5 Exercises for men over 40 to burn fat
As a man over 40 you should be focusing on the best exercises that give you the best bang for your buck, build lean muscle, elevate metabolism and are joint friendly.
Doing exercises such as crunches or endless cardio to lose fat is a waste of time, cardio does have its place but it’s NOT what you should be focused upon to lose fat and sculpt a lean body.
Here are five of the best exercises that are both joint friendly, elevate metabolism and will get you a lean, chiselled body:
Incline Barbell Bench Press / Incline Dumbbell Press
The Incline Barbell Bench Press or Incline Dumbbell Bench Press will train the muscles of the chest, shoulders and triceps in one movement. The great thing about performing this exercise on a slight incline is it takes a lot of the stress off the shoulders.
Some men prefer the barbell version and others prefer using dumbbells. Some men prosper using dumbbells due to different limb lengths.
Personally, I will use a combination of barbells and dumbbells. Once I reach my maximum weight for the barbell, I will change to the dumbbell variation to avoid stagnation and to provide a different stimulus.
Conventional Barbell Deadlift
The Conventional Barbell Deadlift is a great exercise for men over 40. It trains the following muscle groups:
Gluteus Maximus
Quadriceps
Adductor Magnus
Hamstrings
Erector Spinae
Trapezius
It boosts testosterone and helps you burn more fat. Granted, it takes a bit more mastering of the exercise, but it’s worth it given the many benefits it provides in one movement.
When performing the deadlift, always make sure you learn the correct form, keep a flat back and use a smooth and controlled rep cadence.
Pull-Up / Pull-down
The Pull-Up is a fantastic exercise for the back and biceps. In fact, if you work up to doing pull-ups with additional weight around your waist, you’ll have fantastic back and biceps development without adding a single other exercise.
I remember back in the earlier days when I thought performing lots of exercises for the back with lots of volume was the answer.
It wasn’t until I switched to doing pull-ups exclusively that I really saw my back and arm development take off.
Bottom line. You don’t need a variety of different exercises to build a strong back naturally.
I understand a lot of men over 40 don’t have the strength to perform a body weight pull-up, if that’s you, then there’s a few options:
Use an assisted pull-up machine until you get strong enough to be able to perform a body weight pull up. As time progresses, start to add weight around your waist.
Use bands. As you get stronger, take the bands away until you’re able to do pull-ups by yourself.
What if you’re carrying a lot of fat?
If you’re carrying more than a stone of unwanted fat, I recommend performing pull-downs on a machine and losing some fat before moving to body weight pullups.
Once you’ve lost the excess fat, consider working towards body weight pull-ups and eventually weighted pull-ups.
Barbell Squat
The Barbell Squat is a fantastic exercise for men over 40, it provides a great anabolic environment as well as training the muscles of the quadriceps, hamstrings and calves.
As it demands so much from the body it helps to burn fat, increase testosterone and develop strong, defined legs.
Even if you’re over 40 years old, I still recommend learning and mastering the squat. A lot of men think it’s not a good exercise when you get older, but the research is clear that barbell squat will strengthen the knees if correct exercise form is used and mastered.
Dumbbell Shoulder Press / Barbell Shoulder Press
The Dumbbell Shoulder Press will work the muscles of the shoulders giving your shoulders a nice broad appearance.
That coupled with a narrow waist will give you the classic V taper which looks awesome.
You can also do a standing barbell version, but I personally prefer using dumbbells are they’re easier on the back due to sitting on a supported bench.
What about isolation exercises?
A few isolation exercises such as curls, triceps presses, lateral raises and some core work can be added to strengthen the program, but for the most part, your focus should be on the compound movements.
The compound movements are going to build lean muscle, give you broad shoulders, defined chest, legs and narrow waist.
If you focused on the compound movements and devoted your time to getting stronger on them in perfect form and then got your nutrition dialled in so that you’re losing 1-1½ lbs of fat per week you will reach your fitness goals.
What about cardio?
I prefer adding in some walking on my non-weight training days or adding in 2 x steady state weight cardio sessions per week.
Keep it simple.
The 3-x weight training strategy is what I detail in my course, Ripped Abs Over 40. By keeping it simple lifting weights 3 x per week and getting your nutrition correct you’ll build lean muscle and drop fat quickly.
And, in the process you won’t need to purchase any expensive supplements making this method of training the best out there.
Bottom line
When trying to get lean as a man over 40 the key is to focus your attention on compound movements that will build lean muscle and give you a lean, chiselled body.
For each body part choose ONE exercise or at the most TWO exercises and devote your attention to getting stronger on them using perfect exercise form.
Add in a few accessory exercises to strengthen the program, but make sure your focus is devoted to the compound movements.
Once you have your strength training and fat loss nutrition in place, add in some steady state cardio to allow you to eat more daily calories and still lose fat.
Monitor your daily calories and keep track of your strength training workouts and watch as you drop fat, build lean muscle and drastically alter your appearance.
If you’re looking for a full course that provides you with everything you need to know to lose fat, build lean muscle and look awesome, Ripped Abs Over 40 has you covered.
My students are emailing me positive feedback all the time, one-man, Jim Nixon, has dropped 4 stone following the course and another man Robert Lambert has dropped 18 pounds of fat and brought his body part percentage down from 18% to 15%!
Here’s to your success!
