Over 40 Shred Icon Funk Roberts Reveals Top 5 Mistakes Men Make When Trying To Lose Weight
Former professional athlete turned Certified MMA conditioning coach, master metabolic trainer and entrepreneur, Funk Roberts, is now helping thousands of men over 40 transform their bodies, health, and lives for good.
When Funk Roberts contracted a rare lung disease over 3 years ago, he never would have imagined being on a journey that led him to the revolutionary discovery that his fitness programs could help other men over 40 get into shape.
This life event changed the trajectory of his life forever.
At 52, Roberts is the powerhouse entrepreneur behind Funk Roberts Fitness and Funk Supplements. He is a best selling author, former professional volleyball coach, and the mind behind the effective workout program for men called The Over 40 Shred Nation.
Roberts has spent most of his career obliterating assumptions that your “glory days” are reserved only for the younger generation.
Using his 20 plus years’ worth of knowledge and experience he has helped men lose weight, burn fat, build muscle, improve athleticism, increase energy and better their overall health and fitness levels to become elite.
The multi-talented King of Athleticism has shared his knowledge of hormones and health tips with thousands of people worldwide. His Shred app is the #1 workout app specialising in HIIT, and Metabolic training workouts, while Roberts’ books have even hit number one on Amazon’s must-reads.
Roberts has created communities of people who support each other through their journey. “We have men all over the world, all religions, all shapes, sizes, everything everybody under the sun. We don’t talk about politics or pop culture. We focus on helping each other,” says Roberts.
But when it comes to helping his fan base of over 690,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel alone, there are a few things that Roberts feels his clients or future workout enthusiasts are glancing over when it comes to shredding that extra weight.
Here are his Top 5 Mistakes Men Over 40 Make When Trying to Lose Weight:
1. Experimenting With Various Nutrition Plans
“Not All Nutrition Plans Are Marketed To Men”
Naturally, increasing your testosterone levels is essential for knowing where to start. One of the most prominent mistakes men over 40 make is choosing the right diet plan specifically to support their testosterone levels..
Genetically, men tend to have more muscle and less fat mass than women due to higher testosterone levels, so they need to eat more calories than women to maintain the same weight. But this also differs in age, especially when it comes to men.
People diet for all types of reasons as there is no shortage of reasons for wanting to live a healthier life. However, there are such a wide variety of options for selecting a diet that many people don’t often know where to start in today’s world.
From Paleo to low-carb, Keto to Veganism, there is the general consensus that because there are so many different types of bodies, there is no one diet or one lifestyle that fits all. But Roberts believes that following what he calls ‘feminising diets’ is a no-go when choosing the right plan for older men.
Instead, he recommends following his Over 40 Shred program, where he discusses proven ways to increase your testosterone levels naturally. Alternatively, by visiting your local doctor, they can provide you with a class to work with.
Not all nutrition plans suit the older male body.
2. Following Standard BodyBuilding Workouts
“Men Need To Remember That At Our Age We Are Built Different”
A funny thing happens on the way to 50 and beyond; your body doesn’t respond to exercise as it did earlier in your life. Fatigue, muscle and joint aches, along with increased injuries seem to happen with greater frequency.
Men over 40 need to cater to their bodies and not follow everything they see. For example, instead of focusing on one muscle group at a time or doing ‘leg-day’ or ‘arm-day.’
Roberts’ solution is to do complete full-body workouts or have multi-range movements in your routine. “As we get older, our body doesn’t recover as fast,” he says. “We need to be metabolic and move from one exercise to another with little rest in between to help out our growth hormones and help us build muscle while we burn fat during and after sessions.”
3. Exercising To The MAX.
“You Need Balance And Plenty Of Time To Let Your Muscles Rest”
On the other side of the spectrum is doing too much exercise. Doing too high-intensity circuits i.e. CrossFit could lead to severe injuries, which could, in return, direct you back to the beginning of your fitness goals.
When we plan to start a workout or write down our targets for weight loss training, our minds can sometimes spiral into overdrive, thinking that we need to do everything we can to succeed.
As many as 10% of high-performance runners, and possibly an equal number of bodybuilders, have an exercise addiction.
A set plan or routine with moderate physical activity is enough to help prevent things like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Too much exercise can lead to injuries, exhaustion and even depression. It can also cause lasting physical harm.
Following a healthy balanced exercise routine and then giving your body time to rest is the key to reaching your goal.
4. We Are Not Focusing Enough Time On How Much We Sleep.
“People Don’t Realise That Getting Enough Sleep Is Vital For Your Journey To Success”
If you’re trying to lose weight, the amount of sleep you get may be just as crucial as your diet and exercise. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, about 35% of US adults sleep fewer than seven hours most nights, which is not enough. Experts say that between seven-eight hours of shut-eye per night is ideal.
Not many people connect the two, but sleep is associated with shedding weight. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces ghrelin, a hormone that boosts appetite. Your body also decreases the production of leptin, a hormone that tells you you’re full.
Together, it could be a dangerous combo for late-night snacking. Not enough sleep could also lead you to be more stressed, which leads us to the final mistake – stress.
5. Not Dealing With Chronic Stress.
“We May Not Ever Be Stress, Free But Dealing With It Helps”
The fifth biggest mistake that men over 40 tend to forget is not dealing with stress.
We need to give ourselves time to take a break and work on our breathing, whether it’s meditation, yoga, or recovery, things that will keep our cortisol levels down and keep our chronic stress down.
Whether it causes weight loss or weight gain can vary from person to person — and even from situation to situation.
Stress may lead to missed meals and poor food choices in some cases. For others, stress may cause them to lose the desire to eat altogether. Often, this change is only temporary.
By dealing with stress and ensuring that we live our healthiest versions of ourselves, our mindset shift will change to help us succeed at our goals faster.
Final Thoughts
By employing the five suggestions above, these mistakes and misconceptions on your weight journey can ultimately lead you to success when recognised. The power in these five suggestions is using them in combination with each other and having the discipline to operationalise these ideas in a meaningful way.
“Your best body, health and LIFE is ahead of you!” – Funk Roberts