Health

Stay fit in your 40s and beyond with these smart workout tips

Published

12 months ago

March 13, 2025

Stay fit in your 40s and beyond with these smart workout tips

Exercise is essential for overall health — but as we age, our usual fitness routine might not be as effective.

For people over 40, the body goes through hormonal and physical shifts that can impact how it reacts to certain workouts.

Melissa Neill, CEO of Body by Bikini, specializes in helping women over 40 lose weight. She noted in an interview with Fox News Digital that this becomes “much harder” after this age.

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“There’s a lot of things going on with your body,” said the U.K.-based fitness expert. “And one of the big things is you’re losing muscle mass.”

Women lose muscle mass at a rate of 1% per year, which Neill described as “massive.”

Hormonal changes associated with aging can impact how people put on and lose weight. (iStock)

This loss isn’t as extensive for men, but it can still have a major impact on metabolism.

“In other words, your body is not going to burn fat as effectively as it did when you were younger,” she said.

Neill also mentioned a depletion in hormones, namely testosterone, which is a hormone that supports muscle.

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For aging women, as estrogen declines, the body will work to produce more of the hormone, which can lead to fat gain during menopause.

“It produces fat as it’s producing the estrogen,” she said. “And it typically sits around your midsection, which is really annoying.”

Fitness fixes

Women at this age typically gain about 20 pounds, Neill said, although it could be more.

“I work with women who have gained 40 pounds and they’ve done nothing different,” she said. “All they’re doing is the exact same [workouts] they did in their younger days. And, of course, it’s just not working anymore.”

“If you can incorporate strength training as the main source of your workout, you’re going to see much better results overall in your everyday life.”

To counteract these changes, Neill suggested that women “throw out” the fitness rulebook they followed in their 20s and 30s.

For people in their 40s, the focus should be more on strength training and less on cardio, according to the expert.

For people in their 40s, the focus should be more on strength training and less on cardio, experts advise. (iStock)

“You want to focus on building muscle, because muscle is going to improve your metabolic health,” she said. “Your body’s going to get better at burning calories even when you’re just sitting around doing nothing.”

“Even when you’re sleeping, when you’re watching TV — if you’ve been lifting weights — your body is going to get much better at burning fat.”

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By building more muscle through strength training instead of doing cardio like running on the treadmill, the body will not only become more effective at burning fat, but will also have improved longevity.

“People with muscle on them … They’re going to be stronger,” Neill said. “They’re going to have more mobility [and] better agility.”

Eating a high-protein diet can also help build muscle, Neill added.

For menopausal women, proper diet and nutrition will help to provide enough energy throughout the day.

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“You want a protocol that works with your body, so that’s eating healthy, whole foods, cutting out the processed foods and cutting out refined sugar,” Neill said.

The expert also cautioned against intensely working out too often, recommending two to three days of active rest with gentle movement, such as a walk or light yoga.

‘Consistency is key’

Alissa Mosca, regional operations manager for Planet Fitness in New York, said that starting a new fitness routine is the most difficult part, and staying consistent will make all the difference.

“Consistency is key, no matter what it is — but it’s your kind of consistency,” she said. “My consistency may be five days a week, but somebody else’s consistency may be three days a week for half an hour.”

“Cardio is great to just work on your overall heart rate, but it shouldn’t be the focus,” one expert said. (iStock)

“It’s taking those small, incremental steps to either kickstart a journey or run full force into it.”

Strength training can include any equipment involving weight, like free weights, machines, dumbbells, cable towers and other ways to “engage those muscles working through a full range of motion,” the trainer said.

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These exercises can help make everyday tasks easier, from getting in and out of the car to lifting children.

“If you can incorporate strength training as the main source of your workout, you’re going to see much better results in your everyday life,” Mosca said.

A good workout doesn’t require long, intense hours at the gym, experts agree. (iStock)

“You’re making [the body] react to things that you have to do outside the gym, which is super beneficial,” she went on. “It will help your muscles from stiffening [and] stop those aches and pains. You’ll start to find that getting out of bed is a lot easier.”

Mosca recommended switching between working out different parts of the body throughout the week, and choosing some days to do a full-body circuit.

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“Every muscle group, especially the major muscle groups, adds functionality to every other movement,” she said. “So, your core is always included when you do squats [and] deadlifts.”

“When you start working on different parts of the body, you’re still incorporating those areas, but you’re making it a better, [more] well-rounded workout.”

Mosca recommended switching between working out different parts of the body throughout the week, and choosing some days to do a full-body circuit. (iStock)

For more toned results, Mosca recommended doing higher reps with lower weights. To boost strength, she said to try lower reps and heavier weight.

“You want to focus on building muscle, because muscle is going to improve your metabolic health.”

For people over 40 on a fitness journey, the trainer shared some key advice: “Don’t go off of the scale. Don’t go off of the mirror.”

“It’s mental, it’s physical, it’s emotional,” she said. “It’s how you feel every day. It’s how you wake up. It’s the quality of sleep. It’s your appetite.”

“If you see improvements in all of these things, and you find yourself craving fruit over sweet treats, if you find yourself wanting to move more and get 10,000 steps in a day, as opposed to sitting on the couch and watching a show, those are the improvements that you’re working toward, and that speaks so much stronger than weight loss does.”

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.

Health

Heart disease threat projected to climb sharply for key demographic

Published

2 hours ago

February 27, 2026

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Heart disease threat projected to climb sharply for key demographic

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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.

The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.

More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.

The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.

As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)

Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.

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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”

“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.

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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)

Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”

The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.

The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.

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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”

Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.

Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)

Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.

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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.

The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.

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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”

“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”

“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)

“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”

The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.

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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.

“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.

Health

Vanessa Williams, 62, Opens up About Weight Loss and HRT After Menopause

Published

14 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Vanessa Williams, 62, Opens up About Weight Loss and HRT After Menopause

Vanessa Williams Opens up About Weight Loss and HRT | Woman’s World

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Health

Common vision issue linked to type of lighting used in Americans’ homes

Published

15 hours ago

February 26, 2026

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Common vision issue linked to type of lighting used in Americans’ homes

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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.

Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.

For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.

Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.

The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)

Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.

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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.

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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”

High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)

The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.

In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.

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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.

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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.

Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)

“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.

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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”

The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.

Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant with Fox News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of story topics including food and drink, travel, and health.