THE SOCIAL MEDIA buzz around having the perfect body at any age means that men are now subject to the same impossible body image standards traditionally targeted at women.
The media portrayal of what men should look like normalises muscular gym-fit physiques and six-packs at any age.
Men are catching up with women around the pressures of body image and the drive toward muscularity and a six-pack. That has become a standard image expectation, whereas it’s an impossible ideal.
Regular physical activity is one of the most essential things you can do for your health as an older adult. It can prevent or delay the onset of numerous age-related health issues. It also helps your muscles grow stronger, allowing you to continue performing daily tasks without becoming dependent on others.
Midlifers’ training should always incorporate strength training because it enables you to maintain balance, preserve bone density, and enjoy vitality and independence. Staying active and healthy while ageing is essential because it is much more than looking good; it is much as holistically geared towards injury prevention.
Nutrition
The ageing process is accompanied by physiological changes affecting exercise capacity, muscle mass and strength.
As you age, your body finds it harder to digest and turn protein into muscle. It is called anabolic resistance, and it is now known that older athletes need relatively more protein, around 1.5g per kilogram of their body weight per day, or 40g per meal.
Supplements such as beetroot shots enhance recovery after intense training, and vitamin C has been shown to help older people to retain muscle mass.
Psychology
There are different mindsets, with younger exercisers mostly ego-driven, focusing purely on results and how they look, which can trigger unwanted stress and anxiety. Whereas with older exercisers, the mindset is to lose weight or to get fit, which is much more stable and has better outcomes.
In practice, this translates to midlifers striving to be better than themselves and the best they can be for as long as they can.
Strength and Conditioning
Ageing affects performance in many ways. However, the most significant impact is the downturn in muscle repair and rejuvenation coupled with a gradual loss of total muscle mass, a process called sarcopenia, that occurs after age 35.
“Strength and conditioning has become specific to the sport type and the individual. It is geared not just towards gaining muscle but to improving fatigue resistance, the goal being to help midlifers improve beyond their forties.
Midlifers training should focus on correcting muscle imbalances while improving the quality and range of movement, balance, and flexibility. About fifty per cent of the physical decline associated with ageing may be attributable to inactivity. Without regular exercise, individuals over the age of 50 can develop a variety of health issues, such as decreased muscle
