6 Golden Rules Of Nutrition For The Over - 40s

Your cycling performance need not tail off as you pedal into middle age – provided you eat and recover well. Dr Marc Bubbs sets out his six golden rules of nutrition

- Dr Marc Bubbs

Midlife tends to be the busiest and most demanding period of our lives. For many of us, work demands are high, we have children who need our attention and support, and (especially now with lockdown restrictions lifting) our social calendars are busy – the days are long. We’re not yet old but nor do we have the boundless energy of youth. We feel tired more often, it takes longer to recover from training, and we seem to gain weight more easily, especially around the middle. Is this simply the ‘new norm’ we have to accept now we’re on ‘the wrong side’ of 40? Or can we carry on chasing lifetime best performance while maintaining optimum health?

The good news is, most of the challenges of midlife have less to do with our age, far more to do with our changed lifestyles and bad habits that have crept in over the years. Maintaining cycling performance and holding off the effects of ageing can be helped enormously by eating well and looking after your body while making a few allowances for the fact you’re not as young and sprightly as you once were. As a performance nutritionist who has been working with clients at all levels of sport over the past 20 years, I have compiled six simple rules to help you achieve optimal fitness and health right through midlife – in your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond.

1 Hit your daily protein target