Ways to Stay Fit in your 40s: It’s your 40th birthday, and all your friends make “over the hill” jokes that you pretend to find hilarious. But next morning you realise that the sell-by date on your youth has officially expired. Look on the bright side, though: if life were a football match it would be half time now. Eat an orange segment while we tell you how to score some goals in the second half.

1. Get plenty of calcium

Researchers at the University of Tennessee have found that calcium appears to decrease fat storage and increase the use of fat for energy. Your goal is to get at least 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day. That’s two half-pint glasses of milk, a bowl of cereal and a pot of yoghurt.

2. Bend over backwards

No man thinks about his back until it demands attention. Like now. “Back pain can be caused by weight problems, old sports injuries, poor flexibility, and poor musculature.,” says Mcmillan. But here’s some relief: research shows that if you bend backwards, you will reduce compressive stress on your spinal discs by up to 40%.

Try this: get into a modified press-up position, with hands, knees and feet resting on the floor. Push your hips into the floor, arch your back, and hold for 15, 20 seconds. If your back pain extends down through your legs, however, don’t stretch your back. See a GP.

3. Tea it up

Coffee is our friend – besides the nice buzz, caffeine also helps mobilise fat cells to be used for energy. But according to a Swiss study, green tea does the same thing, only better. On top of its flab and cobweb fighters, green tea also has cancer-resisting antioxidants.

Ways to Stay Fit in your 40s

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/fitness/cardio-exercise/stay-fit-in-your-40s-99819