Want to lose your dad bod? Ditch lycra and lift weights
Running and cycling just won’t do the trick, says Cameron’s trainer
WITH the temperature rising, we have seen the return of the middle-aged man decked out in lycra trying to cycle or run his way to fitness.
But these weekend warriors might be doing themselves more harm than good, says the celebrity trainer credited with helping David Cameron get rid of his ‘dad bod’.
Matt Roberts says men of a certain age should instead lift weights just three times a week.
The personal trainer explains that prolonged endurance workouts age the body and limit its production of testosterone.
He said: ‘Men should be going for heavy lifting three or four days a week.
‘No more than that, because then you’re over-fatiguing and can’t recover quickly enough.
‘It’s important as well to reduce the amount of endurance work you do. We know very prolonged cardio work has a negative effect on producing testosterone.
‘If a guy who’s 45 is doing marathon training, of course you can still do it but for specifically raising your hormone levels, it can be counterproductive.
‘If that’s your goal, you need to slow down and focus on highintensity lifting instead.’
Mr Roberts, who is 45 himself, said the best way for men to keep a toned figure after they hit 40 is to focus on maintaining their testosterone levels – which begin to fall at this age – with short bursts of training.
He said: ‘As a middle-aged man, you’re effectively becoming a bit more of a female as your oestrogen levels are out of sync with the testosterone.
‘If you increase it, it burns fat and builds muscle mass. There’s no reason why guys in their 40s, 50s, 60s, can’t feel like guys in their 20s, 30s, 40s.
‘It’s actually not about doing a whole lot more – it’s about changing how you go about it and being smart.’
In his new book Younger, Fitter, Stronger: The Revolutionary 8-week Fitness Plan for Men, Mr Roberts says three or four intense weightlifting sessions a week is ideal.
‘At that level, your body responds as it has to adapt and pump out all those good hormones,’ he said. ‘That’s when the growth in your strength and vitality comes from.’
Mr Roberts, whose regime for former prime minister Mr Cameron included switching carbohydrates for lean proteins, added: ‘It’s diet and hormone based. You look at someone who’s got moobs, and the chances are they’ve probably got some sexual performance issues as well.
‘There’s a real link between hormone levels out of kilter and how it manifests physically.’
The Tour de France successes of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome has led to a boom in cycling, with over-40s men in lycra – known as Mamils – flooding our roads and parks at the weekends.