Health
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.”
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. (iStock)
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.”
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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