5 Workout Routines for Men Over 40

As you grow older, maintaining your physical fitness can become a bit of a challenge. Your normal routines can become more taxing on your muscles and joints, leaving you prone to injury or extreme soreness. In addition to this, after the age of 40 our natural testosterone levels unfortunately drop. Meaning it becomes more difficult to hold onto our hard earned muscle and fit body composition. Naturally it becomes beneficial to modify how you attack your gym routine, ensuring you hold onto that muscle without risking your health.

Below we will discuss a few great gym routines, specifically the best workouts for men over 40.

The “Push, Pull, Legs” routine (or PPL for short) is an extremely common workout routine for gym goers of all ages. This routine involves splitting up your workouts into pushing movements, pulling movements, and leg exercises. While a fairly straight forward routine, there are some slight modifications when adapting the workouts for a 50 year old man.The biggest difference you will see when changing an exercise for men over 50 is the number of sets and reps per exercise. For example, instead of doing 8-10 reps at a higher weight, using a lower weight for 12-15 reps can provide the same benefit. This means you can execute the same gym routine, just modifying the weights lower for decreased risk of injury.

This routine will consist of 3 separate gym routines which can be repeated with rest days as you see fit. The formatting consists of number of sets, and then the required reps (for example, 3 sets x 12-15 reps).

• Deadlifts-3×12-15
• Lat Machine Pull Downs-3×12-15
• Pull Ups-3×12-15
• Dumbbell Curls-3×15-17
• Hammer Curls-3×15-17

• Squats-3×10-12
• Leg Press Machine-3×12-15
• Leg Extensions-3×12-15
• Leg Curls-3×12-15

Finding the appropriate weights is imperative when accommodating exercise for men over 50. Start slow, working your way to a challenging and safe routine.

Full body workouts can be a great method to stay in shape while also not over complicating your gym routine. As you become older, focusing on overall health instead of muscle mass can take priority. Full body routines can be a great tool in elevating your heart rate while also strengthening each of the key muscle groups.

An example of this routine is as follows:

• Dumbbell Press-3×12-15
• Dumbbell Curl-3×15-17
• Overhead Dumbbell Press-3×12-15
• Dumbbell Rows-3×12-15
• Barbell Squats-3×12-15

As you can see these are all free weight exercises, each of which involve a main group of muscles. Because this is a full body routine, using less weight and incorporating more rest days is important for proper muscle recovery.

Similar to the previous full body routine, this workout plan also incorporates the whole body. However instead of free weights, this routine involves purely body weight movements. These are great workouts for men over 50, as they can be implemented at a gym or simply from home with the right accessories.

• Wide Grip Pullups-3×8-10
• Narrow Grip Pullups-3×8-10
• Dips-3×12-15
• Pushups-3×12-15
• Lunges-3×12-15
• Crunches-3×17-20

 

High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a great way to improve endurance and heart health. With HIIT being one of the most popular ways to also boost fat loss, these can be especially helpful workouts for a 50 year old man. Losing excess fat is a constant struggle for anyone regardless of age, but losing those extra pounds can become even more difficult as you become older.Below are a few examples of HIIT workouts that will expedite fat loss and improve overall health.

This routine is centered around the treadmill, and although you may have running limitations, it can be adjusted for all fitness levels.

The routine is as follows:

• Walk/jog for initial 5 minutes at a brisk pace
• Jog/sprint for 1 minute
• Walk/jog for 2 minutes
• Jog/sprint for 1 minute
• Repeat until 20 minutes has been reached

If you have trouble jogging or running, increasing the incline on the treadmill is a great replacement. This routine also works great on an outdoor trail or track, so you shouldn’t be limited by equipment with this routine.

This is a similar routine to the one before, except this will be executed on a stationary bike.

• 5 minute warm up cycle
• 1 minute at a higher resistance or speed
• 2 minute casual pace
• Repeat until 20 minutes is reached

There are endless variations of HIIT workouts including free weights, body weight movements, and cardio variations. These are all great for heart and overall health, so experiment and see which one best fits you.

It’s possible you are just looking to improve mobility while also working up a bit of a sweat. Not everyone needs intense weight lifting or cardio to fit their needs, and in that case a flexibility workout can benefit you.

Here are a few mobility movements that you can incorporate into a full body routine.

• Planks-Performed by placing your elbows to the ground and creating a flat-back bridge from either your knees or feet
• Back Twists-While laying flat on your back in a crucifix position, rotate one leg over the other creating a 90 degree angle with your knee at waist height.
• Torso Twists- From a seated position, lean back slightly and twist your abdomen left to right. This can be performed with or without added weight.
• Shoulder Stretch- From a standing position, extend one arm across your chest and add resistance with your hand on your elbow
• Quad Stretch- From a standing position, lift your leg backwards and grab your foot or ankle with your hand

There a multitude of varying stretches, so research the specific movements and find out which are most beneficial for you.

Finding the best routine after you’ve reached the age of 50 doesn’t need to be a complicated process. Always keep an eye on your goals and desired health benefits. Trust your body in deciding when you can push yourself, and possibly when you need to slow down. Follow those steps and you will be on your way to a healthier and fitter body.