There are plenty of things that come with getting older. Getting older means getting wiser and living your best life. However, these better moments in life can also come with some aches and pains. Some people say these are the facts of life, but that doesn’t mean they need to define you–especially not when it comes to working out. You may be surprised how often you can hear in a gym from older people that they just don’t do certain things anymore due to their age. This might be true, as some exercises don’t serve them as many benefits as they once did. but this certainly doesn’t mean they can’t work out and get as strong as their younger peers. They just might need to workout a bit differently (and really, we think this different way of working out is extremely smart of them). So if you are someone that feels more aches and pains in your life or just kind of thinks their body isn’t capable of doing those dumbbell biceps curls like they used to, don’t think you have to say goodbye to your guns. Instead, you just need a different tool to work those muscles.
Say hello to our little friend… resistance bands.
Resistance bands work to your strengths and weaknesses. Take a biceps curl, when you are using a dumbbell, when you curl the dumbbell and get it closer towards your shoulder, the exercise actually becomes easier which is due to your body having stronger leverage at that point in the exercise. However, performing a resistance band biceps curl, the curl only gets more difficult the closer you get to the shoulder. See it works your strengths even harder and is kinder to areas where the leverage is difficult for your body. Resistance bands don’t just work well in a biceps curls though, this type of challenge the resistance band brings can work for all parts of the body.
Even if you aren’t in the time of your life where you are feeling the pain of getting older, resistance bands are great for everyone. Check out all of the benefits of resistance bands here. We suggest having a few different strength of resistance bands, as you will need different resistances for different exercises.
Full Body Resistance Band Workout for Anyone Over 40
Perform like a HIIT workout. Perform for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds. Use the 20 seconds to transition to the next workout. If the exercise calls for the single arm, then perform the exercise on that arm for 40 seconds before moving on to the next arm for 40 seconds. No need to rest for the 20 seconds between the single arm movements of the same exercise. Only rest/transition for 20 seconds when changing exercises. Repeat the whole series at least 2 times through.
Most of these exercises call for a light/medium resistance band
Single Arm Chest Press
Single Arm Reverse Fly
Bent Over Row
High Pull
Split Stance Single Arm Overhead Press
Front Squat
Banded Glute Bridge
Triceps Pushdown
Biceps Hammer Curl
Sit-Ups
