Increased Weight with Age : Is It Your Destiny?

Most people you talk to feel a sense of helplessness when it comes to two things that everyone seems to thing go hand in hand : aging and gaining weight with age.  We all know that as we get older our metabolism starts to slow, but we really can’t have the attitude that it’s just something that happens to everyone, because it doesn’t happen to everyone, that is, not everyone who actually does the things necessary to prevent this part of aging. 

As we age, not only does our metbolism slow down, hence the comments you hear that as you get older it’s harder and harder to lose some weight you’ve put on, and everything seems to “stick to your thighs”, but you also lose muscle mass with each passing year as you age past a certain point, and unless you work out and lift weights, it will keep declining steadily.  Muscle mass is directly related to the metabolism, so any time your muscle mass decreases, your metabolism follows suit and it decreases as well.

The places that we typically put on more poundage as we age is different for men and women.  Men tend to pack the pounds on around their midsection, and women start off later in life packing on weight around their thighs and buttocks area, but then later add more to their midsections.  Excess weight around the abdomen is one of the largest contributing factors to increasing the risk of heart disease, so it’s important that we keep our waistlines slim and trim, especially as we get older and it’s easier to have problems with circulation, another heart risk.

This is all part of the reason why it’s extremely important to stay active and keep lifting weights and doing weight bearing exercises into our later life.  Experts say not to go to easy on yourself as you age – keep up the pace of your workouts so your body doesn’t get used to them and you still get maximum fat reducing and muscle sculpting gains out of it. 

They say that cardio is important, but often overlooked is the fact that weight bearing exercise helps to keep the bones strong (a barrier against osteoporosis, something very important for women), and will also help keep your muscles toned and active, and growing so that your metabolism can still keep pace with burning calories and slimming you.