How Often Should You Workout
For beginners, most women’s fitness experts recommend four to five workouts 30-minute workouts per week for. Allow 48 hours between each weight or resistance training session in order to give your muscles time to heal. As your fitness level progresses you can start to add more time to each work out. Make sure your progression is gradual and you do not overload your body.
Exercise has been proven to make you look younger. It offsets your declining rate metabolism that happens as you age, and increases bone density. Regular exercise will also help minimize muscle loss if you are following a weight loss program; giving you a more toned body and making you appear younger. If you do regular cardiovascular exercise such as swimming, cycling or running you will strengthen your heart muscle and keeping it young.
4 Slimming Foods To Always Have On-Hand
Frozen Chicken Breasts or Salmon Filets
You don’t even have to buy the frozen kind—you can buy them fresh and then freeze them yourself when you get home. When it’s mealtime, just defrost one in the microwave, and then broil, bake, or stir fry it as you wish. The protein in the chicken and the omega 3s in the salmon make either choice a majorly healthy main dish.
Eggs
They’re cheap, have a decent shelf life, are fast to cook, and are full of keep-you-full protein.
Frozen Veggies
Choose whichever kind you prefer, whether it’s spinach, broccoli, or a veggie medley. All you have to do is pull them out of the freezer, then sauté or steam them with a little olive oil and garlic powder, and you’ve got yourself a perfect fiber-filled side. Or you can toss them in an omelet to get a healthy dose of protein and fiber.
A Box of Whole Grains
Think: cous cous, brown rice, or whole-wheat pasta. Seriously, all you have to do is open the box and boil water. Pair with any of the three ingredients above for a balanced, satisfying dinner.
How to Build Muscle Tone in Women After 40
Exercise Types
Although many women prefer aerobic exercise to weight training, both strength and cardiovascular exercises are necessary to effectively tone muscle and fight age-related weight gain. Aerobics are important because they burn more calories on a short-term basis, which encourages weight loss and weight maintenance; resistance training is the key to building lean muscle mass, which burns more calories than fat when the body is at rest.
How to Exercise
To maintain a healthy weight, tone muscle and improve bone health, aim to meet the American College of Sports Medicine’s recommendations for physical activity. The ACSM suggests at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise that includes two or three resistance training workouts. Simple aerobic choices include biking, jogging, dancing, step aerobics, swimming or using a treadmill or elliptical. When you lift weights, do two to four sets of each exercise with 10 to 15 reps in each set. Start with light weights and work up to heavier dumbbells as you get stronger. Try presses, rows, curls, lifts and ab work. Weight bearing exercises, in which your body weight is used as resistance, are especially helpful at maintaining muscle mass and proper bone density. Try push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges and sit-ups.
Nutrition
How you eat is just as important as how you exercise. Reduce or eliminate processed foods, refined sugar and foods high in saturated fat. Instead, focus on getting plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats into your diet. Choose foods that have a low energy density, meaning they provide a maximum amount of vitamins and minerals with a low calorie count per serving. You may also need to eat less to maintain your weight. The Mayo Clinic suggests that as women enter their 50s, they need about 200 fewer daily calories than they did in their 30s and 40s.
Considerations
The healthiest way to exercise is to ease into any new activity. If you aren’t used to working out regularly, build up slowly and start with short sessions. Get approval from a doctor before beginning any exercise plan, especially if you have a medical condition. Finally, keep in mind that outside factors, such as stress and the amount of sleep you get, can influence weight gain. If you notice significant and unexplained weight gain as you enter middle age, see your doctor.