Staying healthy after you reach the age of 40 can be difficult for many people. A lot of people still have very active careers at that age, and making time for exercise can be tough. What makes things more difficult is that our bodies start changing significantly past that age, and unless you take real action, your health could deteriorate very fast. This is why health has to be a priority for you from now on if it wasn’t before. Let’s take a look at a few tips for staying fit and healthy over 40.
1. Sleep Better
Sleep becomes increasingly important as you get older. This is because sleep is when your body does all the recovery work, and when you reach over 40, it cannot regenerate as fast or as efficiently.
So, if you were able to get by with five to six hours when you were younger, you will need to aim for seven to nine hours now, at the very least.
You also have to be careful not to drink or smoke before sleeping, as it will disrupt your sleep patterns. While alcohol may feel like a good sleep aid, it really isn’t and will hinder the recovery process. So, try to stick to things like herbal tea and supplements like melatonin while practising safe sleep hygiene. There also many other healthy ways to fall asleep.
2. Give Back
Giving back to your community is one of the best ways to stay physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy. Studies have found that volunteering could boost the production of oxytocin, which is a hormone linked to bonding that has many benefits like improving creativity, focus, and overall well-being.
If you want to send that oxytocin through the roof, you could consider becoming a foster parent. This is an especially great option if all your children have left the nest or if you have never had children.
Foster children will keep you physically active, too, especially if you welcome many of them. If you want to learn more about foster parenting and how much you can expect to get for compensation, you should check out fosterplus.co.uk.
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3. Be Careful with Cardio
A lot of older people make the mistake of concentrating too much on cardio when they get older. They assume that doing lots of cardio every day will benefit their heart health, but you could be getting too much of a great thing.
Too much cardio will put excessive strain on your heart and can also affect your body. Some forms of exercise, like jogging, for instance, can be tough on the joints and are not recommended past a certain age. This is why you need to focus on lower-impact activities instead. Swimming and stationary biking are two good options. So are things like Pilates or low-impact aerobics.
One area you’ll need to focus on more, however, is strength training. You lose muscle mass as you age, and strength training will allow you to maintain what you have. It can also help with your cognitive abilities and stimulate growth hormone production, which tends to sharply decline as you age.
These are all tips that you can follow to stay happy and healthy over 40. Try to get everyone in your household involved for motivation, learn how to eat and treat yourself better, and try to get some activity every day if you want to live a longer, healthier life.
