Inexpert Advice

Posted By elissa on Apr 25, 2009 | 2 comments

I happened to read Martica Heaner’s column, “Expert Advice” on MSN.com this morning.  It wasn’t bad at all… In fact, I thought her article, “Do Exercise and Nutrition Affect How Old You Look?“, was a pretty decent rundown on the effects of exercise (and secondarily, nutrition) on the aging process.

Nonetheless, it reminded me of a line I recall from Babylon 5: “Unfortunately, while all answers are replies, not all replies are answers.”  As usual, Heaner led off with a reader’s question..but her reply was definitely NOT an answer.

Here’s the original question:

Q: I’m a baby boomer and have been consistently eating healthfully and exercising—doing cardio and weight training—for almost 20 years. My body still looks good for my age, but not as good as it did 10 years ago. Is it possible for an older body to look hard and lean like a young body? If so, what should I do differently?

In response, Heaner noted that people who exercise/eat right have longer telomeres, are less likely to be overweight, and feel more energetic.  That’s nice – but it’s not what the reader wanted to know!

Hmmm…Lessee if I can do better. 😉

Actually, this is two questions rolled into one.  So I’ll tackle them individually…

Q1. Is it possible for an older body to look hard and lean like a young body?

A. Yes.  I know plenty of people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who have lean, muscular bodies and could easily kick the a**es of people half their ages.  But you don’t have to take my word for it…check out Jon Benson’s book, “Fit Over 40” to see for yourself.  Being lean and hard isn’t about looking young…it’s about looking awesome, which can be done at any age.

Q2. If so, what should I do differently?

A. This depends on what you’re doing NOW – which is unknown.  I’ll hazard a guess, though… I imagine your workout is stuck in time, and you’re doing the exact same things, at the exact same intensity as you’ve always done.    

Why do I think this?  Well, for one thing, you asked Martica Heaner for advice!  If you really knew what you were doing in the gym, you’d be looking for an answer elsewhere.  She writes for the broadest possible audience: you had to know she’d provide a completely generic response.

And trust me on this one: the woman touting this routine as “The Best” isn’t likely to be the ideal guide for getting “hard and lean”, either. The fact that she never asked you to clarify what you meant by “cardio” and “weight training” speaks VOLUMES about her expertise (or lack thereof).

To be frank, the fact that you do cardio and weight training isn’t very illuminating.  All this tells me is that you exercise on a regular basis.  Bravo to that…discipline counts for a lot.  But the devil always lies in the details.

There’s a big difference between running 400’s, vs. casually flipping the pages of a magazine while moving your legs on an exercise bike – yet both are “cardio”.  Likewise, there’s a big difference between doing weighted dips vs. tricep kickbacks – yet both are “weight training”.  To say you do “cardio” and “weight training” is like going to the doctor and saying “I feel sick”…more info’s needed to make a diagnosis and suggest a course of action.

Thus, it’s tough to be specific, but here’s some general advice:

1. You have to challenge your body in order for it to grow.  This doesn’t necessarily mean spending more time in the gym, but it does mean smarter work and more structured, progressive training.  Forget about “toning” workouts, and focus on strength.

2. You may also need to eat more.  Getting “hard” means building muscle, and – if you’re a “fat-phobic” restrained eater – then you need to understand that sufficient food is part of the process.  Slashing kcals to the bone while killing yourself in the gym is simply burning the candle at both ends. You can’t build something (muscle) out of nothing.

3. In addition, you have to pay attention to age-related changes, such as declining hormones and decreases in insulin sensitivity – and alter your diet/supplementation and/or medication accordingly.  Get some blood work done: it’s the only way to know for sure that there isn’t some deficiency (such as low thyroid, testosterone, etc.) holding you back…don’t guess and start binging on supps.

To make a long story short, it IS possible for an older body to get hard and lean…but as the above implies, there’s homework (not to mention leg-work) to be done.

Here are some good, available-at-any-bookstore resources to begin with:  Tom Venuto’s “The Body Fat Solution”; and Lou Schuler’s/Alwyn Cosgrove’s “The New Rules of Lifting”.  A couple of good e-books are Hugo Rivera’s “Body Re-engineering”, or Will Brink’s “Bodybuilding Revealed”.  Believe me: you’ll learn a lot more from any one of these than you ever will from Martica Heaner or her pals at MSN.com.

See?  That wasn’t hard to do.  But then again, I’m not an “expert” like Martica, so what do I know?  😉