Six of Our Favorite Strength Exercises That Get You Fit After 40
It’s never too late to start a strength training routine, in fact it’s more encouraged as you age!
At Restored Strength we make a priority to help our members get fit and strong. Most gyms intended on doing this as well, but most gyms don’t specialize in working with adults who are 40 and over.
Strength training can offer many benefits like:
- preventing/managing degenerative diseases
- stronger bones & joints
- greater mobility
- reduce or resolve previous/current injuries
- look and feel more fit
- beating your enemies down
- fighting the system
- other cool shit
This list can go on and on forever, but by now you get the point of how strength training can help you.
Here are a few of our favorite strength exercises:
Kettlebell Swings
Why we love them:
Kettlebell swings are the first on the list because they are so universal with how you can use them. They can be used for helping you strengthen your low back, improve your cardiovascular system, and it is a full body movement, meaning more muscles are used for this. The kettlebell swing is the foundation for helping you prepare for more complex skilled exercises.
How they help you
- Make you feel bad ass
- Get a stronger low back
- Get the benefits of cardio without running
Dead Bugs
Why we love them:
Dead bugs are one of the staples to helping you train your core properly. When you think of strengthening the core you immediately think sit ups and Russian twists. Those two exercises are absolutely terrible, but that is what you have been taught to think of training your core. The purpose of dead bugs is to help you train your core by stabilizing the torso and hips in order to move your arms and legs.
How they help you
- Get proper core training
- Helps reduce low back pain
- Learn how to keep control of your limbs
KB Goblet Squats
Why we love them:
Everyone needs to learn how to squat because it is something that we do EVERYDAY. When people say they can’t squat because they have bad knees are sometimes mislead. I say this because if you couldn’t squat you wouldn’t be able to use the bathroom. The squat is another full body exercise that uses multiple muscles and joints that cause great demand on the body aka let’s get the most out of what we do.
How they help you:
- Makes you stronger
- Shows you how to squat properly
- Great starting point
TRX Rows
Why we love them:
If you have had the pleasure of working at a desk, you understand the pain and discomfort in your back from sitting. TRX rows target the upper back to help with strengthening the postural muscles in the back. Most people spend too much time in rounded position and this exercise does the complete opposite of that.
How they help you
- Stronger upper back
- Improves posture
- Greater stability
Push Ups
Why we love them:
Most people freeze up when they hear the word “push-up”, which is fair because they suck and are difficult to do. This is where the yoga block can come in and help you out with this problem. Using the yoga block helps with raising the floor closer to you, which in return makes push-ups less shitty. Push-ups are a great way to demonstrate overall strength
How they help you
- Stronger shoulders & core
- Fun party trick to show
- Sweet looking arms
USB Single Leg Glute Bridge
Why we love them:
Low back pain is a very common thing we see at our gym and most times it comes from a lack of pelvic control. Yes, there are many factors involved with low back pain, but one thing that is shared is the lack of stability and control you have in your hips. The USB single leg glute bridge helps not only strengthen the pelvis, but also the glutes, core, hamstrings, & lats. These are all posterior muscles that help with control of the hips, this exercise helps strengthen those areas.
How they help you:
- Improves hip stability
- Reduces low back pain
- Gets you some nice buns
Adding these exercises into your workouts will help you with getting fit and they are also safe to do after 40. Not only are these exercises corrective, they are also restorative in nature to our daily activities of living.