Exercises to Steer Clear of After Hitting Forty - Fit Dad Chris

Exercises to Steer Clear of After Hitting Forty

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Once you enter into your forties, you’ve got to make some changes to your lifestyle if you want to enjoy good health as you grow older. Exercise is an incredibly important part of aging and you need to work your muscles and cardiovascular system if you want them to serve you well for years to come. That being said, there are some exercises that may do more harm than good after your body starts deteriorating. The fact of the matter is your forty-year-old body isn’t going to move the same way as your twenty-year-old body could. Even someone who has eaten well and exercised regularly for years will need to make some changes to their exercise regime to accommodate the changes in their body.

Here are five exercises that you may need to avoid after hitting forty, especially when it comes to fitness for men over 40 :

 

Ab crunches

Ab exercises will help to strengthen and tone up your abdominal muscles. However, they won’t magically reveal your abs if your diet isn’t on point either. If you want to show off a defined core, you need to pair a proper workout routine along with a good diet. Abdominal exercises will build up strength in your core. Despite that, exercises like crunches, situps, and others that include spinal flexion may hurt your back. It may even result in a spinal fracture. If you don’t really know how to do crunches, you may also end up straining your neck and hurting your posture. It’s easy to injure yourself with crunches, especially as you age. Opt for functional abdominal exercises instead.

 

High-impact cardio
Exercises like jumping jacks, jumping squats, and plyometric pushups will take a toll on your joints and ligaments. As you age, these parts of your body already become weaker and stiffer. High-impact exercises can result in knee and hip injury and take a toll on your overall health. Sure, it may be good for your heart, but there are plenty of low-impact cardiovascular exercises out there that you can try instead.

Squats

Probably the first exercise that will come to your mind for strengthening your legs and glutes is going to be squats. Squats are a basic leg movement that can do wonders to strengthen your lower body and allow functional movement. Unfortunately, they’re also very easy to get wrong, especially when you’re using heavy weights. Older bodies are also more prone to injury, meaning that you could find yourself with lower back pain and knee injuries from muscle tears and strains. There are quite a number of squat alternatives that you could try. If you think that your body is still in good condition, however, at least reduce the weight and pay special attention to your form. Even bodyweight squats will give your legs a good workout.

 

Leg extensions
Leg extensions put quite a bit of pressure on your knees. These joints are already weaker as you grow older – why put an unnecessary amount of force on them? Your knees weren’t intended to extend while pushing heavy weights, anyway. Even younger people could benefit from doing away with this exercise completely. Save your knees for a rainy day by swapping leg extensions out for other functional quad-strengthening exercises.

 

Deadlifts
Barbell deadlifts are a terrific compound exercise when you do it right. When you don’t, however, your back is at risk. If you’re lucky, an injury may just be some mild back pain. If you aren’t, your spine could be in serious trouble. Even your foot is susceptible to injury with deadlifts. It becomes harder to maintain proper form as you age because your body just isn’t in the condition it was once before. Reduce your weight and focus on form or try a dumbbell alternative instead.

 

FitDadChris

About the Author

FitDadChris

Jack of all trades... master of none! Father of 3 awesome boys, husband to 1 amazing wife! Obstacle racer, procrastinator, computer nerd, trying not to follow the herd!

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