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 By: Tim Wescott
Just because you've hit the big FOUR - O, there is no reason to consider yourself done with living a full, vibrant life. The choice is yours to make. At thirty years of age, I felt like my life was literally over. I had been abusing my body, and let myself slide from a fit young man, to a person who was literally a shadow of his former self. I allowed myself to continue this less than optimal lifestyle that I was living, for many a year. I was small, weak, usually drunk, and had no self-esteem whatsoever. At the age of 38, I had a moment of clarity... or "Divine Intervention..." or maybe I just woke up.
  Click To Enlarge. Author, Tim Wescott. Call it whatever you want but it literally saved my life. I actually looked into my mirror one morning, and realized finally, that I better get on the stick, as my life was literally being wasted right before my very own bloodshot eyes. Right then and there I made a pact with myself to make some changes, and be part of the solution to my problems, rather than me being the problem itself. I had always, up until this period in my life, lived a healthy lifestyle, and even competed previously in powerlifting meets, and later in a bodybuilding contest, placing fourth in a field of six entrants.
 Click To Enlarge. I Placed Fourth In A Field Of Six Entrants. I had been working out from around the age thirteen, built myself a great physique, even though I was rail thin and had less than perfect genetics. Now that I'm older I can definitely say that I am in the best condition of my life at 48 years old and improving steadily! I hate the fact that I'm getting older, as I'm sure most of us do. We all think about it from time to time. We begin to get forgetful, cranky, irritable, our eyesight starts to fail, and we inevitably begin to miss a step or two here and there. Eventually we begin to accept this as just a part of our evolution into middle age. It is our lot in life to get older, and wither away until we hit the old nursing home and wait to die! Right? WRONG! In the rest of this article I will show you how you can maintain a healthy energy, and get back in the game of life. Life doesn't end at 40 unless you say it does.
The most important thing you HAVE to do for yourself today, is to resolve to get back in shape. This entails a lifestyle change that will propel you, once again, into the land of the living, rather than the land of the nearly dead! Start a journal and write down your commitment/promise to yourself that you will change your lifestyle no matter what the sacrifice. Remember there is no dress rehearsal in life, this is it, live it to the fullest at any age, not only when you are young. The old adage "You're only as old as you feel," applies to us over 40 type people!
Thinking Young = Being Young!
What I'm really trying to convey here, is that a positive outlook, and an optimistic mindset, is imperative to regaining the youthful appearance we have managed to lose somewhere along the line. If you act like you're over the hill, you are kaput, but if you believe that with a few changes, and a lot of hard work on your part, that you can once again capture the vitality you once possessed you will do just that. Remember, bodybuilding is one of the pastimes that enable you to actually get better as you age. Most other sports require you to stop competing fairly early while you are at peak performance level. They all deem the term peak performance differently, but it's usually still at a fairly young age. I have met many men and women who compete in bodybuilding well into their seventies and eighties. For those of you who aren't interested in competition, there is nothing better for you as you age than weight training, coupled with cardiovascular work, and a healthy diet. Strength training stabilizes bone density, and supports fat loss by adding lean muscle tissue to your frame. For every pound of muscle you add to your body you will burn more calories even at rest. Adding lean muscle promotes an already healthy metabolism.
My recommendations to those who want to begin working out at 40 or older are as follows:
Injury Prevention:
Always begin your training by riding a stationary bike, or walking on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes to get your core body temperature up a bit. Do a light set of the actual exercises you perform in your training before adding weight. Pyramiding up in weight while decreasing reps is a great way to train and ensures that you will be sufficiently warmed up when you go heavier.
Most people love to hate cardio, but it is a necessary evil ,especially for us older folks. It will increase lung power, keep your heart and arteries pumping at optimum levels, help aid in your recovery from training, and the best part of all, is it's ability to help out in the fat loss department. No matter what type of cardio you choose, you should in my opinion, start out easy just walking on the treadmill.
As you progress raise the incline on the treadmill to make it progressive as it gets easier, and you get into better shape. Graduate to a more advanced piece of machinery after a while such as the Recumbent Bike, Elliptical Trainer, Stair Stepper, etc. If all else fails just go out for a walk in good weather and keep it brisk and enjoy the scenery!
Things you may want to record daily are:
For diet you should add up protein, carbs, fats and calories for each meal and total them up for the day. Adjust things according to your progress, or lack thereof.
The requirement recommended by the nutrition experts, for the average man or woman, are just that average, and who may I ask wants to just be average? Carbs and fats will be an individual thing, depending on your present condition. As a rule of thumb, try to get 1.5-2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight to start with, and simply keep fats to a minimum. Get most of your fats from good healthy sources, and you may want to supplement with EFA's to ensure that the fats you ingest are healthy fats. For the sake of keeping things brief, concise, and easy to understand, I will list the foods that you should use in your diet for best results.
Nutrition is of the utmost importance, and I don't mean to slight it here, but it would take novels to teach you all you need to know. Buy a good book or two, and read them from cover to cover, and avoid fad diets and quick fix methods at any cost, PLEASE. Above all stay away from useless junk food, except for the occasional rare treat. Sugar is sweet, but it's a surefire way to defeat your hard work.
Carbohydrate Sources:
Fat Sources:
Buy a good nutrition book and learn all you can about your dietary needs.
There are far too many benefits from drinking water to list here, but it is imperative to drink a gallon a day as a minimum amount for most hard training active people. Water will also create a sensation of fullness which in turn will keep you from overeating. Forum Threads:
"I drink 1/2 Gallon of milk a day can I count this? It's fat free milk basicly water."
"In the OU literature I'm reading, it recommends upwards of two litres a day. In M&F this week, it recommended upwards of four litres a day. So...how much SHOULD we actually drink a day, and how much is too much?"
There you have it, a good starting plan to get you off the couch and back into the race. Just because we are getting on in years doesn't mean that it is a signal to just give up on life. The discipline that bodybuilding requires will carry over into your everyday lives. It will also make previously impossible tasks relatively easy. You'll find yourself getting compliments from friends, and strangers alike, and walking with a new spring in your step. There is so much more involved that you will find out on your journey to better health, and a better physique. Former Mr. America and Mr. Universe, Boyer Coe, said that, "Age is just mind over matter... if you don't mind it don't matter!" Take a tip from Boyer and think young to regain your youthful appearance. Good luck, and train hard! STAY PUMPED! Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here!
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