Home Workout Series 2 – Taking The Next Step

In the first part of this series, we discussed simple but effective exercises that all men over 50 should master before starting a home workout regimen. Now it’s time to add slightly more complex movements to your arsenal. In this second part of the Home Workout series, we’ll give you more exercises you can use to challenge your fitness while building strength and endurance in the comfort of your home.

The final part of this series will be where we bring all of these movements together and create some challenging and dynamic home workout routines great for men over 50.

The main difference with the exercises discussed in this section is that you will need a few basic pieces of equipment to do them. However, we’ve tried to incorporate equipment that is cost effective and multi-faceted so you can get the best value out of minimal products!

**NOTE** All video copyrights herein belong to the original creators. The links are offered as informational only and we make no claim to the content.

To kick things off, we’ll talk about one of the most versatile products in the fitness industry.

The Kettlebell

You can use this simple weight in a variety of ways to target different muscle groups and take your home workout to the next level. In this article we’ll give you beginner kettlebell movements you need to perfect when first incorporating them into your workout.

1. The Kettlebell Goblet Squat

• After perfecting the squat in the first part of this series, you’ll add on weight and different variations of this movement to make it more difficult. The kettlebell squat is an effective way for you to do both. The rules of our generic squat still apply, however in this case you will hold the kettlebell in front of you, by the side handles, while focusing to keep the weight close to your chest.
• Remember to always perform the movement under control with a slight pause at the bottom of your squat to prevent any kind of bouncing or jerking. Also, focus on exploding into the top of the squat to help improve your power throughout the movement. Below is a great video explaining the proper technique for this exercise.

Kettlebell Goblet Squat

2. The Kettlebell Straight-Leg Deadlift

• Deadlifts are one of the most effective exercises you can do. For men over 50 who are looking to improve strength in their core, legs, and back, this is the move to know. Stand with the kettlebell held in both hands, arms extended toward the floor in front of you. With your feet in a narrow stance (slightly less than shoulder width apart), keeping your legs just slightly bent, bend forward at the hips while maintaining a neutral spine.
• Once you have lowered the weight as far as you can go without further bending your knees, pause for a second, and slowly move back to a standing position by extending your hips. Remember to keep a neutral spine throughout the movement and keep your core engaged to help avoid injury.
• Common mistakes made in this movement are performing it too quickly or excessive flexion/extension of the back throughout the movement. We’ve attached a video here to help you visualize how this movement should be done.

Kettlebell Straight-Leg Deadlift

*In the video, he is performing more of a traditional deadlift with his feet slightly farther apart and more bending of the knees. This exercise is productive both ways, however, we recommend it as described the above paragraph to activate the hamstrings more effectively.*

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Resistance Bands

The next piece of equipment I’ll discuss the use of is resistance bands. These are one of our absolute favorite pieces of equipment to use because of the versatility. Resistance bands are affordable and can target almost any muscle group. We’ll give you some upper body movements using the bands, but will continue to come back and add to the use of resistance bands in our complete Home Workout series.

1. The Resistance Band Pushup

• If you’re doing this series in order, you’ve already mastered the traditional pushup talked about in the first section. To take it up a notch, adding a simple resistance band to your pushups will make them more challenging and help add more strength in your chest and arms.
• The idea with adding resistance to the pushup is like adding weight to any other exercise, however, the great part about the band is the hardest part of this movement will be the final moments of extension in the pushup. You will feel your pushups getting incrementally harder at the top of the range of motion. Check out this video to see the proper form.

Resistance Band Pushup

2. The Resistance Band Bicep Curl

• Bicep curls have long been one of the most popular exercises in fitness, and for good reason. They are great at strengthening and growing your biceps muscle. It’s a simple exercise to perform, however, there things to keep in mind when doing so. You want to avoid any unnecessary shoulder movement throughout your bicep curl. Many people will compensate for a weak bicep by forward flexing their shoulder to finish the movement. This takes tension off the bicep and puts a harmful strain on the shoulder joint.
• Another common mistake is using your legs to help lift the weight or finish the movement. Again, this takes tension off the bicep which is exactly what you don’t want to do when you’re looking to build strength. Perfecting your curl with a resistance band ensures that you properly isolate your bicep throughout the curl to get the most out of the movement. This will allow you to perform bicep curl variations more effectively and in a safer manner. Here is a video that shows great isolation of the bicep with a resistance band.

Resistance Band Bicep Curl

The Ab Wheel

Another piece of equipment that should be in every home gym is the ab wheel. This piece of equipment challenges your core strength in ways you may not be used to. It is very affordable, effective, and simple to use when you know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

1. The Ab Wheel

• Contrary to what most people have heard for years, your core/abs don’t primarily function to help you do crunches or sit-ups. The core muscles are primarily for stability of the entire body and improving functional movements. Because their main function is to help stabilize the body, it makes sense that to strengthen these muscles we want to challenge and improve their ability to stabilize the body. The ab wheel is a great tool to do just that. This piece of equipment will force you to engage your core in ways you may have never consciously done before.
• The benefits you gain from training your core muscles in a more specific way for their function will be worth the challenge. A few things to remember when using an ab wheel is to keep your shoulders steady and close to your body, keep your core engaged, and maintain a neutral spine to ensure your primarily using your abdominal muscles to help stabilize you throughout the movement. Watch the video here for any confusion on how to perform this exercise.

The Proper Form On The Ab Wheel

The final tool in this section of the Home Workout series for men over 50 is an old one, but a good one. This final piece of equipment is in use by athletes all over the world and covered in a previous post, (Different Types of Cardio for Men Over 50) but we’ll show it again because it fits so well. We‘re talking about the jump rope.

The Jump Rope

Although it may sound simple, it’s one of the most demanding cardiovascular tools out there and you can pick one up for a great price at almost any sporting goods or fitness store. Learning to jump rope effectively will test your coordination, balance, endurance, and strength in one simple motion. It‘s one of the most time efficient ways to burn calories and can easily be done in your home or yard.

We recommended getting comfortable with a jump rope by simply doing it as much as possible to get the skill down. Once you’ve got your rhythm, try incorporating intervals of jumping as fast as possible for 30 seconds-1 minute and then slowing down for 30 seconds-1 minute. This is a fast, simple way to get to and maintain an elevated heart rate and burn calories faster.

Add these exercises into your home workout and we‘ll guarantee you‘ll see significant gains in your strength and endurance. After perfecting the first two series and the exercises that come with them, you’ll be ready to challenge yourself with routines we‘ll put together in the final part of the Home Workout series.

Remember, you don’t need a gym to get a great workout! With some of these comprehensive movements and a minimal investment in equipment, you can put together a full-body workout without leaving your house. As always, consult with your physician about your workouts!