How Men Over 30 Should Lose Weight
The dreaded man boobs, the stubborn love handles and the big old belly, yes that was me!
I would wake up every single Monday with a new sense of renewal only to be disappointed every Sunday evening with my weekend warrior mentality to drinking and eating food, it’s my way of letting loose after the stressful week.
But what about when that is the same double edged sword that keeps you unhappy too?
It’s frustrating that as you age, it becomes more difficult to have a good body and the fat burning metabolism goes downhill mainly due to a loss of muscle mass and a decrease in testosterone.
That is why men need to train differently with age, this article is not going to cover every facet but some pretty major ones.
FOLLOW THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE
Many Dads focus on cardio just for a general sense of wellness, fitness, energy and a smaller belly, but that’s a big mistake. As we age, we tend to lose muscle mass and for every single pound lost, we burn 350 calories a week less, that’s big!
Running for extended periods produces a lot of cortisol which destroys muscle mass and it’s quite detrimental to the body placing a lot of stress on the joints and back, did you know that over 4,984 people who took part in the London Marathon had to receive medical assistance in the year 2000?
In fact holding onto lean muscle mass keeps your injury free, improves your quality of life as you age and allows for more food to be enjoyed without gaining additional pounds around the waistline. That’s why our programmes are based around resistance rather than cardio which is exactly how an older man should exercise and it’s how I turned my life around.
EAT MORE PROTEIN RICH FOODS
To combat a declining metabolism, protein can actually help accelerate it as it burns more energy to digest than fat or carbohydrate does. Interesting right?
When you are eating less calories than you require to maintain your weight, whether you count calories or use a habit based eating style like in our 12 week programme, protein consumption becomes even more important to prevent muscle loss.
In fact, you need more protein when losing weight than when you are focusing on muscle building style workouts for that very reason, around 2g per kg of bodyweight should suffice. Protein’s thermic effect means you’ll burn additional calories just through digestion.
Also, protein is very satiating which means you’ll feel fuller and are less likely to cheat on your healthy lifestyle plans.
MAKE IT AN ALL IN ONE EXPERIENCE
As a single man, it’s easy to dedicate your life to the gym but as a family man with work commitments, it’s not as simple as that. An hour weights followed by 30 minutes of cardio won’t last long as it’s not recommend for results.
I recommend focusing on less exercise because it’s sustainable, can be worked in around a busy lifestyle for around 30 mins 3 days a week and it’s actually better for you because your ability to recover from exercise as you age decreases and you are more injury prone.
Short fully body sessions which involve major muscle groups such as squats (rather than situps) will promote a healthier growth hormone and testosterone response in your body. Resistance training is great for increasing the amount of energy you burn post workout and also improving your insulin response to food which means a better capacity to use carbohydrate for fuel rather than storing it around the gut.
My clients sessions are high quality because they are functional (meaning they can use their strength and ability in real life), resistance based (to maintain lean muscle) and high intensity (which engages cardio fitness), all in 30 minutes! David James lost 32.5lbs using this method;
WORK ON YOUR NEAT FOR HEALTH
Health is also an important factor when it comes to weight loss and many Dads come to me because they are concerned about diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, here’s the facts.
You can do an hours training every day in the gym, then sit at a desk all day and not reduce your risk of death, scary and hard to believe? Studies show that the amount of time spent in a chair has more of an impact on how long you’ll live over the amount of exercise you do.
That is why I recommend staying active as possible by walking more and also increasing the amount of energy you burn per day to combat a declining metabolic rate. If you’d like to lose the gut, reduce your love handles and get in shape to feel good at work and around your family PRESS HERE and apply for coaching.