In your 40s and 50s. Stay Strong at every age!
Rachel Smith, 2011, Good Health Issue 10/11 p045-047
In your 40s
By 45 we start to lose muscle and lay down fat. The good news? Raising your muscle mass helps to control weight.
- Focus on spine and hip workouts. “Target the muscles around these areas, as it’s where we tend to lose bone and suffer fractures,” says Daly. Exercises to include are squats, step-ups and lunges, suggests Rule. “Start with your body weight and as you improve, add external resistance in the forms of weight-bearing machines or free weights.”
- Tweak your diet. Protein is crucial to building muscle. “Aim to include at least 20g of protein at main meals and 10g to 20g of protein at each snack,” says Susie Burrell, dietitian and author of Losing the Last 5kg (Hardie Grant, $19.95). As a guide, there’s 31g of protein in 100g of red meat, 28g of protein in 100g of chicken and 23g in 100g of seafood. The protein content in a cooked egg is about 7g, and you’ll get 10g of protein in 200g of yoghurt. For calcium needs, dairy foods such as cheese, milk and yoghurt are the best sources, says Daly. “You could have a glass of milk or a kilo of broccoli to get the same amount. Take your pick!”
- Let the sun in. Our skin uses sunlight to produce vitamin D, which helps us build bones – but skin cancer fears mean many of us are covering up and missing out on what we need, warns Daly. “We’re seeing a lot of people in their 40s who have low or insufficient vitamin D levels. During summer, you should walk outside sunscreen-free, with your arms and face exposed, for six to seven minutes mid-morning or mid-afternoon, on most days of the week,” he advises.“During winter, head outside at lunchtime every day for between 10 to 40 minutes depending on where you live – Queenslanders won’t need as much sun as, say, Melbourne residents will.”
In your 50s
The drop in oestrogen around menopause contributes to a loss in bone mass but we can slow the loss by maintaining calcium and vitamin D levels and excising.
- Boost calcium. Women in this age group need to up their daily calcium intake to 1100g to 1300mg (about four serves), which can be tricky, says Daly. “As we get older we eat less, so a supplement may help. The two types are calcium carbonate (to be taken with meals), and citrate (reportedly better absorbed and doesn’t need to be taken with meals, but is more costly). Your body can only handle about 500mg at a time, so if you need 1000mg, take 500mg in the morning and 500mg at night.”
- Get a DXA scan. Consider a bone density scan or DXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) now, unless you’re at risk of osteoporosis, in which case your GP may have sent you for one earlier. Risk factors include a family history of osteoporosis, suffering a previous low- fracture trauma, and being a smoker or a heavy drinker – alcohol can interfere with calcium absorption. “You can also be at risk if you’ve gone through early menopause, have low body weight or are on certain drugs, including some asthma medications, which can affect bone density,” explains Daly.
- Keep moving. Think of exercise as your anti-ageing strategy, says Daly. “It’s the best way to reduce bone loss. Bones like stress, and if you take away the stress – which we get from exercising – the bones essentially fade away. We see it in bedridden people who can suffer a drastic loss in bone density over time.”Move more, with incidental exercise such as walking and climbing stairs.