The struggle is real for the 40-plus guy working hard to get (and stay) shredded. Nagging injuries that keep setting you back, stubborn body fat layering your six-pack, and, ahem, “performance issues” in the bedroom—we understand what you’re going through. But, as our top-shelf expert will explain, there are simple solutions to many of those oh-so-common conundrums.
THE PROBLEM:
Your knees throb for days when you go aggressive on squats or lunges, which makes it hard to achieve productive leg workouts.
THE SOLUTION:
Don’t just blame your age—blame your technique and training habits. Not keeping the weight over the heels when squatting and lunging is one of the major culprits of bad knees; the added tension on the patellar tendons will wreck the joints over time. Not warming up properly on leg days and going too heavy are other common reasons.
THE PROBLEM:
You don’t see good fat-loss results with steady-state cardio, but HIIT sessions are beating up your body.
THE SOLUTION:
When it comes to cardio, most people talk about only high-intensity (sprints, Tabata, etc.) and low-intensity (long treadmill and elliptical sessions), forgetting that there’s a middle ground: medium-intensity cardio. Make this your go-to conditioning regimen.
Quick Tip: “Start with a good general warmup, followed by stretching, then focus on a specific warmup like squatting without weights,” says Dov Medina, a personal trainer and owner of DovFlex in Forest Hills, NY (dovflex.com).
