18: Strength After 40: Why Muscle Matters as You Age

In this episode, Kimberly and Terry discuss the critical importance of building and maintain muscle as you age. They explore the effects of muscle loss, known as sarcopenia, and how strength training can combat this decline, improve bone density, and enhance hormonal health. 

The conversation emphasizes the benefits of maintaining independence through strength training and provides practical tips for effective exercise routines, including the significance of recovery and protein intake.

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- @kimberlyspreenglick on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube
- email: kimberly@theinspiredlifeuniversity.com
- website: www.theinspiredlifeuniversity.com

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- @terryshorter on Instagram & Facebook
- email: terry@rippedplanet.com
- website: www.rippedplanet.com

Transcript

Hello and welcome to group X appeal. Terry Shorter here and. Kimberly Spreen Glick. Yeah, we made it to episode number 18 and this one is all about why strength training after 40 years old matters. Would you mind? Strength training. I'm flexing if you're listening and you're not watching this on YouTube. I would flex, but I don't want to tear my shirt. we don't want the Hulk Hulk busting out. She Hulk or do we? So.

muscle loss, this happens, it's also known as sarcopenia. It happens and it has a huge impact on our metabolism. It has a huge impact on mobility or lack thereof and also a reduction in energy as well. And so what we're talking about today is how maintaining your muscle is going to protect you against injury and different chronic diseases as well. And so if you have a notepad and a pen, something to write with and take notes with, now's that.

we're gonna be sharing some really key tips some benefits first and then some really key tips about just how to overall Improve your quality of life for aging adults through strength training and so the very first, you know benefits of strength training is Improved bone density, you know, we lose bone density again after the age of 30 Women actually lose quite a bit more. Absolutely and calcium supplements are not enough not enough at all

And so, you know, adding the proper strength training regiment will absolutely help with improving that, getting you stronger and, for men and women. Absolutely. And then I would like to share the benefit if it would be all right. Although this does affect men and women. Again, it is a huge thing for women, hormonal health, strength training absolutely helps us when we're trying to maintain a balanced experience with regards to our hormonal health, which

as we age, ladies, can go up and down a little bit. So we have these stages that we go through where we have our menses and then we have, would you like to talk about this, Terry? Our menses, then our paramenopause, then have menopause. There are these different stages, specific hormonal stages we go through. And what some people don't realize is having a regular strength training routine can help us manage those stages and keep things more balanced. Sure. And with men, you know, your T, your,

Kimberly/terry (02:24.642)
you know, you experience lower T over the years as well, which of course is going to affect. lower Terry. Not lower Terry. No, we need a higher Terry. Much more higher. Much more higher. The highest of high. Highest possible Terry we can get. Yeah. No one's ever called me low T. Thank God. But, it's either T bone or T dog. That's what I hear. So yeah, that's it. Yeah, that is it.

Wow, we're out of control today. That's okay. So the T you're referring to, course, is testosterone. Yes, of course. That's all I was getting at. So it'll help actually reverse that, you know, that experience and increase your testosterone just by strength training both for men and women, but primarily for men, that seems to be, you know, one of the issues or the, the hot topics right now as we age in the forties and fifties. So,

You know, the third thing after hormonal health, the third benefit is it allows us when we do strength training on a regular basis, on a consistent basis, it allows us to maintain our independence much longer as we become more aging adults. And so for example, you know, my mother, for example, I like to use her as an example, every once in a while she's closing in on 80 years old coming up in the next few months. Yeah. 80 years old and she does literally no, no exaggeration.

She's out there walking about 20,000 steps a day. She'll go to the mall, and she walks around the mall, and she's not shopping. She's just getting her exercise in. She takes strength classes, strength training, and balance classes as well. And as a result, I don't have to worry about her as much because she's just as strong and just as resilient as any 20, 30-year-old out there because she's consistent with her strength training, consistent with her regimen.

she is Miss Independent. I love that. You know, when she falls, she's like a little ninja. I've seen it happen where she's fallen, but she knows how to catch herself. She's strong enough. We've even had last Christmas, we had a plank contest. She challenged me to a plank contest. yes she did. And my mother held a seven minute plank and beat me up. I love that. So she's getting, she's getting

Kimberly/terry (04:44.502)
re-challenged again this year. You're ready? Yeah, for Chris. I've been training really hard. OK, good. He's coming for you, Mom. So yeah, so the strength training will help reduce the amount of falls. It will allow you just from a functional standpoint, a more practical manner with being able to sit down, being able to get up out of the seat properly, being able to balance, and so on and so forth. Anything I missed?

You know, one of the, was just gonna add that one of the classes I teach every week is called F.I.T. It's functional integrated training. And my favorite thing about this class is we get to use the BOSU balance trainer. So we incorporate into a strength training class, stability training, because it is so incredibly important that you, as your strength training, you're not only training the larger muscle groups that we normally think about when we pick up a weight, but we're also training the small muscles, tendons and ligaments that support the joints. Exactly. So that if we do fall,

we can bounce back like a ninja. Cause she fell, but she got back up. And I love that. Or, know, should we fall? There's much less risk for injury because we don't take the hit as hard. And so I think it's really important. And I think it's never too soon, too early to start thinking about the importance of protecting ourselves from that kind of injury or fall.

later in life because we do want to stay independent as long as possible. mean, we're only 51, but I'm already thinking I want to continue to do my strength and stability training now because when I'm 80, I want to be like Terry's mom. So there's that. Well, you are well on your way, way ahead of the game. Shall we give three tips to match up with those three benefits? Let's do that. So three tips in order for you to get started, you know, on a, on a muscle maintaining kind of program strength.

training program. First of all, find some safe and effective exercises from we would recommend a health professional who's certified to be able to do that. You know, like Kimberly's class fit, for example. I am certified. She is not only certified, she's also qualified. There's also a difference there. Right? Been doing it for a little while. Yeah, for a little while. Find someone who's experienced someone who is again,

Kimberly/terry (07:00.558)
certified and qualified to teach those safe and effective exercises. Can you find those exercises on places like YouTube and whatnot or Instagram or TikTok? Yes, you can. However, again, make sure that that instructor who's ever presenting those exercises has the credentials to share those exercises with you again, because safety is first. And I think it's important we listen to our body along the way, Absolutely.

One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to have better body awareness, whether you're working out alone or with a trainer and instructor, just to be able to take any recommendations, feel them in your body, and then make shifts and tweaks and modifications as necessary. So I'm going to throw another tip out there. And this one is near and dear to my heart. And that is all about recovery. It is one thing. And it's pretty typical in the world that we grew up in, which would be kind of the health and fitness world, the gym space. It's pretty common to,

measure your progress and measure your strength based on how hard you can push yourself, how much weight you can lift, like the max you can go before the muscle either fatigues or gives out. But I think an equally important measure of strength and your progress is how quickly can you recover? So once you have torn those muscles down, broken them down a bit, how quickly can you come back to a place where you can begin again? so recovery,

things like making sure you have lots of water, staying hydrated, getting good sleep, good rest in between your workouts, not hitting muscles really hard back to back days. Give a couple of days for the delayed onset of muscle soreness to kind of kick in and move through, because that's a lactic acid settling in those torn fibers that needs to work its way out so that you can be in the best possible shape to go again. recovery, recovery, recovery is as important as the challenge. For sure. And you know,

We've talked about this in the past. One of the best recovery methods that Kimberly shared with me that I absolutely love are those power naps. That's heck yeah. Absolutely. You know it. And we also both teach foam roller classes. That myofascial release is a great recovery. Absolutely. Yeah. And then of course, sleeping through the night, seven to eight hours, ideally, if you can get it. That's the magic number. that will help with that recovery process as well.

Kimberly/terry (09:23.582)
And then lastly, protein. What? You don't care about protein. I I love protein. He loves the protein. Give me the protein. Wait, did you just become a vampire? Is that what happens when you want protein? You become Dracula? the count from Sesame Street. One, two, three grams of protein. I was at least giving you the benefit of Dracula, and now you're a Muppet? I'm a vampire Muppet.

Do your thing, honey. Do your thing. So protein is essential, not just if you have a really consistent strength training regimen. Just on a daily basis, even on those recovery days where you're not lifting, you want to make sure that you get the proper amount of protein, a good source of protein that works best for you, whether you are a vegan or not. And even more so for vegans, it's really important to identify the best sources of protein for you that are animal-based.

There are so many great resources, so many great places to find good proteins nowadays. Hydrolyzed protein, if you're be doing powders, that's fantastic. However, the best is going to be natural whole food based protein, period. And when you are looking or preparing your plate with the proper balance of your proteins, your carbs and your fats, you just want to be mindful that once they're balanced,

Start with your protein eat the protein first because you'll feel fuller faster. It'll prevent you from overeating And also you want to be able to feed your muscles, you know initially right out of the gates especially after you've strength train to get that recovery process moving a lot faster and Ideally when you're strength training you want to get at least one gram per pound of muscle a Protein throughout the course of the day people think it's per pound of body weight. Yeah, so

So throughout the course of the day, however you break that up, it doesn't matter. So for example, if I'm weighing, I weigh 200 pounds over the course of the day, I should get about 200 grams of protein throughout the course of the day broken up, let's say five meals. You're looking at, I'm looking at 40 grams of protein per meal for five meals. That'll get me to my magic number. And you kind of have to space it out and make it a greater number because your body can only break down so much protein at one time. So if you're thinking of mice,

Kimberly/terry (11:45.166)
If you're thinking to myself, can I borrow that thinking cap again? So if you're thinking to yourself, I need a hundred grams of protein, you know, and go by my weight. That's, that's all. She's just a buck. She's a buck. You can't eat a hundred grams of protein in one meal and expect that's going to, going to work because your body can't process that much protein at one time. so, that's, or at least not and make use of it, I should say.

You to process it. You have to process it. Your body only produces so much enzyme to break down that protein number one. it's a great opportunity for you to, if you're the type of person who gets overwhelmed by looking at a big number like that, it's time to practice Kaizen. Ooh, yes. Right? Which happens to be our next episode. Yep. And if you're wondering, what the heck are you guys talking about? You'll need to listen to the next episode. That's teaser. Get There's the teaser. But listen, if you want to stay strong,

energized and confident at any age. We not only encourage you to listen to the next episode, of course, but first subscribe to our podcast and download this episode for practical tips to build muscle starting today. We would truly, you know, share, encourage you to share this episode with someone over 40 who inspires you and let's grow stronger together. Heck yeah. I love that. And of course, if you found this helpful, we would so love and appreciate it if you left us a review or a comment.

And let us know your favorite strength training tip or maybe your fitness goal for the year. We might just shout you out in a future episode. Yeah, we like doing that. love doing that. So that is it for this episode. Episode 18 is officially in the can. What? And so we again, thank you. We appreciate you. We love you. And we, as always, we encourage you to make it a great day today. And why Kimberly? Because it's a great day to have Terry. Yes, it is. Thank you. Take care.