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Vibrant Health and Energy After 40

You’ve no doubt heard the anonymous prayer that asks for the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. For most of us, this includes the weather, gravity and certain family members. But how about the effects of aging in middle age? Is it a fact that, no matter how diligent we are, our metabolism will slow down, the pounds will creep on alongside those smile lines and crow’s feet? Here’s good news: losing muscle mass need not be an inevitable side effect of aging.

Slowing down the aging process is all about muscle mass. Between our mid-20s and mid-50s, we lose an average of about one half pound of muscle and add about a pound and a half of fat each year—resulting in a net gain of about one pound. The process is much more gradual in our 20s and speeds up as we get older. The key is in the loss of muscle. Because of this gradual atrophying of muscle tissue, our resting metabolic rate decreases by about five percent each year. In the average sedentary American, the resting metabolic rate is responsible for burning about 75 percent of the calories we consume. The more muscle you have, the more energy your body consumes to feed, maintain and repair that tissue.

The reason why we lose muscle mass as we age is a decline in the levels of human growth hormone (HGH) the body produces. By about age 30, most people’s bodies have significantly decreased production of HGH . This phenomenon can result in lower energy levels and a host of symptoms that we tend to chalk up to “getting older.”

The good news is that you can naturally increase the amount of HGH in your body. To boost HGH naturally, you'll need to incorporate anaerobic, high-intensity workouts that push you beyond your limits.

Starting in early adulthood, when growth stops, your basal metabolic rate (BMR) -- the rate at which your body burns calories when at rest -- begins to change, slowing down. The decrease is gradual (about two percent a decade after the age of 30), but it has real effects. Eating the same way at 40 as you did when you were 20 can have negative effects, from weight gain to loss of energy to raising the risks of developing serious diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and more. The good news is that small shifts in your diet and moderate increases in your activity level will have a positive impact on how you age.

Your body at age 40 does not metabolize some foods as efficiently as it once did. At the same time, your ability to digest and absorb many nutrients has also changed.  However, your dietary requirement for vitamins, minerals and other nutrients doesn’t change as you age. All of this requires that you establish a new approach to what you eat, focusing on nutrient-dense foods that fill you up and give you energy without transforming into fat, the way foods high in sugar tend to. And you need to pay attention to something else: human growth hormone.

The Role of Human Growth Hormone

At a certain point in early adulthood, you begin losing muscle mass due to a decline in the levels of human growth hormone (HGH) your body produces as you age. By about age 30, most people’s bodies have significantly decreased production of HGH. This phenomenon triggers a change in the way your body processes food. Food that previously fed your growing muscles is now no longer needed and is instead stored as fat. Unless you work to maintain the muscle tone you once took for granted, you may find that, by your forties, you’ve become a little flabby and untoned -- even if you weigh what you used to. You may also discover that your energy is flagging, that your attention wanders and that you’re just generally more sluggish.

The production of HGH, a natural hormone that the pituitary gland releases in abundance when we're children, tapers off beginning in our forties.  The hormone was identified in 1912; in 1958, a scientist harvested HGH from the pituitary glands of human cadavers and injected it into a child with dwarfism. The child grew, although HGH didn't really take off as a treatment for dwarfism until the FDA approved a synthetic version in the mid-1980s.

In 1990, science seemingly uncorked the fountain of youth when the New England Journal of Medicine published a landmark study titled “The effects of human growth hormone in men over 60 years old.” In the study, a dozen men between the ages of 61 and 80 underwent HGH injections  three times a week for six months. They didn't otherwise change their activity levels. The men gained almost nine percent muscle mass and lost more than 14 percent body fat. Their bone density and skin thickness increased. Although the authors of the study were careful to avoid the claim that they'd discovered an anti-aging agent, the genie was out of the bottle. Inevitably, an HGH injection and supplements industry sprang up to service the whims of athletes and celebrities, among others.

Whether or not it's the fountain of youth, HGH plays an important role in the aging process. It aids muscle growth and repair, bone building, fat burning, strong connective tissue, youthful skin, recovery and physiological improvement. Of course, we don't advocate injections or even HGH supplements. However, we do believe that the right exercise routine, coupled with sound medical advice, can stimulate natural HGH production for real age-related benefits.

Accelerate Natural HGH Release with Exercise

Aerobic activities like swimming, walking and jogging have important positive effects on musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory and endocrine systems. They also have a positive effect on brain function and mood. Regular exercise also helps reduce both depression and anxiety, improve mood and enhance the ability to perform daily tasks well into old age.

As many benefits as a regular aerobic (or cardio) routine has, on its own, it doesn't stimulate the release of HGH. In other words, jogging for 30 minutes three times a week may be good for you, but it won't stimulate HGH production. To do that, you have to provide a stimulus or stress greater than what your body is used to. That means anaerobic, high-intensity workouts that push you beyond your limits.

To reap the benefits of naturally produced HGH, you have to sweat, you have to huff and puff and you have to feel the burn. As exercise guru and author Phil Campbell puts it, “HGH is released in the body in direct proportion to exercise intensity.”  What are the markers of HGH release? Campbell identifies four:

·         Oxygen debt: This occurs when you're winded from hard, sprinting or intense bouts of exercise;

·         Muscle burn: Muscle burn indicates that lactic acid is being released. HGH is released shortly after you experience muscle burn;

·         Increased body temperature: Your activity level should be sufficient to raise your body temperature by one degree;

·         Adrenal response: This involves the release of adrenaline and norepinephrine.

When doing this type of exercise, the minimum workout time is 15 to 30 minutes. Twenty minutes of exercise at 90 percent intensity is probably ideal. At this point, the body will typically release significant amounts of HGH, which will course through your body for about two hours after you finish your workout.

Does that mean you have to exercise flat-out for 20 minutes? No. Rather, you should do eight to 10 high-intensity “sprints” for 10 to 30 seconds each, then give yourself a couple of minutes of recovery time. You can add these high-intensity intervals at your own pace. As you become more fit, and your lung capacity improves, you can add up to 10 such intervals in one training session. They increase your endurance, expand your lung capacity, stimulate HGH and burn many more calories in a short period of time than by doing less intense exercise.

Workout and Nutrition Strategies That Stimulate HGH Production

So what kind of regimens can help target the right muscles and stimulate HGH production? One strategy is to make sure you vary your workouts so that they are consistently challenging. If you are strength training, make sure you are really pushing your muscles by:

·         Increasing resistance

·         Performing more reps

·         Performing slower reps

·         Changing your routine every two to three weeks

If you're doing cardio, you can challenge yourself by:

·         Increasing your speed

·         Doing interval training

·         Cross training

Critical to getting the full benefit of this workout are a few basic rules:

·         Don't eat high-fat meals just before working out.

·         Drink plenty of water.

·         Don't ingest high-sugar foods (in the form or sports bars, recovery drinks, or any other form) for two hours after anaerobic exercise; doing so will inhibit the benefits of HGH.

·         After training, ingest 15 to 25 grams of protein (depending on exercise intensity)  to help repair and build muscle mass

The Nutrients You Need

What should you eat to maximize the benefits of your workout? Before you exercise, be sure to wait at least an hour after you eat before working out. Other than that, any full, balanced meal built around protein and following the nutrition principles of the Atkins Advantage will be just fine. If you have to grab something right before working out, make sure it's very easy to digest like a whey protein supplement drink. The post-exercise meal, however, is even more important. For about an hour after your workout, there's a window of opportunity when your muscles are literally starving for nutrients. The food you eat now helps build muscle and replenish energy sources. Here is where 15 grams of protein is very important to replenish amino acids and build muscle.

Learn More at the Atkins Learning Center

Better nutrition, better health outcomes, better energy and performance and better muscle tone are all within your reach at age 40, 50 and beyond.  For tips on nutrition and exercise that will help you maintain and even increase your overall health as you move into the most exciting and active years of your life, be sure to enroll in this month's featured free course, " Vibrant Health and Energy After 40," at the Atkins Learning Center.

This free, instructor-led course has a lively Message Board where you can ask questions and discuss your goals with others. Also, be sure check out our other great course offerings and discussion groups at the Atkins Learning Center. See you in class!