Health Centers

Personal trainer Dan Bornstein recommends “multi-joint” exercises for middle-aged men. The more joints you’re moving, the more muscles you’re working. Try these: 

• Leg Press: Here, you’re lying down on a reclining chair with your knees bent and your feet on a platform. Your goal is to straighten out your legs, pushing the weighted platform away from you. This works the quadriceps muscles in the front of your thighs, the hamstrings in back of your thighs and the glutes, the muscles in your buttocks.
• Lat Pull-Downs: For these you’re seated facting the machine. You reach for a bar that's suspended above your head and pull it down to chest level in front of your head. Changing your grip, you can pull the bar down in back of your face to shoulder level, but approach this one carefully, as you can strain muscles in your neck. These exercises work the latissimus dorsi muscles in your back as well as your shoulders, biceps and forearms.
• Seated Row: On a machine that simulates rowing, you bend forward to grasp a bar and then pull it back until you’re in a seated upright position. This works your upper back muscles as well as your biceps, forearms, shoulders, lower back, quads and hamstrings.
• Chest Press: Here, you lie on a bench and push up a barbell attached to the machine. This works your chest and arm muscles, especially the triceps, as well as your anterior deltoids.