Mark Sisson on Women’s Fitness Over 40 Podcast

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Mark Sisson joins me on my Primal Diet – Modern Health podcast to talk about fitness over 40, especially for women.

Additional topics than fitness over 40?

1. Standing desk chairs
2. Body composition on Paleo
3. Amount of carbs for maintenance after weight loss ( the magic number of carbs to aim for!)

Why Fitness Over 40 is so Important

• As unused muscles and bones decline in strength, they begin to atrophy.
• If muscles in heart or lungs are not exercised, the body won’t keep those muscles, organs and bones toned.
• This can lead to poor health and pain as you age and may be why our bodies give out or die under stress.

Starting Exercise When Over 40

1. Best way to start fitness over 40 or 50? Walk! Any motion is good but walking 30 to 60 minutes daily is one of the best exercises for beginners and everyone else.
2. Exercise Bands. Sisson mentions adding minor exercise routines in his Fitness eBook and talks about using exercise bands.
3. Motivation with a Trainer. I ask Mark about motivation and note I do better with a Trainer. If I have paid them I am more likely to show up. 

Losing Weight – Diet vs. Exercise

Need to lose weight? As Sisson writes in The Primal Blueprint (an all-time favorite for my clients, especially this older edition):

• Body composition is 80% diet and 20% exercise.
• Heavy cardio won’t lose much weight, but great Primal/Paleo food will!

This revelation changed the way I Consult overweight Clients. You don’t have to do heavy cardio and weights to trim down. 

A proper Paleo Diet – the way I teach it – will reduce carbs with give hearty satisfying meals with fats, proteins and veggies. 

Here is my article and Podcast on what I call “true and correct Paleo”. Many books and blogs talk about Paleo but don’t understand the basics. It’s not hard! 

More for Women’s Fitness Over 40

• Get more fats and proteins in addition to lots of (mostly cooked) vegetables
• Train your body to burn fat
• The future of the Paleo/Primal movement

Links to things we talk about:

• My favorite Primal cookbook: Quick and Easy Meals
• This article on the USDA lifting the limit on cholesterol, as it (finally) acknowledges that cholesterol does not cause heart disease

What more? Here’s my article on Building a Strong Lean Body When You’re Overweight, and a Podcast with Ben Greenfield on this topic.