In Your 40s
HIT RESTART
Whether or not you're a regular exerciser, life has a way of catching up to you by the time you hit 40. For active types, nagging injuries nag a little louder. For recreational athletes, performance begins to drop and recovery takes longer. For people with sedentary jobs, the hours in a chair compound and can lead to tight hips, shoulders, backs, necks and knees.
Many of these long-term minor pains and injuries can be traced to changes in the fascia - the pliable connective tissue running through your body. Over time, it dehydrates and stiffens in response to habitual movement patterns, whether active, like running, or passive, like sitting. Massage, foam rolling and other bodywork modalities can keep these tissues supple so you can continue to move well, and without pain, for decades to come.
The 40s can also find you in the exercise doldrums. You have probably established, and then broken, an exercise habit several times. The key is to go easy on yourself when you fall out of the exercise habit - and then steer yourself back to it in another season. One remedy for exercise doldrums is to keep exploring new types of movement. Dance, martial arts, or outdoor exercise can work wonders for your brain, mood and fascia.
In your 40s, it's time to focus on maintaining supple movement and
exploring novel activities to push through the exercise doldrums.
Stay Active (in your 40s), Keep Moving and
Enjoy Your Food