Looking for a fountain of youth?  Scientists have discerned that individuals can expect to gain two hours of life for every hour of exercise.  Armed with this information, many are lacing up running shoes versus heading for the recliner when faced with midlife and beyond. 

But setting out to obtain your goal will require you to become aware of your body’s limitations.  After age forty, your kidneys do not conserve water as they did when you were younger.  Likewise, the muscles in your throat and mouth are not as quick to send messages of dehydration.  Knowing this, and making a conscious effort to rehydrate on a regular basis, you can still perform at your peak. 

Women, from age thirty to menopause, lose one percent of bone mass per year.  Men are not immune to this bone mass and experience similar losses.  However, those who add strength training to their routine have the highest bone density levels.  In addition, scientists have found that those who have been running for two to four decades have healthier joints than non-runners.

There are several factors within your control to improve your overall performance.  Increasing your muscle mass, body composition and frequency of workouts all go a long ways towards strengthening your body.  Another method to increase your running ability is to build your mental fortitude.  According to sports psychologist Bradley Young, PhD, “People underestimate the cognitive part of running, but mental toughness isn’t genetic—it’s honed through experience.”

After age forty, every amount of exertion we do, takes our bodies longer to recover from.  Jeff Galloway, a former Olympic gold medalist and expert on running, offers the following chart for the number of strenuous days of exercise per week according to one’s age.

·      35 and under: no more than 5 days a week

·      36-45: no more than 4 days a week

·      46-59: exercise every other day

·      60+: 3 days a week

·      70+: 2 strenuous days and 1 easy but longer workout day

·      80+: one longer workout, one shorter one, and one gentle and non-pounding exercise

The older we get, the longer it takes for our bodies to warm up.  Be patient and allow your body the time it needs to properly warm up before a strenuous workout to avoid injury.  Also, the closer we train to our maximum level, the closer we draw ourselves to the potential of injury.  Health benefits do not come from miles run, but from the number of calories burned.  Knowing this, listen to your body.  If it is fatigued, take a day or two off.  Or, if a workout is too strenuous, be willing to either call it a day or stop the workout and finish the rest of it later that day.  The same benefits can be gained from a split workout as can be obtained from one solid training session.  According to Bill Roberts, M.D., the medical director for the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis, “The earlier, the longer and the more consistently you run, the more resistant you are to injury.”

Running your best after forty is an obtainable goal if you remember to back off, take at least three days off, at the first sign of injury to treat the affected area, avoid a continuous buildup of fatigue and balance stress with rest.

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