Squats for firm buttocks
Every woman wants to have round and firm buttocks. But even those lucky women who had an ideal figure without making much effort, after 40 years old will not be so happy with the back part of the body due to a decrease in muscle mass.
Properly performed squats (with a straight back) can tone the body and prevent injury by improving body flexibility.
Benefits and effects of physical activity on the body
Why is it important to think not just about weight and muscle tone at the age of forty, but also about health in general:
- Firstly, at this age, destructive processes take precedence over creative ones, in other words, aging will be more noticeable if no measures are taken. A slowdown in metabolism and deterioration in tissue regeneration lead to lethargy, flabbiness, and atonicity. Nowadays women are especially susceptible to gaining excess weight.
- Secondly, a decrease in the elasticity of blood vessels leads to frequent headaches, increased blood pressure and poor circulation in the muscles, brain and other organs. Physical activity will help improve these processes, increase the elasticity of blood vessels and normalize blood pressure, which will significantly affect the quality of life and will even be reflected on the face in the form of a beautiful blush and more elastic skin.
- Thirdly, increased stiffness of joints and stiffening of muscles are the companions of women at a young age if they are too lazy to perform basic exercises. These negative processes worsen posture, cause pain in the back and limbs, and generally negatively affect motor activity. The way to get rid of this is training, which will help you become more energetic and younger, literally and figuratively.
What loads are undesirable at 40?
Avoid intense training: fast running, interval training, incl. crossfit, heavy weights and impact loads in the form of jumping exercises.
Dumbbells for arthritis
Chronic joint pain can occur in adults of any age, and one of the best ways to prevent it is through strength training.
You don't have to spend hours lifting heavy weights. Deadlifting overhead with a weight of 0.5-1.5 kg in each hand 2-3 times a week can do wonders for your body.
What loads should be performed after 40 years
Walking
It is in vain that this type of physical activity is not taken into account at all when it comes to losing weight, regardless of age. After all, both walking in the fresh air and going uphill on a treadmill helps increase your heart rate, which is necessary both for fat burning and strengthening the cardiovascular system. Walking can be no less energy-intensive and effective than running, but its advantage is that it does not put stress on the joints and spine, which wear out when running.
Cardio training
This includes walking and cardio exercises: an orbiter, an exercise bike, a stepper, a treadmill, and even simple exercises with your own weight. Such loads safely reduce weight, increase the elasticity of blood vessels and strengthen the heart. It is not advisable to do any cardio training for more than one hour. But you shouldn’t do a workout for less than forty minutes if your goal is to lose weight.
Healthy fitness areas
Girls over forty should take a closer look at such areas as Pilates, yoga, and stretching. These calm workouts can increase body flexibility, strengthen the muscle corset, and improve body contours and posture. The main thing is that such loads are the safest, but despite this, it is important to perform the exercises technically correctly.
Circuit training
Of course, after forty years, you can do strength exercises, but their impact on the joints should be minimal. Namely: the weight of weights is reduced as much as possible, technically complex exercises and strength training equipment, for example, hack squats, basic exercises in a power rack, are excluded. Jumping and intense cardio exercises such as burpees, jumping jacks, and aerial lunges are also prohibited.
To ensure that the effectiveness of circuit training remains at a high level, but at the same time remains safe, perform exercises for all muscle groups in one workout with a large number of repetitions, but with little or no weight. The number of laps depends on the number of exercises. The workout is usually 3-5 laps. Below we will consider examples of such complexes.
Glute bridge to relax the buttocks
Sitting in an office all day can deactivate our glutes, which slows down the body's calorie burning. The hip extension in the glute bridge exercise gets your glutes working and also helps relieve tension after long hours of sitting.
Place your arms at your sides, squeeze your buttocks to lift your hips, and squeeze them at the top again before slowly lowering your hips.
Planking will help you get rid of back pain
A very effective exercise for the back, buttocks, and abdomen. By doing it regularly, you will be able to improve your posture, strengthen your abs, speed up your metabolism, and even improve your mood.
In this exercise, it is very important to take the starting position correctly. So, rest on your elbows or on your hands. Elbows are located strictly under the shoulders. From the pelvis to the top of the head, the spine should be straight. Do not arch your back at the lower back. Don't strain your arms, as they are not that important in this exercise. It is much more important to tense the muscles of the buttocks and abdomen. To begin, hold this position for at least 15 seconds, and then gradually increase the time to a minute.
An elliptical trainer will protect your heart
Low-impact cardio is a great way for women over 40 to maintain heart health. But if you really want to improve your heart health, then train at 80% of your maximum heart rate for at least 60 minutes, 3-4 times a week.
Are there any contraindications?
Before starting training, if you are determined to take care of your health and get in shape, it is advisable to consult a doctor. This is especially important in the presence of chronic diseases. Taking into account the existing problems, the doctor will select the optimal load system, explain which exercises you need and which ones you should avoid. There are no general contraindications and there cannot be: with some diseases you cannot lift heavy weights, but you can swim. Or strength exercises are allowed, but emphasis on cardio is contraindicated, since such training increases the load on the heart.
If the exercises are difficult for you to do, reduce the load. You shouldn't push yourself to the point of exhaustion. After classes, you should feel pleasantly tired, not overexerted. Serious training will have to be abandoned during painful menstruation and pregnancy. In these cases, the exercises are replaced with special gymnastics.
Walking will make your life active
Walking is the best and simplest exercise that anyone can do. While walking, calories are burned, the body becomes toned, and the mood improves. One important advantage of walking is that it does not wear out the joints, which is especially important in adulthood.
Natalie Gil, 47 years old
The page of the 47-year-old American is followed by almost half a million people.
This is because she looks like she’s in her thirties at most. The path to this form was not easy for the California resident. The woman decided to lose weight after a family drama. During pregnancy, Natalie, like many, gained excess weight. After this, the husband told the woman that she had become too fat and left her. The husband did not even wait for his wife to give birth to their child.
After the birth of the baby, the abandoned woman did not want to live and even tried to commit suicide. But then she pulled herself together and decided to lose weight to prove to her husband how wrong he was. Before this, Natalie had never gone to the gym in her life.
Today Natalie Gil is 47 years old. She is a successful blogger with a perfect figure. The American started training herself, trained as a nutritionist, constantly appears in magazines and even writes books about fitness training.
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Posted by NATALIE JILL Age In Reverse (@nataliejillfit) Aug 21, 2022 at 7:02 am PDT
The blogger publishes recommendations to his followers from all over the world on the social network. She promises that if you follow her recommendations and spend at least half an hour a day training, you can lose excess weight in just three months.
You can follow her advice without leaving home. Many exercises do not require sports equipment. The habits that a woman should have at 40 to remain young will help enhance the effect.
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Posted by NATALIE JILL Age In Reverse (@nataliejillfit) Feb 15, 2022 at 6:32 am PST
Paripurna Navasana or Boat Pose
This exercise comes from yoga and perfectly works the abs, arms, back muscles and buttocks.
Technique. Performed while sitting. Starting position: back straight, legs extended. Lean your body back slightly and lift your feet off the floor, then extend your arms parallel to the floor. There should be no arching in the back. Try to keep your body balanced on your buttocks. Hold for 15 seconds. Breathe evenly. Tension should be felt in the muscles of the abdomen, back and buttocks. Return to the starting position. Do the exercise 3 more times.
Advice: if when performing the exercise for the first time your back does not straighten very well, do not worry. Try bending your knees, forming a 90-degree angle between your thigh and shin. Perform the exercise in this version, and then move on to a more complex one.
Race walking or running
Running helps strengthen your heart, increases bone density and muscle mass, strengthens your joints, and relieves stress. But this is intense physical activity, so you should start running gradually. You can alternate the exercise with walking: for example, 3 minutes of walking and 2 minutes of running for 30 minutes. Over time, you should increase the duration of your workout.
For people with poor physical fitness, race walking can be an alternative. It has even more advantages than running: when walking, the stress on muscles and tendons is not as intense. This sport can be practiced every day. Walking helps you lose weight and reduces the risk of heart disease, and is good for preventing diabetes and thyroid disease.
Belinda Benn, 54
This popular American woman, at 54 years old, never leaves the covers of glossy magazines. Fitness trainer Belinda Benn looks at least 20 years younger due to regular training. Although for most of her life she never played sports either. Belinda was constantly hospitalized as a child due to chronic asthma, so she didn’t even think about training until she was 37 years old. The woman was an official, she drank liters of cappuccino and ate kilograms of cookies.
One day an American woman saw herself in a swimsuit, discovered terrible cellulite, and had a nervous breakdown. Divorce from my husband added even more fuel to the fire. Having finally fallen into depression, Belinda sold all her property and went on a trip to the USA. During the trip, the woman tried surfing for the first time and started eating right. Upon her return, Benn went to the gym and began to actively train.
By the age of 44, Belinda decided to compete in a fitness bikini competition. Then the woman’s dreams began to come true. The beautiful athlete was noticed and began to be invited to filming. This is how she became a famous fashion model. In order to quickly lose weight and get in shape, the star advises her fans to give up alcohol and sweet drinks: juice, tea with sugar and coffee. According to Benn, it was because of this that she gained so much weight at one time.
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Posted by Belinda Benn (@belindajanebenn) Aug 15, 2015 at 6:02 am PDT
Belinda admits that she found true harmony with her body only at the age of 50. After 40, a woman does not advise exhausting herself with hard training. You need to approach classes very thoughtfully and pump up the most problematic areas. How to build muscles without losing your femininity?
