10 Awful Exercises for People Over 40

Taking care of your body should become a priority in your life if it isn’t already. However, you need to be careful to adjust your workout as you age always taking into account the needs and abilities of your body. We decided to take a look into one of the most popular groups of people working out: the average 40 year old. While there are a ton of great workouts out there for you we instead decided to focus on different exercises that you should AVOID. Listed below are 10 workouts that are terrible for people over 40!

Crunches

Pretty much any online personal training programs you run across will list crunches as a key part to maintaining your core and improving your abdominal definition. However, we are here to definitively tell you to avoid them. While it is important to balance out your back day with ab exercises, you don’t want crunches to be included on the list. Crunches are notoriously bad for your lower back and they don’t tend to target your abs as specifically as you would like. Add on to the fact that most people can’t maintain proper form during their crunches and you have an exercise that is rife with potential for problem.

Leg Extensions

Have you always ended your heavy leg day with a set of repetitions on the leg extension machine? Well, as it turns out you might not want to do that anymore. The leg extension machine is a must avoid due to just how bad it can be for your knees. Your knees are a delicate area and you don’t want to overload them with too much weight — as the leg extension machine is designed specifically to do. People who are over 40 years of age will typically have more strain on their knees as it is. Opt instead to perform dumbbell lunges as these will strain the muscle fibers in your quads just as well.

Floating Leg Lifts

This ab exercise has you laying flat on your back with your palms pressed on the ground. From there you raise your legs straight up toward the ceiling before lowering them once more. This exercise is tough and really targets your core but it can be problematic for older individuals. Floating leg lifts are particularly hard on your lower back and can result in muscle pulls or strains if performed improperly. You can look for many other ab workouts from a variety of other fitness training programs, just make sure to skip this if your back is already prone to injury.

Overdoing Cardio

As you get older your knees are going to start wearing down. While cardio is definitely an important part of your exercise routine as you age, you can’t really overdo it. Chronic cardio can wear down your joints and lead to an increase in cortisol, the stress hormone. The last thing that you want as you workout is for your cortisol level to rise and for your belly to start getting wider as a result. Stick to lower impact cardio, such as swimming, in order to keep your joints in good health. There are many online personal training courses out there that focus on low impact cardio.

Toe Touches

If there are exercises on this list that surprise you this probably isn’t going to be one of them. If you have been prone to a gimpy back then you are already wincing while thinking about doing standing toe touches. This exercise is one of the easiest ways to give your back a twinge and the benefits are just not worth it. If you do want to measure your flexibility with this stretch then you need to do it after having properly warmed up. The worst thing you can do for your back is jump straight into a tension filled maneuver.

Smith Machine Squats

The Smith Machine was invented for usage in physical therapy applications but it has since become a staple in gyms everywhere. Though the Smith Machine is used often for squats, one of the best compound lifts around, it is far from good for you. The Smith Machine prevents you from performing your squats in the proper motion, instead causing you to follow an unusual track pattern with your spine. If you want to perform squats in your 40s then instead focus on lower weights with proper form and higher reps. Squats work out pretty much your entire body and are perfect for developing your strength.

Rear Neck Lat Pulldowns

Lat pulldowns are one of our favorite exercises to perform on the cable machine because they are such well rounded lifts. Lat pulldowns can be performed all throughout your life but you need to make sure that you follow some proper precautions. The biggest precaution that you need to be aware of this: avoiding doing lat pulldowns behind your neck as you age. Any time that you lose alignment with your arms and shoulders you are asking for some serious trouble. This is an unnatural position for young lifters and it is an almost impossible lift for people prone to shoulder and neck injuries. Opt to keep the bar where you can see it and focus on slow, steady repetitions that engage you between your shoulder blades. Try changing up your grip, going wide and tight, to experience different sensations and muscle group developments.

Box Jumps

You’ve probably seen those fancy Crossfit gyms on television and what you’ll notice is that all of them have jacked dudes jumping onto and off of big boxes. Box jumps are great ways to train your twitch muscles, firm up your glutes, and work out in an explosive and impressive way. However, as you get older these box jumps becoming more and more dangerous for your health. Box jumps create a ton of pressure on your Achilles and if you aren’t careful you might end up having one snap or tear on you. A torn Achilles is just as uncomfortable as it sounds. If you still want to train your lower body in an explosive way then consider looking into goblet squats. Goblet squats will work out your lower body and you will have more control over bailing on the exercise if you need to.

Shoulder Presses Behind the Neck

Shoulder presses with a dumbbell or a barbell can be a great way to get those boulder shoulders that you’ve always wanted. When you are younger you are more capable of doing explosive shoulder presses but you should never do presses behind your neck. Presses behind your neck are as problematic as lat pulldowns behind your neck, only there are heightened risks due to the loose nature of the barbell. Older individuals in the gym need to be careful when performing presses and they need to avoid behind the neck movements completely. As we mentioned above, any lift behind your neck will feel unnatural and be a cause for concern.

Deadlifts

Gym rats far a wide are going to shed a tear the day that they have to hang up deadlifts. Deadlifts are an excellent compound lift when you are in peak condition, however as you age and your body starts to wear down a little bit you will need to be consider avoiding this lift. Your biggest problem with deadlifts is going to come down to concerns with your lower back. Having poor form when performing even a single deadlift can be absolutely devastating to your back. Opt instead for performing dumbbell deadlifts or kettlebell deadlifts as you can go with a lower weight that will be less likely to cause injury. Still, with all exercises you need to make sure that you are following proper form.