April 2018 – Lean Over 40 For Men

The best abs over 40 workout should never involve doing countless sit-ups, crunches or other fancy abs exercises. One of the biggest mis-conceptions of the fitness industry is that to get a flat stomach or even abs you should focus on doing exercises for the abdominals. But all that happens is you’ll build and strengthen the muscles of the stomach, yet your body fat will remain about the same. Doing endless exercises to get rid of fat around your stomach is like trying to boil the ocean, it’s never going to happen! To lose fat around your stomach, get lean or reveal your abs, your goal is to reduce your overall body fat percentage. And to do that you need to focus on exercises that train ALL the major muscles of the body. If you’re over 12% body fat, you’ll never see your abs no matter how many crunches or stomach exercises you do. But a common mistake I see all the time when designing abs over 40 workouts is doing endless cardio, “classes” or dancing around sweating thinking that’s the key to getting lean, when it really isn’t. The fact is, the best abs workouts don’t involve doing many abs exercise at all AND many of the big multi-joint compound movements that I always recommend especially for men over 40 will contract the abs harder than doing any direct work. This is one of the reasons I have great abs development. Not because I’ve spent a lot of time lying on a mat doing endless crunches, but because I do a lot of ground-based training, squats, deadlifts, dumbbell and barbell exercises, plus cardio performed with a barbell that boosts testosterone and burns extra fat. It’s this combination coupled with a great nutrition plan that supplies enough protein, adequate carbohydrates and enough essential fats that will ultimately get you lean enough to see the abs. And it doesn’t matter if you’re 44 or 63, the above will still work for you. Why Cardio Alone Won’t Get You Lean I’ve seen this mistake countless times before, men over 40 in the changing room discussing how hard they’ve just been pushed by the latest gym instructor or personal trainer. Then months later, they look no different. The fact is there is plenty of high intensity training going on in gyms all around the world, but it’s simply not working. Men over 40 MUST train like men over 40 and that means using the most effective joint friendly exercises that target the major muscles of the body. And the best cardio for men over 40 isn’t doing endless treadmill, cross trainer or stationary bike sessions that leave your testosterone levels depressed for hours. A much better and more productive way of doing cardio is to do cardio with a barbell, circuit style. This means performing joint friendly compound exercises “circuit style” until the entire workouts have been completed. Here’s an example of a great abs over 40 workout: Power Clean - 5 reps Military Press - 5 reps Back Squat - 5 reps Barbell Bent-Over Row - 5 reps Close Grip Bench Press - 8-10 reps Barbell Curl - 8 reps Crunch - 10-12 reps Hyperextension - 10-12 reps Note: Perform each exercise back to back with no rest. Rest 3 minutes, then repeat for a total of 3 circuits. The above should be performed in addition to your strength training routine and is a much better way of burning fat, improving muscle tone and boosting testosterone for men over 40. Notice how few direct exercises there are for the abs, but this workout will work you very hard indeed! Perform each exercise with lighter weights than you would use for your main strength training workout and make sure you do them directly after each other until all 8 exercises have been completed. What you’ll notice is the workout is very challenging and will work your abs and whole body very hard. You don’t need to be doing a routine like this more than 1-2 x per week maximum. For men over 40 balancing weight training and cardio-circuit style training is a very fine act. Err on the side of precaution, you’ll find you won’t need a lot of training like this to get great results! The best abs over 40 for men workouts come from doing a lot of “ground-based training.” This is where you’re doing a lot of training stood up on your feet. It’s great for core stability and co-ordination which tends to decline as we get older. It’s also joint friendly meaning you can get a great fat burning workout in without running the risk of causing an injury. Did I mention the time it will take to complete a workout like the above? You can get a highly effective workout done in less than 45 minutes, the best workouts for men over 40 don’t need to take forever to complete. Besides, we simply haven’t got the time to be spending our lives in the gym. Keep Track of Everything It’s important you know exactly how much fat you need to lose to see your abs. For men over 40 your goal should be to get to between 9-12% body fat. This is lean enough to see the abs without becoming too lean and looking unhealthy. It’s also a sweet spot for testosterone production. Make sure you’re following an effective nutrition plan, like I teach in my course, Abs Over 40. Then you’ll be on track to drop between 1-1½ lbs of fat per week. The perfect amount to ensure you’re dropping mostly fat and the weight loss isn’t coming from lean muscle. Stay Consistent Consistency is key to progress and you won’t be able to be consistent if you’re following a program that has you training every day as well as trying to fit everything else into your busy schedule. This is one of the great lessons I learned about fitness the hard way. Those that follow “crazy” programs, lifting weights every day and doing endless cardio routines can only do them for so long before their bodies rebel and ultimately “crash and burn.” Follow a sensible plan tailored for your age that will help you lose fat, reveal your abs and doesn’t burn you out in the process. Speaking of which, if you need help losing stomach fat, getting lean and revealing your abs, then my Abs Over 40 Course will really help you. I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and until next time, here’s to your success!