It is thought that many women choose cardio over weight training for fear of putting on too much muscle and looking bulky
A doctor has urged people to reduce their levels of cardio-based fitness training and swap it instead for strength-related workouts after a certain age. Speaking on The Doctor’s Kitchen Podcast, Dr Darshan Shah was speaking to Dr Rupy Aujla about health and fitness.
He stressed that cardio was still an effective means of staying healthy – and mentioned that – in his experience – it was particularly popular with women. However, he said that – after the age of 40 – people should focus more on strength and resistance training.
At 40, our bodies tend to lose bone density and muscle, while our metabolism also slows. Women typically lose 3-8 per cent of muscle mass per decade after 30, and even more after menopause, making it vital for them to keep up their strength.
In a clip of the podcast uploaded to Instagram entitled ‘Cardio won’t save you after 40’, Dr Shah said: “You really gotta add strength training into your routine for sure after the age of 40. And what I find is a lot of my patients, they actually are very focused on cardio versus strength training.
“And I’m not saying cardio is bad, but if you’re doing a mostly cardio exercise routine, which most my patients I see – especially women, women are really focused on cardio – I think you’ve really got to cut that in half and make the other half strength training.
“It’s so important because you and I both know muscle mass tends to decrease after the age of 40. You have to build up a large store of muscle mass, so you have some extra muscle in the bank.
“But if you’re not using it, you’re definitely losing it after the age of 40. We’re genetically programmed to break down muscle at a much faster rate, and that’s why so many people end up like a little old man, a little old lady because they have just, they’re just not using their muscle and so strength training is extremely important.”
Increased strength training beyond the age of 40 has also been found to promote heart health, reducing blood pressure, improving cholesterol profiles, and regulating blood sugar levels.
It is also thought to improve sleep quality, which can worsen as we age, especially during and after the menopause. Regular strength training is linked to improved sleep duration and quality, which can help with everything from mood to weight management.
It has been suggested that many women may not like the idea of strength training due to the idea of becoming bulky from too much muscle. Physiotherapist Emma Mitchell says: “Many people enjoy the benefits of looking and feeling stronger.
“But there are some common misconceptions about strength training for women. For example, you might be worried that it will make you develop more muscles than you want. But, for many women, it is actually quite hard to build muscle. Unless you spend lots of time in the gym lifting heavy weights over a long period of time, strength training will usually lead to a slight muscle definition. This is often referred to as ‘toning up’.
“Strength training can affect men differently. They may form new muscle mass more easily because of increased testosterone.”
