3 Tips to stay fit in your 40s and beyond!

Aging is a beautiful, natural process that affects everyone in various ways. Our energy levels, as well as parts of our body, our muscles, bones, and joints may not function into our 40s, 50s, and beyond as they did in our prime. However, you may have some control over the level of effect it has on you based on your habits today. The three key factors that you should focus on in order to maintain and regain your strength, mobility, and flexibility are your diet, getting regular chiropractic treatment, and establishing a consistent and moderately challenging exercise schedule. We’ll give you a few suggestions on each of these factors to help you stay strong for years to come.

Your Diet is Your Foundation

Food is the fuel of our bodies, and what we choose to consume may either give us energy, or drain us before we even get out of our seats! Whole foods are crucial to a healthy diet, and we recommend consuming little to no sugar as it can produce an inflammatory response and have negative effects on your body. An inflammatory response may also occur from alcohol intake, so limit this as well. Of course, drink plenty of liquids, especially water.

Chiropractic Treatment is a Great Support

We recommend maintaining regular visits with our chiropractic team. Your chiropractor may help to ensure there aren't specific weaknesses, illnesses, or injuries preventing your improvement in your health journey. Your chiropractor will assess your joints, make sure you are moving properly, check that your muscles are not hindered by any previous afflictions, as well as give you suggestions to target and improve areas of weakness.

Exercise Will Push You Forward

As we mentioned, your diet will establish the foundation for your health journey. Then, scheduling regular chiropractic treatments may give you a solid framework to uncover any particular weakness or deficiencies in your body. The final aspect of staying fit in your 40s and beyond is incorporating exercise to maintain and build on your fitness.

Here are a few ideas that will get you moving and improving:

• Walk more, and push yourself to walk fast. This is a simple, low impact activity that will get you moving. To increase the challenge, consider wearing ankle weights or a weight vest for some resistance.
• Other low impact exercises include biking and swimming, both of which are great cardiovascular exercises as well.
• Strength training with your own body weight, to start, will get your muscles working, helping to maintain and build your strength initially. From there, you may graduate to implementing weight training into your routine, gradually increasing the weights week after week. This will help to sustain your bone density and muscle mass, both of which are important to stay strong in your 40s and beyond.
• And finally, try new things, one thing at a time, to enjoy the many benefits of various forms of activity. Boxing or other martial arts, yoga or other forms of flexibility focused exercise, and anything that pushes you out of your comfort zone and has your body moving in a way it may not normally.

Give Yourself Time to Recover

Recovery is important after all of this change and increased activity, so it is important to give your body time to heal, and don’t push through pain. If you ever feel the exercise you are engaged in is too strenuous on your body, or you are experiencing severe discomfort, or if you would just like to ensure you are on the right track physically, don’t hesitate to visit our chiropractic team! And of course, remember to eat and drink well to give your body the fuel it needs to keep you pushing long into your 40s, 50s, and beyond!

Better Health may be for you: Call Dr. Lanoue

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