Did you know that our metabolic rate (body’s energy expenditure) starts to decline after the age of 25? How many times have you heard ‘I used to be able to get away with this or that’? Now you know why. But don’t despair, you can prevent the dreaded ‘middle age spread’ and stay young on the inside (metabolic age). Let me explain….

The biggest contributing factor to your metabolic rate is how much muscle you have. Think of it like a car, the bigger the engine (muscle), the bigger the revs (metabolic rate) and the more fuel it burns (food).

But here’s the interesting part, it’s actually not age that determines your declining metabolic rate, modern sedentary lifestyle is to blame. Your body evolved to move, climb, jog, walk and run for several hours each day – and yet many sit in a vehicle to get to work, sit at desks for hours on end, then come home and sit down to watch TVs, phones, laptops all made even more sedentary by remote controls and drive-thru take-away conveniences. We are choosing to de-condition ourselves from muscle to mush or what we now call ‘sedentary disease’ and it’s starting at 25..

As the saying goes – ‘what you don’t use you lose’. The longer you live a sedentary life, the more your muscle will deteriorate and the slower your metabolism will get – cue the middle age spread, higher stress levels, low bone density, loss of balance, low moods, lower immunity, foggy brain and more. In a nutshell, feeling old before your time.

But, as I said earlier, this slowing metabolic rate is actually a choice! That’s right, a few dietary adjustments and ongoing resistance activities in your week can ensure you don’t travel down this path and keep the twinkle in your eyes.

All of the Trainers at Fitness Revolution have hit the 40+ age bracket (sorry girls) and we know what it means to actively maintain fitness as we age. Our exercise programming includes resistance training (strength training), interval training (running, cycling, rowing), circuit training, hill runs and plyometrics (explosive exercises) – adjusted for the individual so that they can build ability at their own pace.

Lower intensity exercises (eg: walking) are great for incidental activity, but don’t offer much in terms of muscle preservation.

Now you know what exercise keeps you young, combine it with adequate proteins and healthy fats which feed your muscles and you’ll turn your engine into a V8 in no time. And ladies, don’t worry, you don’t have enough testosterone to be a V8, you’ll end up building a sleek sports car instead.

This journey can be started at any age, weight or fitness level and it’s really not as hard as you think it is. Even my 81-year-old mother has just started doing Personal Training with me. You just need to learn some simple new tools that puts you back into the driver seat. Once you’ve experienced what it’s like to feel young and healthy again, you’ll never be able to go back. All it takes is one decision.

If you want to know more about how to build your engine and take back your youth, then put your details in the box for a no obligation free trial. What have you got to lose?