Growing into your older self can be a tough transition. Not only will you notice more wrinkles and gray hairs popping up, but your metabolism also slows down, and weight clings on so much easier. Keeping up a solid fitness routine is a necessary step in the right direction, which is why we chatted with an expert who shares five strength exercises that change your body shape after 50.
According to Tim Liu, CSCS, an online fitness and nutrition coach and a member of the Eat This, Not That! Medical Expert Board, these exercises are compound movements, therefore very efficient. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, compound exercises activate a greater number of muscle groups and help you recruit the muscle fibers you need to sculpt muscle and reshape your body. “As you get older, it’s easier to lose lean muscle mass so you want to train often to build and maintain it,” Liu says.
If you’re ready to change your body shape after 50, let’s get into Liu’s top-recommended strength exercises. Perform each of them a minimum of three times every week, and enjoy the results!
This exercise requires a set of dumbbells or a barbell. Hold the weights in front of your body. Soften your knees and keep your chest lifted as you hinge your hips back while “dragging” the dumbbells or the barbell down your thighs. You should feel a solid stretch in your hamstrings. When you do, push your hips forward and squeeze your buttocks to end the motion.
Keep that set of dumbbells on hand for this next exercise, which will have you lying down on an incline bench to start. Press the dumbbells over your body as you straighten your arms. Then, bring the weights back down as you simultaneously push your shoulders down into the workout bench. Push the weights up again, squeezing your triceps and upper pecs when you reach the top of the motion.
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For this exercise, position your body parallel to a stable surface or workout bench; one knee and hand—each on the same side—should be on the surface to maintain balance. Holding a dumbbell in your opposite hand, row the weight up to your hip before lowering it down toward the floor.
Take hold of the lat pulldown bar, placing your hands just outside of your shoulder span. Your palms should face away from you. Lean back a little, then, using your elbows, pull the bar down. Create some resistance when bringing the bar back up, making sure the tension remains in your lats.
Last but not least, let’s do some dumbbell walking lunges. Have a weight in each of your hands, and step forward with one leg, planting that foot on the ground. Lower into a lunge. Bring the other foot forward to repeat the motion.
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Alexa Mellardo
Alexa is the Mind + Body Deputy Editor of Eat This, Not That!, overseeing the M+B channel and delivering compelling fitness, wellness, and self-care topics to readers. Read more about Alexa
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