Matt Roberts - The Midlife Fitness Guide

Saturday March 12 2016
Food: Delicious Mediterranean dishes
Light and easy recipes for lunch parties
Weekend
Lose the moobs
Travel
Starts on
page 23
20 great spring
weekends
Strengthen
your back
Beautiful country
manor hotels
The midlife fitness guide
Chic places to stay
in rural Britain
Get rid of the paunch
Shrink your waist
How to be toned after 40, by Matt Roberts
What to do, where
to walk in the UK
the times Saturday March 12 2016
4 Body + Soul
the times Saturday March 12 2016
Body + Soul 5
Midlife fitness: what you should be doing to stay healthy for life
A new government
campaign suggests we are
dangerously unaware of how
active we need to be in our
forties and beyond.
Trainer Matt Roberts
shows what you can
do to stay fit
N
ever mind a few yoga
sessions and the odd run
thrown in, middle age is
actually the time to do
more exercise, not less.
Get on your feet and get
moving is the message
that will be reverberating from billboards
and TV ads in the form of a new
government campaign, One You, which
has just launched. The premise is that
forty and fiftysomethings aren’t doing
enough exercise — and if they did more,
they would be twice as likely to have an
active old age. In fact, even those who
have been active in their twenties and
thirties will need to increase the amount
of exercise they do, particularly adding
weights to offset the muscle mass that
gradually decreases with age.
Critics have labelled efforts to get the
middle-aged moving “patronising” but
many experts believe the campaign is a
good idea. For those who have found
themselves shifting towards slothfulness
as the children grow up and financial
pressures ease, the statistics are sobering.
More than two thirds of adults in this age
Middle age is
actually the
time to do
more exercise,
not less
bracket are overweight and, increasingly,
prone to eating and drinking excessively.
It’s all too easy to slip into bad habits,
find that your waist has widened
seemingly overnight and that suddenly
you are at heightened risk of associated
illness and disease. Experts behind the
One You campaign, the first government
drive targeting the middle-aged, say that
urging the over-forties to drink less,
exercise more, eat better and give up
smoking will also relieve a considerable
burden on the NHS.
Although overall life expectancy has
been steadily rising over the past few
decades, the extra years people are living
are often not spent in good health. More
than two fifths of those aged 45 to 64
are living with an illness or disability in
England and 40 per cent of deaths in
that age bracket are linked to an
unhealthy lifestyle. About 75 per cent of
middle-aged men and two thirds of
middle-aged women are overweight or
obese because of poor diet and lack of
exercise. With smoking and drinking
added to the equation, the NHS is
spending £11 billion every year treating
lifestyle-related illnesses. And yet
reversing this trend is realistic.
Dr Peter Herbert is an exercise
physiologist and director of the human
performance laboratory at the University
of Wales Trinity Saint David. Over the
years he has helped to hone the Wales
rugby union team and several world
and Commonwealth champion boxers.
Now his work is focused on finding the
best ways to improve the fitness levels of
the ordinary, and slightly chubby,
middle-aged. “So many of us fall into
the trap of letting things go a bit in
terms of activity when we hit 40 or 50,”
says Herbert. “Unfortunately, the
ageing process means that we can
lose a lot of definition, tone and
cardiovascular fitness quite rapidly.
You look down and there’s a roll of fat
or a paunch that you hadn’t seen before.
But we can get it back, and be as fit as
we were when we were younger, with
the right kind of effort.”
Encouragingly, it doesn’t mean you
need to be a slave to the gym. What
Herbert’s research — and that of others
— has shown is that, although you need
to exercise daily, the workout can be
short. “In many ways, less is more as you
get older,” he says. “You need to focus
your effort into shorter sessions and not
necessarily think about running a
marathon.” In studies of 40 to
60-year-olds he has found that results
come relatively quickly, but patience is
required. “One of the key problems is
that middle-aged people launch into
weight training and gym work and
wonder why they aren’t seeing results
after four weeks,” he says. “It takes a bit
of time to undo the effects of inactivity
and to see changes but they do tend to
become startlingly apparent after four to
six weeks of consistent effort.”
So, where to start? Here, are Roberts’s
top ten tips for middle-aged fitness.
Yes, you can get rid of
your middle-aged
spread and moobs
The appearance of moobs, along with
the dreaded paunch, are among the
main triggers for men in their forties and
fifties to start getting fit. The good news
is that you can get rid of them. A flabby
chest on men develops as a result of an
accumulation of body fat along with
fluid retention, so lose that fat, build
some muscle — and cut down on your
alcohol and sugar intake too. Weak
pectoral muscles will add to a saggy
chest, so include strength exercises such
as the shoulder press and bent-over row
that will help to restore tone. Make
indoor rowing one of your interval
activities too — it’s great for the pecs,
core and all-round body fitness.
Walk for 25-30 minutes
a day minimum
Nothing is as important as simply
increasing your general daily activity.
Walking is what matters more than
anything as we get older, and a lack of
time on our feet impacts disastrously on
our body shape and fitness. You should
be walking every day for at least half an
hour — a short stride is the most
efficient (a long stride means you lose
momentum and power). If nothing else,
make this your minimum.
Why you should
lift weights after
the age of 40
Too many middle-aged exercisers
assume that strength training is for gym
bunnies. However, that’s wrong. If
anything, weights are more important at
this stage in life (and onwards) than at
any other. From around the third
decade of life we lose an average
of a fifth of a pound of muscle a year.
Beyond the age of 50 those losses
accelerate to a decline of about one
pound of muscle every 12 months.
Diminishing muscle mass is likely to
raise blood lipid levels (mainly fatty
acids andcholesterol) and body fat,
particularly the visceral fat that
accumulates around vital organs
— which is why the loss of muscle
mass has been linked to obesity
and heart disease.
Building strength by doing weights
will also ensure that your joints are
stable and your metabolism is faster.
A combination of bodyweight exercises
(squats, jumps, push-ups, etc) and
weights is most effective because
overloading your muscles by adding
weights speeds up your rate of progress.
Studies have shown that middle-aged
men who lift weights for 30 minutes
a day, five days a week may be able
to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes
by up to 34 per cent. You will look
leaner and more toned and
feel better too.
and stability, and they are great to
do in addition to your cardiovascular
and strength work, but they should
not replace workouts. Instead, try
to incorporate moves from either
or both at the end of your daily
exercise sessions.
You need to
work out four
times a week
At this stage of life you
need to increase the
frequency, intensity
and time spent
exercising — which
means four or five
days a week. Out
of these, do two
25-minute weights
sessions (with 10-15
repetitions of each
exercise in each set) —
one focusing on your
chest, biceps and thighs,
the other focusing on your
back, biceps, hamstrings
and abs. On the other days
do cardiovascular exercise,
such as walking, swimming,
cycling, rowing or running,
alternating between long and
steady sessions of about 45
minutes, and 20-minute
interval sessions involving
bursts of speed. You should also
aim to complete the circuit
overleaf on top of these workouts.
Yoga and Pilates
aren’t enough on
their own
Yoga and Pilates alone are not enough to
get you fit and in good shape because
they do not raise the heart rate and get
you sweating enough to make a real
difference. However, yoga has particular
benefits for the middle-aged — and not
only because it has been proven to lower
stress levels.
A recent study found that regular yoga
practice helped to prevent middle-age
spread and aided weight loss. Pilates has
its own benefits — another study found
that regular Pilates improved muscle
strength, balance and posture in men
and women in their forties and fifties.
Both will enhance flexibility, mobility
The new way to beat
middle-age spread
Fat gain in middle age is linked to
hormonal fluxes that occur in men and
women during the middle years — and
fat around the middle is considered the
most dangerous because it surrounds the
internal organs and has been linked to a
raised risk of diabetes and heart disease.
However, the solution is not endless
crunches. New research shows that for a
slim middle you need to include
exercises that require you to stabilise
your core as well as target your
abdominal muscles. To achieve a flatter
stomach you need a range of exercises
that work the array of muscles in the
midsection, including the upper and
lower rectus abdominis and the external
obliques. A combination of planks and
plank raises, push-ups and squat thrusts,
for example, is ideal because this will
provide the most activity in the
muscles around the waist — and will
strengthen your back at the same time.
It won’t take long to make a difference.
If you do a few core-strengthening
activities every day (ie, 15 sit-ups,
a plank for 30 seconds and 15 push-ups,
which will take about ten minutes) you
will see a difference within two weeks.
AMIT LENNONFOR THE TIMES; ADRIANNA WILLIAMS/CORBIS; GETTY
this decline by doing weight-bearing
exercise, such as running, weights and
circuits. The impact of these exercises
causes muscles to pull on bones, which
triggers them to build more cells and
become stronger, thus increasing bone
density and strength.
As oestrogen levels drop, a woman will
typically gain about a pound a year in
her late forties and fifties. A study found
that exercise is the most effective way of
preventing this gain. In the study, three
groups of women followed an 800
calorie-a-day diet. One group did no
exercise, one group walked or jogged at a
slow pace for 40 minutes on a treadmill
three times a week, and one group
followed an upper and lower bodyweight
circuit-training sessions three times
weekly. The final group lost the most
weight and burnt extra calories.
There’s no
reason why
you can’t
be as fit
at 50 as you
were at 30
or even 20
Exercise can offset the
effects of menopause
A loss of bone mass (which results in
brittleness) is accelerated by the drop
in oestrogen that occurs with the
menopause, which is why postmenopausal women are prone to
osteoporosis. However, you can offset
Get fit in 3 weeks Matt Roberts’ plan
the times Saturday March 12 2016
6 Body + Soul
It’s important to stretch
Spend time mobilising and stretching
your hips, glutes, hamstrings, thighs and
shoulders because these are the areas
that are most prone to “failure” and can
also place pressure on your back. As we
get older, changes in tendons and
ligaments occur, decreasing flexibility
and restricting joint movement — foam
rolling, mobility drills (ie, swinging your
arms and legs and rotating your legs to
warm up the joints) and static stretching
after a workout will help to prevent this.
Long-distance running
is not enough — you
need to do interval
training too
The 20-minute workout:
There’s a tendency to think you are over
the hill when you reach middle age, that
your best years have passed, at least
when it comes to looking good and
feeling fit. However, there’s no reason
why you can’t be as fit at 50 as you were
at 30 or even 20. What’s more, there’s
plenty of evidence that it’s never too late
to embark on a fitness plan. A couple of
years ago a study funded by the British
Heart Foundation found that those who
kept themselves fit were seven times
more likely to have a healthy old age
than people who were sedentary as they
got older. And, according to the
researchers at the British Journal of
Sports Medicine, this was the case even if
they took up activity only when they
retired.
Of course, it’s crucial to take things
gradually. Don’t expect to run before
you can walk (and I mean this in a
literal sense). If you’ve done no exercise
for a while, aim to start by either
walking or cycling for about 25 minutes
a day minimum, and then after a few
weeks add weights and higher-intensity
exercise.
Those who
keep fit are
much more
likely to have a
healthy old age
Body + Soul 7
tone your body in three weeks
JON ENOCH FOR THE TIMES
To shrink the waist
Beat the bingo wings
To get rid of moobs
Lose the paunch
Oblique plank raises
Tricep dips
Bent-over row
Knee crossover tuck
Place your hands
on a bench, chair
or step behind you,
with your legs
outstretched in front,
slightly bent (1). With
elbows close to the
body, lower yourself
until your upper
arms and forearms
form a right angle
(2). Keep your legs
outstretched and
feet on the floor.
Push your body up.
Beginner
12 repetitions
Advanced
18 repetitions
Standing with knees slightly bent, bend forwards, stick your
bottom out and let the dumbbells (about 2kg each) hang down (1).
Pull your elbows up, keeping them tight into the body with elbows
sticking out to the side (2), then bring your arms back down again.
Beginner 12 repetitions Advanced 18 repetitions
Put your palms on the floor under your shoulders in an extended pressup position, with legs straight, the balls of your feet on the ground and
your arms straight (1). Engage the muscles in your core and keep your
torso stable. Holding this position, lift one foot off the floor and bring the
knee in across your upper body towards the armpit on the opposite side
(2). Lower to the start position then repeat on the other side.
Beginner 12 repetitions on each side
Advanced 18 repetitions on each side
Lie on your side, slightly propped up, leaning on your elbow, with
your hips slightly raised off the floor (1). Use your middle to push
yourself up fully (2), supporting your weight between your forearm and feet, then lower again.
Beginner 12 repetitions on each side Advanced 18 repetitions
Covering endless miles a day on foot or
on two wheels will not offset the effects
of getting older. Cardiovascular activity
is hugely important but it’s crucial to
mix up intensities and duration, which
will challenge your body’s physiology in
different ways. Once a week, one of your
cardiovascular sessions should be
interval training — that’s basically
all-out effort for short periods (it can be
as little as 15 seconds) followed by a
minute or so at a gentle pace to recover
— and then repeat it as much as you feel
comfortable with. It’s incredibly effective
at increasing cardiovascular fitness,
speeding up metabolism and fat loss and
getting you into good shape.
You can start small — findings by
Abertay University in Dundee suggested
that, on average, overweight men lost
1kg of fat in two months simply by
sprinting flat-out for 60 seconds twice a
week on an indoor bike — but increase
the number of bursts to 6 x 30 seconds
or try running short, sharp distances
uphill with a walk-down to recover.
It’s never too late
to take up fitness
the times Saturday March 12 2016
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
Lift a saggy bottom
To strengthen the core
For a stronger back
For firmer thighs
Reverse
lunge
with rotation
Sit-up with
weight
Hyperextension
Squats with
dumbbells
Start in a standing
position with back
straight and feet
shoulder-width apart,
arms held out straight
in front of you, parallel
to the ground with
hands together (1).
Step backwards,
bending both knees to
90 degrees and
maintaining a straight
torso. As you step
back, keep your arms
straight. From that
position, turn your
body around to the
right (2). Return to the
centre. Repeat on the
right side for the set
number of repetitions.
Switch to the left.
Beginner
12 repetitions
Advanced
18 repetitions
1
2
Lie on your back with
your knees bent and
feet close to your
buttocks. Hold on to
a weighted ball or
weight of 2-5kg (1),
depending on fitness
levels (or you can use
a tin of beans or a big
bottle of water). Sit up
holding the weight,
keeping your back
straight and using
your abdominal
muscles and core to
pull yourself up (2).
Once in a sitting
position, twist your
upper body and arms
to the right, then to
the left, in a controlled
manner. Return slowly
to the starting
position.
Beginner
12 repetitions
Advanced
18 repetitions
1
Lie on your front on the floor, with your hands flat underneath your chin
and your back and legs straight (1). Then lift your chest off the floor,
making sure that your chin is tucked in (2). Hold this for a few seconds,
then lower slowly to the start position.
Beginner 12 repetitions Advanced 18 repetitions
1
2
2
Hold a dumbbell or
weight in each hand
(they can be quite
heavy because it’s
your legs, not your
arms, that are taking
the pressure — start
with a 2kg weight in
each hand and
increase the weight if
you can). Stand with
your feet shoulderwidth apart and your
knees and toes slightly
pointing outwards (1).
Keep your back
straight and your head
up. Squat down until
your thighs are parallel
to the floor (2) and
slowly return to the
start.
Beginner
12 repetitions
Advanced
18 repetitions
1
Do the circuit of exercises on this page twice, five times a week.
It will take about 20 minutes to do. In three weeks you will
be noticeably stronger, leaner and more toned. As your body
gets used to the programme, increase the size of weights
and number of repetitions for sustained fitness.
2