The 5 Worst Exercises for adults over 40

Before a client joins our gym, we sit down with them for a consultation where we find out their goals, health and injury history.

Most of the people I sit down with are 40 years of age or older.

When we discuss their injuries, I commonly hear that they have herniated discs or knee pain.

It’s difficult for many people to accept that with age, our bodies change.

Sometimes it’s a reality check when we are faced with the fact that we are not the same person we were as a HS or College Athlete.

The older we get, the more recovery and functional movements matter.

The choices we make with our workouts and our recovery determine the path of our health journey.

How To Decide If An Exercise Is Good For You

1. Risk VS. Reward. On one side of things, you have what you stand to lose and on the other side of things you have what you stand to gain.
   
   The benefits of the exercise must outweigh the risk and potential harm it can cause.
   
   There’s a reason we don’t perform 1 Rep Maxes at our gym and it’s because the risk does not outweigh the reward. What’s the point of maxing out on a lift as an adult unless you are training for a powerlifting competition?
   
   This is where we have to start setting our egos aside.
2. Body Mechanics. Everyone is built differently.
   
   Some people have longer femurs than others which is going to change what one person does with their squat and deadlift versus another person.
   
   Based on body mechanics, what is a good exercise for one person might not be a good exercise for another person due to their movement patterns and bone length.
   
   One shoe does not fit all and it’s important to remember that when it comes to exercise selections.
3. Injuries. Someone with a herniated disc shouldn’t be performing heavy conventional deadlifts.
   
   Someone who doesn’t have full range of motion in their shoulder shouldn’t be performing vertical overhead presses.
   
   Someone with a torn meniscus or ACL shouldn’t be performing box jumps. With injuries comes limitations, increasing the risk vs reward factor.

With all of that being said, some people over the age of 40 have no problem with some of these movements. This is going to be a general list for the general population.

Heavy Conventional Deadlifts

While deadlifts are an exercise that should be in someone’s program, heavy conventional deadlifts are very high risk.

This is due to the enormous stress it puts on the lower back, hips and nervous system. The older we get, it’s harder to recover from.

Your lumbar discs are put under increased force in this lift.

Good replacement exercises would be a trap bar deadlift, romanian deadlift or barbell hip thrusts.

Heavy Barbell Bench Press

Using a barbell for bench press sets your shoulders in a fixed position and range of motion. This can lead to shoulder joint stress.

Adults over 40 often have some degree of shoulder wear (rotator cuff degeneration, impingement, or arthritis). Heavy loads can increase the chance of labrum tears, pec strains or rotator cuff injuries.

While this exercise does build pushing strength, safer alternatives are dumbbell bench press or push ups.

Heavy Barbell Back Squat

Loading a heavy bar on the spine creates axial compression.

Adults over 40 are more likely to have disc degeneration, arthritis, or past back injuries. This makes people more vulnerable to disc herniation, lower back pain, or nerve issues.

Safer alternatives are goblet squats, landmine squats, bulgarian split squats, and leg presses. They offer strength gains with far less spinal load.

American Kettlebell Swings

I wouldn’t recommend these anyway but especially not the older we get.

Let me break this down for you.

The swing ends overhead, so a heavy kettlebell overhead is placing stress on the shoulders and then you have to swing it back down into a hinge. That’s like asking your shoulder to play chicken with gravity.

And spoiler alert, gravity always wins.

After the age of 30, adults start losing mobility unless it has taken a priority in their life.

If you don’t have great shoulder mobility, performing American Kettlebell Swings (because they go overhead) will force your low back into an extension at the top of the swing, placing stress on your lumbar spine.

This could either start low back problems for you or contribute to the pre existing low back issues you already have.

A better alternative would be a russian kettlebell swing where you’re stopping shoulder height and don’t have to rely on perfect shoulder mobility.

Crunches

Crunches place repeated flexion stress on the lumbar spine. The repetitive rounding can aggravate back pain or accelerate disc issues.

They do little for the deeper core stabilizers that actually protect the spine and improve posture.

A strong core should resist movement, not just flex forward.

Crunches also increase strain on your neck and hip flexors. Many adults over 40 have very tight hip flexors from years of sitting. Crunches recruit hip flexors heavily, often leading to hip discomfort.

Poor technique of pulling the neck forward increases the chance of cervical strain.

Risk To Reward Ratio Shifts

These exercises may still be doable for highly trained lifters with great mobility and little to no injury history.

For the general population, these exercises carry more risk than benefit.

Safer, joint friendly alternatives can build just as much strength without compromising long term health.