserves to be embedded into your lifestyle, whether you are 40, 50, 60 or older.
Ease into it at your own pace. If it is too much to do intermittent fasting every day, begin with 3 days per week and slowly increase over a period of weeks. Similarly, you might decide to start with just two strength training sessions per week for the first two months. That is fine. The key is to get started, stay on track and slowly, but surely, build healthy habits.
Do that and you’ll be setting yourself up for a fitter, healthier, happier future.
