Any trouble working out after 40?

[josie54]

I'm 41, and while I expect to have more aches and pains as I age, I'm finding I have more than I'd expect. My muscles are sore for longer periods of time after exercise AND they hurt in a different way (rather than just a dull pain, it's a very sharp pain after exercise that makes it difficult to move). I also have a really hard time maintaining my energy throughout a workout.

 

I'm used to being able to jog three miles a few times a week, lift weights for 30-45 minutes (10-12 lbs bicep curls, 40-50 lbs for squats, etc., as examples), and do yoga sessions with not that much trouble, but for the last few months, I'm feeling excessively tired, worn out, and sore from these efforts. I find that I have to walk more than run during my three miles, and I often have to cut my strength training workouts short because I just don't have it in me.

 

Last summer, I played in a kickball tournament where I ran a bit too hard and pulled my right hamstring. Here it is, a year later, and the pull STILL hasn't healed. I've lost my flexibility down my right leg. I try to stretch it gently, and I expected that it would eventually work itself out, but it hasn't.

 

Again, I expected some decline, but this feels like I've fallen off a cliff. I still exercise, but my loss of stamina is hitting my ego a bit hard. I'm wondering if other people have experienced this after 40, or if something might be wrong? I've been to the doctor, and obvious causes such as thyroid seem to be in the normal range (TSH is on the low boundary of normal, which actually lean toward hyperthyroidism, which should give me more energy, not less). I'm slightly anemic, but I've been that way for years. The only medication I take is an anti-convulsant for a nerve problem I have in my jaw--but again, this all started last summer, before I started taking that medication, although I supposed it could possibly have made it worse.

 

Any advice? Have others here over 40 had the same kind of experiences? How do I get my energy back? (And how do I heal that darn hamstring once and for all?)

[PelicanPete]

Any changes in diet? How long have your rest periods been between workouts? Have you been sleeping enough? I'm not over 40 but just trying to rule out all possibilities . I know if I do a lot of exercise with not enough rest to compensate I will gradually become weaker and weaker until I hit a fatigue wall. Things that use to be easy soon become a lot more challenging for me. I think I've become worse after all this practice and effort, until of course I rest a few days . General rule of thumb is if it hurts don't do it. If it's that sharp pain I suggest you just let your body rest longer then usual until it feels better.

[josie54]

Hi Pete...to answer your question about diet: When I turned 38, I became a vegetarian, which some people who know me worried about. But I try to make sure I get enough protein (through sources such as beans, lentils, quinoa, skim milk, protein shakes, etc.) I don't eat a lot of junk food (no processed food....occasional desserts at restaurants). I also do eat fish once in a while--maybe two to four times a month. But no major diet changes in the last few months.

 

I do strength training two to three times a week, with cardio days in between. Although recently I've had more "rest days" than I should have! I've tried to get back to my P90X routine, so I've been doing those routines for the last week. But I find I have to pause it a lot, or cheat and skip some exercises, just to make it through. Today, I couldn't face the P90X Kenpo workout, so I just did four miles on the treadmill instead.

 

It may just be mental. Perhaps I'm expecting too much of myself. Not sure. But I'm just TIRED.

[Feelin Frisky]

No problems or changes that I notice.

[nyc_guy2003]

Not quite the same situation, but I'm approaching my mid-30s and I am actually in the best shape of my life. I've been lifting weights continuously since the age of 19 and I find that I am recovering from workouts a lot faster these days for some reason. Whereas I used to be sore for 1-2 days after working out in my early 20s, now I am only sore for maybe an hour or two even though I am lifting with the same intensity. Also whereas I used to be on the more bulky/muscular side, now I am gaining definition and leanness. I'm not sure the reason for my improving performance but I'm not going to question it.

[PelicanPete]

I assume the problem isn't diet. Are you under a lot of stress lately in life? I think it's just a case of you working your body too hard without enough rest because that's what the symptoms are pointing towards, but if you're under a lot of stress it can also contribute to your fatigue.

 

What may be best is giving your body 4-5 days of no activity and just rest so that it can rebuild itself. I don't like to do it that much either but a sufficient amount is just as important as the workouts.

[josie54]

I assume the problem isn't diet. Are you under a lot of stress lately in life? I think it's just a case of you working your body too hard without enough rest because that's what the symptoms are pointing towards, but if you're under a lot of stress it can also contribute to your fatigue.

 

What may be best is giving your body 4-5 days of no activity and just rest so that it can rebuild itself. I don't like to do it that much either but a sufficient amount is just as important as the workouts.

 

My biggest fear is weight gain....my genetics aren't great (most in my family are obese), so I know that I have to work harder than most to keep the weight off. Because I've felt tired lately, I've already gained 5 pounds, and I know I can't let that get out of control. I have lost two of those pounds through exercise and being more careful about my calorie intake, but that's harder to do when I can't make it through my exercise routines.

 

But you're probably right. I was thinking of taking on a light yoga/pilates regimen for a week or so, just to stay active but not to push things too hard. Might also help my hamstring...and my stress (which I do have!)

 

Have to be extra careful about my diet! The less I exercise, the bigger my appetite gets.

[PelicanPete]

My biggest fear is weight gain....my genetics aren't great (most in my family are obese), so I know that I have to work harder than most to keep the weight off. Because I've felt tired lately, I've already gained 5 pounds, and I know I can't let that get out of control. I have lost two of those pounds through exercise and being more careful about my calorie intake, but that's harder to do when I can't make it through my exercise routines.

 

But you're probably right. I was thinking of taking on a light yoga/pilates regimen for a week or so, just to stay active but not to push things too hard. Might also help my hamstring...and my stress (which I do have!)

 

Have to be extra careful about my diet! The less I exercise, the bigger my appetite gets.

 

Haha wow! No wonder you work out so much. My genetics seem to be quite the opposite. If I want to gain weight it's ridiculously hard with my fast metabolism.

 

Yeah it sounds like you have the right idea! Just don't push yourself and let yourself recover and see how that works. Yoga sounds like a good idea. I like to go for long walks on my rest days which makes me feel better about not working out that day.

 

If you have free time during the day, even taking a short nap will speed up your recovery.

 

Just get as much sleep as you can and eat a lot of protein to restore your muscles. I'm sure you already know the drill . I hope it's just fatigue and not something more serious. Just wait and see how you feel in a few days.

[josie54]

Haha wow! No wonder you work out so much. My genetics seem to be quite the opposite. If I want to gain weight it's ridiculously hard with my fast metabolism.

 

Ah, now you're just rubbing it in. Way to kick a slow-metabolizing girl when she's down!

 

All the calorie calculators say that I should be able to eat 1900-2100 calories a day with regular exercise. Ha--if I eat that much, I can gain a pound in less than a week. I'm also very susceptible to sugary foods, which increase my appetite and slow my metabolism even further. Weight gain comes on even faster (because I'm obviously eating even more than 2100 calories), so I have to cut out refined sugar almost completely to control my appetite and maintain my weight.

 

And even with all that, it's still higher than I want. (I'm normal weight at 145, but I'd prefer to be around 135. Most in my family are 200-300 pounds.)

 

So be grateful for a fast metabolism--it's a gift!

 

Thank you for your comments and help--I'll take it easy for a bit and if all goes well, repost the results! And if any one else has advice, would be glad to hear it.

[LuckyLady13]

I have something to add that no one brought up yet. Your vegetarian diet.

 

I'm very sensitive to diet because I'm severely hypoglycemic. I'm a great test subject for what a change in diet does to someone's body. I'll explain what's probably going on with your diet you're not aware of.

 

When I switched to a vegetarian diet, I had to keep my protein on the high end like always to keep my blood sugar stable. I found out the hard way when I started slowing down and getting tired a lot that vegetable protein breaks down in your stomach so much faster than meat. Meat breaks down so much more slowly that it's a nice, slow release into your bloodstream. Vegetable proteins break down fast so it's a quick shot of protein and then nothing.

 

Even for people who aren't hypoglycemic like me, there's a rather dramatic effect from this. If you don't have a nice steady amount of protein releasing into your system, your blood glucose level becomes unstable and drops like a brick in water. Usually the signs of this are sweating, tremors and muscle weakness. But at times for me, all I'll notice is I'm exhausted! And muscles don't build without protein.

 

In order to keep your blood glucose levels and protein more stable with a vegetarian diet, you have to get small amounts of protein in your system throughout the day. You can't eat a big healthy sized meal with vegetable protein and expect it to last. Your stomach breaks that stuff down so fast.

 

One thing that has always helped me out is a protein bar. Some taste pretty good and it's a quick boost to my system with protein since I probably burned out what I had from my last meal already.

 

You're thinking in the old fashioned way right now like "I'll eat this now it will will stick to my thighs next week" and that can be confusing because you can burn up protein and carbs in an hour from a vegetarian diet, get totally run down, lose your stamina and just start falling apart.

 

Once you understand how rapid this is happening, it should help you get yourself more stable again.

 

I followed the advice of a bunch of GI docs who said to drink a tall glass of water with meals so that food breaks down more slowly to keep my blood sugar stable longer. I almost blacked out and had a seizure so that didn't work out. Sometimes something sounds right on paper...

[D-Lish]

I am a 41 year old female as well.

 

I don't come close to eating 1900 calories a day- I'd be a whale!

I keep my calorie intake under 1400- probably 1200 on most days.

I don't go to a gym, but I am really active, and being active along with constricting my calories has worked for me. (I am 5'7"- about 117lbs). I fluctuate between 115-130 depending on how much attention I pay to my diet and exercise.

 

I haven't run into aches and pains or injuries. My vision is the one thing that has started to decline:(

 

Have you seen a Doctor? Probably the best way to get to the bottom of this.

[betterdeal]

Other things that may make you feel lethargic or tired include minor misalignments in your spine, which a good osteopath will be able to check for you.

 

The hamstring incident you mentioned may have had a knock-on effect on your overall posture as the rest of your muscular-skeletal system compensates. A good massage therapist will be able to help you with that.

 

Yoga, tai-chi, qui-gong, pilates all provide excellent non-impact, stretch and strength exercise. Rowing is an excellent form of non-impact exercise that works all the major muscle groups in about the right proportion e.g legs most, then core, then shoulders, then arms.

[josie54]

I have something to add that no one brought up yet. Your vegetarian diet.

 

I'm very sensitive to diet because I'm severely hypoglycemic. I'm a great test subject for what a change in diet does to someone's body. I'll explain what's probably going on with your diet you're not aware of.

 

When I switched to a vegetarian diet, I had to keep my protein on the high end like always to keep my blood sugar stable. I found out the hard way when I started slowing down and getting tired a lot that vegetable protein breaks down in your stomach so much faster than meat. Meat breaks down so much more slowly that it's a nice, slow release into your bloodstream. Vegetable proteins break down fast so it's a quick shot of protein and then nothing.

 

Even for people who aren't hypoglycemic like me, there's a rather dramatic effect from this. If you don't have a nice steady amount of protein releasing into your system, your blood glucose level becomes unstable and drops like a brick in water. Usually the signs of this are sweating, tremors and muscle weakness. But at times for me, all I'll notice is I'm exhausted! And muscles don't build without protein.

 

In order to keep your blood glucose levels and protein more stable with a vegetarian diet, you have to get small amounts of protein in your system throughout the day. You can't eat a big healthy sized meal with vegetable protein and expect it to last. Your stomach breaks that stuff down so fast.

 

One thing that has always helped me out is a protein bar. Some taste pretty good and it's a quick boost to my system with protein since I probably burned out what I had from my last meal already.

 

You're thinking in the old fashioned way right now like "I'll eat this now it will will stick to my thighs next week" and that can be confusing because you can burn up protein and carbs in an hour from a vegetarian diet, get totally run down, lose your stamina and just start falling apart.

 

Once you understand how rapid this is happening, it should help you get yourself more stable again.

 

I followed the advice of a bunch of GI docs who said to drink a tall glass of water with meals so that food breaks down more slowly to keep my blood sugar stable longer. I almost blacked out and had a seizure so that didn't work out. Sometimes something sounds right on paper...

 

Wow, you're right. I never thought about it that way. I do try to get protein, but that usually means a protein shake in the morning (which gives me a shot of 35 grams of protein or so), and then I figure the skim milk, bean, and grain products I consume at lunch and dinner will give me the rest that I need. I do NOT eat frequent small meals, but just the three square a day. And, I must admit, I'm not always the best at making sure I have protein with each meal, but I thought I was doing enough that it wouldn't affect me. I've read that we often get so much more protein than we need on a non-vegetarian diet, so I don't get too obsessed about it.

 

Although my blood sugar issues aren't as severe as yours, they do hinder me. A few years ago, before I became a vegetarian, a doctor suggested hypoglycemia, telling me to eat more often throughout the day and back off on the sugar (I listened to the sugar part, but not as well to the "more often" part). I will get shaky and dizzy if I don't eat regularly, but it usually passes after I eat. However, these days, I'm getting that feeling when I exercise, along with fatigue and muscle soreness, which is why I started this thread.

 

I will definitely reconsider how I eat throughout the day. I'm very focused on calories, but I'm not as disciplined about when I eat (or how much protein I eat) as I need to be, so perhaps if I improve that, I'll feel better overall.

 

Thank you Lucky Lady!

[josie54]

Hi D-Lish. Thanks so much for your reply. I have seen a doctor and have had test after test run. What has happened is they have found certain problems (a vitamin D deficiency, an issue with my thymus, etc.), but have not been able to give me any clue as to how it all connects together. They just don't know. Everything else is normal. So, I've been instructed to take more vitamin D and that's about it.

 

And I'm glad to hear that someone else out there has to be super strict about calories! When I'm exercising regularly, I can keep my calories under 1500 pretty easily, because the exercise dampens my appetite. That's why I'm so worried about my fatigue. If I'm too tired or sore to exercise at a certain level, my appetite goes through the roof--all I want to do is eat. It's easy to keep your weight in check when you're not hungry, or have a faster metabolism. But when the chemicals take over and my appetite is raging, it's a whole different experience. It can be a fight against genetics every day.

 

And betterdeal, thank you as well for your advice. While I look into alternative supplements, I've never even thought of seeing an osteopath to try to address my injury. (The doctor just said to rest it, stretch it a little, etc., which I try to do). Since I need to go for some more low-impact exercise, I may have to look into some tai-chi, qui-gong, or pilates classes, just to keep up the variety.

 

I have a lot to consider--thank you!