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In your 20s, most people can eat whatever they want, workout as little as they can, party like there’s no tomorrow, and are normally read-to-go whenever in the bedroom. But, like Cinderella’s carriage turning into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight, for most men hitting the big 3-0 changes everything.
Your metabolism starts to slow down, you might even start to experience erectile dysfunction (or at the very least your libido naturally decreases as testosterone decreases), and you most certainly should not be eating that burger and fries after the club at two in the morning. On the sex side, research shows that testosterone slowly decreases around age 35 and then goes down by 1% per year, according to WebMD.
Many men fool themselves into thinking they don’t have to worry about these issues until they start experiencing symptoms. But the time to start fighting aging is when you don’t think you need to because the habits you develop and maintain in your 20s and early 30s end up shaping you and helping you age gracefully through your later years.
If you haven’t been practicing healthy habits throughout your life, don’t worry. It’s never too late to start taking proactive steps to maintain and even improve your overall health, slow down the signs of aging, and improve your sexual health and stamina.
We’ve got two doctors from Vault Health, the first men’s telehealth company to provide performance-based treatments for physical, mental, and sexual health, to show men over age 30 how to age gracefully and increase their libido.
First up is Dr. Martin Miner, Vault’s regional medical director and an anti-aging and integrative men’s health expert, has pinpointed six key habits that most men over 30 are NOT currently doing, but should be, to improve their health today. Here they are...
1. Realize that your body is communicating with you: Becoming acutely aware of your own physical and emotional feelings is something many men neglect to do, and it has a negative impact on their health as they age. Take command of your feelings and life, and learn to take actions that steer the ship the way you want to go.
2. Go to the doctor when you’re not sick: Seeing a doctor regularly can help the doctor find problems early or even before they start.
3. Rethink your typical daily diet: The days of gorging without gaining weight are over. And as your metabolism slows, eating fewer calories can boost health. But you should also make sure to get adequate nutrients, vitamins, and fluids.
4. Exercise consistently (instead of intermittently): Regular exercise significantly lowers your risk of diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, and helps you retain your mobility longer. Exercise also lowers stress and improves sleep, skin and bone health, and mood.
5. Take stress reduction seriously: The effects of stress on your body are vast, ranging from premature aging and wrinkles to a higher risk of heart disease. Being happy and keeping your stress down goes a long way in helping you live and age well. In addition, testosterone levels are reduced in response to stress according to studies.
6. Invest in your relationships: This is more crucial than ever coming off the heels of this pandemic when many people have slipped into isolation. Studies show that meaningful relationships and a strong social network improve mental and physical well-being and longevity. If you don’t currently have an active social life, look for opportunities to reconnect with old friends or make new ones. Seek out like-minded others at work, church groups, volunteer activities, gyms, alumni groups, or any other group that corresponds to an interest of yours.
Next up is Dr. Myles Spar, Vault’s chief medical officer, who has identified the five best workouts specifically for men over 30 that can help increase your libido and potentially ward off erectile dysfunction.
1. Weight Lifting: Science suggests lifting weights improves sex drive by encouraging your body to produce more testosterone. Since healthy testosterone levels are associated with sexual desire, doing exercises that can increase testosterone may also amp up your libido.
2. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): HIIT is one of the most effective fat-burning workouts you can do, and it can also bump up your libido. Intense cardiovascular exercise like HIIT is an excellent way to blow off steam because it lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your body. Elevated cortisol has been shown to significantly reduce testosterone, so keeping your stress in check is crucial for maintaining a healthy sex drive.
3. Yoga: The number of American men doing yoga grew from 4 million in 2012 to 10 million in 2016. Why are guys suddenly so interested in yoga? Maybe because they’re catching on to the many health benefits this practice provides—including improved sexual health. A 2010 study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine said that yoga improves all sexual functions in men, including desire, performance, erection, and ejaculation control. Plus, because yoga involves stretching and getting your energy flowing, the practice has the potential to improve your libido and also helps with flexibility, which your partner(s) will likely appreciate.
4. Swimming: Want to enhance your endurance, build muscle, and get a great cardio workout? Go for a swim. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the kind of fitness that comes from swimming regularly can really give you a leg up in the bedroom. In a Harvard study of 160 swimmers, participants in their 60s reported sex lives comparable to average, non-swimming people in their 40s.
5. Kegels: You may think of Kegels as an exercise for women (if you think of them at all), but this squeezing of your pubococcygeus (PC) muscles—the ones you use to stop the flow of urine mid-stream—can lead to better sexual endurance and control.
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