How many times have you been told that middle age spread—the
weight gain that comes with hitting 40 and beyond—is unavoidable? Well,
next time someone starts going on about the inevitable metabolic
slowdown, know this: You can turn the ship around. It's not even that
hard.
Metabolic slowdown is a real thing. It's due to your muscle mass
declining—by up to 8% each decade after age 30 and up to 10% after the
big 5-0. "You lose about a half pound of lean muscle every year in your
30s and 40s, and once you hit your 50s, you lose roughly a pound a
year," says Wayne Westcott, an exercise physiologist at Quincy College
in Boston. Although researchers aren't exactly sure how this
happens,
the leading theory is that your body starts breaking down muscle at a
faster rate than it can build it back up again. Muscle is metabolically
active, so your metabolism slows as it declines.
So, what do you think might reverse the trend? That's right, more muscle!
Research shows that lifting weights twice a week for 25 minutes will
get you the additional brawn to keep your metab humming. One study done
by Westcott of more than 1600 people between the ages of 21 and 80
showed a muscle gain of around 3.1 pounds after 10 weeks of resistance
training twice a week. "That's the equivalent of reversing about 6 years
of aging," explains Westcott. The subjects did one set of 12 different
exercises, using a high enough weight that they fatigued after 8 to 12
reps. Best part is, it didn't matter whether they were 25 or 75; there
were similar results across all age groups.