Health Tips for Men Over 30
As a man turns 30, everything becomes more real. Sleepless nights, messing around with friends, and that feeling of rebellious invincibility that youth offered is long gone. Responsibilities start settling in and you come to grips with reality. You begin settling down. Taking your career more seriously. Dealing with a toddler or maybe planning to start a family of your own.
However, at this point your body may be at the peak of its strength. Physically you might feel better than before. Your muscle mass will be at its best and this can sometimes cause men to become ignorant. It is imperative to be more concerned about your health at this stage. After all, you have a family to look after. All these expectations and the growing stress can cause your health to deteriorate.
So if you wish to take all your robustness from your 30s and maintain it in your 40s, make sure to follow these health tips for men!
1. Practice Yoga
Back in your teens, your body was used to a lot of strain. It was used to sports, endurance, and stretching. However after 30s, most men spend majority of their time sitting behind a desk at the office. Furthermore, their muscles and connective tissues also grow shorter in their 30’s. Your body isn’t exactly flexible anymore. This is where yoga comes in. It’ll help you get your daily stretch, maintain blood pressure, heart rate, and stress.
2. Keep Your Prostate in Check
While only 1 in 10,000 men suffer from prostate cancer below 40, it is however necessary to remain conscious of this issue. The sooner it is caught the better the prognosis. Look out for these symptoms and approach your doctor at once if you face either one of them:
- Erectile dysfunction
- Blood or pain in urination or ejaculation
- Increase in the frequency of urination (especially at night)
- Finding it difficult to start the urine to flow or holding it back
3. Test Your Testosterone Levels
According to Mayo Clinic [1], each year after 30s your testosterone level declines by 1%. You may suffer from low testosterone and encounter symptoms like:
- Lack of motivation and self confidence
- Insomnia and depression
- Dullness and reduction in strength
- Loss of sex drive
If you suffer from any of the following symptoms, make sure to get a blood test and seek help from your doctor.
4. Eat Less
It’s much easier to gain fat in your 30s. The body uses 12 fewer calories a day for each year past 30. And if you’re used to supersizing all your meals, then we regret to inform you, you’ll have to make some difficult lifestyle changes. Don’t worry though. You can still eat at your favorite burger joint but just try to limit the frequency and portion size. Maintaining a steady figure isn’t easy but you’ll be thankful later on!
5. Maintain Regular Doctor Visits
You need to stop running away from the doctor’s appointments. It is recommended that a man in his 30s should get a complete physical once every 3 years. With problems like cholesterol and blood pressure on the rise, it would be wise to keep a track of your body changes and progress.
Moreover another issue you should be cautious of is testicular cancer. Visit your doctor right away if you encounter any of the following symptoms:
- Pain in the scrotum or either of the testicles
- Abdomen or groin pain
- Fatigue
- Heaviness in the scrotum
6. Maintain an Exercise Routine
You need to focus more on strengthening your body core rather than the size of your muscles at this point. Your exercise routines should be regular and lean more towards stability and strength training rather than high intensity endurance training.
7. Be Conscious about your Bone Health
At this age, most men begin to lose bone mass. You should take a DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan in order to measure and record your bone mass progress. Your bones become more susceptible to fractures especially if you lack physical activity, smoke or have a family history of osteoporosis. You should also add 1,000 milligrams of calcium [2] combined with 400 IU (international units) of vitamin D to your daily diet in order to encourage bone mass growth.
8. Enjoy the Small Things in Life
Depression at this age is often labelled as a “mid-life crisis”. Many men go through lack of motivation, dullness and even extreme depression in some cases. This is often due to stress from office or a feeling of not being able to move ahead in life. It is necessary to remember that almost everyone struggles at this age. What’s important is that you focus on the good things in life. Spend and enjoy time with your loved ones, take time off to travel, and maybe even seek counselling if need be.
Resources:
[1] www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/sexual-health/in-depth/testosterone-therapy/art-20045728
[2] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2621390/
