Hi, it’s Rob Richley Personal Trainer, Fitness Competitor and creator of Lean Over 40 For Men and today I want to answer the important question of how us men can speed up our metabolisms after the age of 50.
As a general rule, a man over 50 can speed up his metabolism by focusing on healthy nutrition, including plenty of lean protein sources, fibrous carbohydrates, healthy fat sources and making resistance training a priority which will build more muscle leading to a permanent increase in resting basal metabolism.
I know as we get older our metabolisms start to slow down and the number of calories we used to be able to burn in our twenties and thirties (the good old days) are less now we are older!
It can creep up on you month by month and year by year and usually not an overnight process, but the worst thing about it is you only need to be going in the wrong direction and put on 2-3 pounds of fat per year, which might not seem like alot, but after 4 years you’ll be nearly another stone heavier!
The main thing that we need to pay attention to as we get older is our Basal Metabolism or BMR, this determines how many calories we burn while at rest i.e. reading. watching the TV, sleeping etc. That is what we need to increase.
You see, cardio training might burn calories while we do it, but we only burn calories whilst doing that activity, not after the session has been completed. So, it’s PERMANENTLY increasing our resting metabolism we want, and I’ll talk about some tricks you can implement as we naturally start to slow down when we get older…
Nutrition
The first thing we need to pay attention to is nutrition, we cannot keep getting away with eating lots of junk calories like we did in our teens and twenties when we get older.
Not only will making healthy choices allow us burn more fat, but you will feel alot better each day. Choose lean protein sources such as fatty fish, chicken breast, ground beef, eggs etc.
The thermic effect of protein is very real, meaning that just by ingesting protein sources, your body has to work harder to break it down into amino acids (the building blocks of protein), thus burning more calories throughout the day.
Carbohydrates are essential for us men over 50, they provide energy for our body especially to do workouts and fuel our brains, and they keep our testosterone levels high.
Totally avoid sugar and junk carbohydrates and stick to complex fibrous carb sources such as brown rice, whole grain pasta, sweet potatoes and vegetables.
Fat is very important especially for men over 50, in fact I NEVER recommend going too low in fat as you age. FAT has been shown to boost testosterone levels in men and we need every trick in the book to boost testosterone as we get older!
Water
Water is super important for boosting metabolism and I bet you aren’t drinking nearly as much as you should be right now.
Water plays so many vital roles in the body including flushing out toxins, lubricating joints and preventing hunger which in turn means you will naturally ingest less calories.
Aim for 3-4 litres of water per day and I guarantee you will see the benefits.
Sleep
So many of the bodies regeneration processes take place when we sleep and if you aren’t getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night you should make an effort to get more quality sleep.
Sleep also lowers the hormone cortisol leading to decreased stress, so make sure you are getting plenty of quality sleep each night.
Cardio Training
Cardio training is important for men over 50, you need to be moving more each day. If you work in an office, take the stairs rather than the elevator, get out for a walk at lunch.
Do more manual jobs outside, anything that gets you moving more.
Or my prefered method of cardio is getting to the gym and doing 30 minutes on the cross trainer or stationary bike.
30 minutes 3 time per week might not sound like much, but done consistently adds up to huge progress, burns more calories and improves heart health.
Resistance Training
Out of everything I have talked about for increasing metabolism as we get older, resistance training has to be the most important.
Remember when I mentioned that our goal was to PERMANENTLY raise resting Basal Metabolism? Well, I don’t know a better way to do it than resistance training.
The amount of muscle we have on our bodies quite literally determines how many calories we burn at rest throughout the day.
The more muscle we have the more calories we ultimately burn throughout the day.
And, as we get older, we naturally start to lose muscle leading to a lowered resting BMR. That’s why a lot of men complain about eating the same calories but accumulating more fat as they age.
By resistance training 3 times per week using compound exercises that stimulate gains in muscle and strength, you can build more muscle and permanently increase your metabolism.
I can’t stress the importance of resistance training as you get older. If you are not doing it, start pronto!
Consistency
As mentioned earlier, it took time to put on weight and get out of shape in the first place and it’s going to take time to lose fat and boost metabolism again.
But the easiest way to do this is to start TODAY. If you can get today right, you can get tomorrow right and the rest of the week right.
Keep doing that and you will make huge progress!
Focus on eating healthy today, getting 40 minutes of resistance training and 30 minutes of cardio training.
Then keep doing that over and over again…
It’s the power of consistency that really matters.
I hope you found this article really useful and if you would like to take your learning further, make sure you grab my free guide, 40 Laws of Lean for Men Over 40.
To your success!
