With strength training gaining momentum, gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts often find themselves torn between two major types of exercises: isolation and compound movements. While both are essential in their own right, understanding their individual strengths and knowing when to use which can help boost your fitness journey. But which one should you really focus on to get stronger, fitter, and more efficient in your workouts?

According to Health Coach and Fitness Influencer Shivam Dubey, Founder of Yourfitnesstories, isolation exercises target a single muscle group, like bicep curls or leg extensions, making them ideal for strengthening or correcting specific muscles. In contrast, he explains that compound exercises like push-ups or squats engage multiple muscles at once, helping you train more efficiently in less time.

Isolation exercises are great for identifying and strengthening weaker muscle groups, he says, adding, “But compound exercises save time and are extremely effective for those juggling a busy schedule. Because you can hit multiple muscles with a single move.”

Speaking about the exercises, he says that both the exercise types serve a purpose, and it is vital to know when to include them in your routine. “If your goal is strength and functionality, compound exercises are important. They’re efficient, burn more calories, and are as good as everyday movements. This makes them great for athletic performance and day-to-day strength,” explains Dubey.

However, if you’re looking to sculpt a specific muscle or recover from an injury, isolation exercises help you zero in and build that muscle safely and effectively. “If you want to improve your bicep peak or rehab a weak hamstring, you’d benefit more from isolating that muscle to ensure targeted development,” he suggests.

Dubey lists the following 5 differences between isolation and compound exercises:

• Muscle engagement: Isolation exercises target a single muscle, like bicep curls for the biceps. They’re great for focused development. Compound exercises, such as squats or push-ups, work multiple muscles at once, promoting strength.
• Learning curve: Isolation moves are simple and easier to learn since they involve one joint. Compound exercises require more technique and coordination, making them slightly more complex for beginners.
• Calorie burn: Isolation exercises burn fewer calories due to limited muscle use. Compound movements activate more muscles, increasing energy expenditure and helping burn more calories.
• Time efficiency: Isolation workouts take longer as each muscle needs separate attention. Compound exercises save time by targeting several muscles in one go, ideal for quick sessions.
• Suitability for goals: Isolation is best for shaping specific muscles, rehab, or correcting imbalances. Compound exercises suit goals like full-body strength, endurance, and efficient training.

It’s no secret that physical activity is crucial for aging well. “One of the best ways to ensure a long healthspan—the time spent living free of major disease and disability—is to exercise regularly,” says geriatrician Dr. Wendolyn Gozansky, MD. However, this doesn’t mean you need to join a gym to enjoy the longevity-boosting effects of exercise. In fact, you don’t even need to leave the house. These are certain types of exercise that can help you live longer, so long as you do them consistently. Read on to learn about these moves, as explained by experts.

The Link Between Exercise and Longevity

While all exercise is beneficial for overall health and longevity, Dr. Gozansky says there are three types that are important for healthy aging: strength training, aerobics, and balance.

More specifically, these types of exercise address aspects of health that determine longevity and lifespan. “As we age, we must prioritize movements that preserve muscle mass, support cardiovascular function, [help] cognitive performance, and enhance neuromuscular coordination,” explains human performance scientist Dr. Mark Kovacs, PhD, FACSM. The good news? It’s possible to practice such movements at home with little to no equipment.

Best At-Home Exercises That Will Help You Live Longer

In addition to other lifestyle habits like prioritizing sleep, fostering social connections, and eating well, the following exercises can improve your overall lifespan. But remember: You don’t need to do these moves at a high-intensity level. Instead, it comes down to consistency and regular activity.

Walking

There are many health benefits of walking, and longevity is certainly on the list. Walking is a type of aerobic exercise that increases your heart rate and improves your cardiovascular health, Dr. Gozansky says. Walking is also a weight-bearing exercise, which will keep your bones strong, she adds. This is crucial because bone strength supports mobility and reduces the risk of fractures as you get older.

Step-Ups

If you want to take your aerobics game up a notch, try step-ups. You can do them on an exercise stepper or just step on a staircase. “Step-ups mimic real-life functional movements like stair climbing,” Dr. Kovacs says. “They improve aerobic capacity, single-leg balance, and joint stability—key for preventing falls and maintaining cardiovascular health.” You can do this exercise with your bodyweight, but if you’d like a challenge, add light weights or increase the speed, Dr. Kovacs suggests.

Squats

“Squats build and maintain lower body strength, which is critical for fall prevention, mobility, and independence as we age,” Dr. Kovacs says. Plus, “they activate major muscle groups, enhance insulin sensitivity, and support bone density, especially in the hips and spine.” The best part: Squats are effective sans equipment, but you can challenge yourself by holding household items like paint cans, suggests certified personal trainer Jenny Liebl. Another option is to perform a squat hold hovering over a chair, which will build muscular endurance, Liebl suggests.

Modified Push-Ups

“Push-ups build upper body strength and core stability while enhancing cardiovascular response in short bursts,” Dr. Kovacs explains. This is noteworthy because maintaining upper body strength is associated with lower all-cause mortality in midlife and older adults. However, these benefits aren’t limited to standard floor push-ups. You can enjoy the same benefits by doing push-ups with your hands on a wall or countertop, Dr. Kovacs says. As you get stronger, try floor push-ups on your knees, then progress to full push-ups.

Single-Leg Stands

Single-leg stands are another at-home exercise that can help you live longer. It’s a type of balancing exercise, which, when done regularly, can help prevent falls, the leading cause of death from injury in adults 65 years and older, Dr. Gozansky says. “Consider doing this activity whenever you’re near a sturdy countertop, [like] in the bathroom before brushing your teeth or at the kitchen sink before washing the dishes,” Dr. Gozansky suggests. Eventually, try single-leg stands without support to further improve balance.

Plank Holds

At first glance, the plank might look like an uneventful exercise. But according to Dr. Kovacs, it’s beneficial for longevity. Planks activate “deep stabilizer muscles, improve neuromuscular coordination, and support spinal integrity, [which] are all essential for daily movement and fall resistance,” he says. Together, these factors enhance physical function (and ultimately, independence) in later years. If a standard plank feels too difficult, remember that you can modify it by dropping your knees to the ground.

AS YOU GET older, the way you approach life changes.

You have more wisdom than you did when you were a young man from all your years of experience—but in some settings, like the gym, you’ll need to adjust your behavior to keep up with the changes that happen to your body when you age. That’s why men over 40 should take a slightly different approach to fitness than their younger peers, with an emphasis on careful, calculated programming.

TheMen’s Health Muscle After 40book gives you that smart, measured plan you need for your workout as an older man.

The 12-week fitness guide doesn’t give you handicapped workouts with instructions to play it safe—the plan is designed to bring out the best in you while allowing you to rest and recover within your body’s capacity. Muscle After 40 is split into 3 distinct phases, each of which consist of 3 weeks where you’ll train 3 times.

This is Phase 1, Week 1.

Warm Ups

IF YOU KNOW what works best for you, keep doing it. That said, if what you do is walk into the weight room and start lifting with no warmup at all, I predict it won’t work for much longer. The older you get, and the more miles you put on the chassis, the trickier it is to get your body ready for a good workout.

Your warmup should at least have these two components:

• A general warmup to increase core temperature, heart rate, and blood flow. You’ll probably need more time for this if you train in the morning versus the evening, or winter versus summer. Light cardio, mild calisthenics, mobility exercises, or some combination will to the trick.
• A specific warmup for the first exercise, or pair of exercises, in your workout. Again, this can be a comprehensive mobility routine, a few practice sets of the exercise with light weights, or a combination of both.

What You’ll Need

THIS PROGRAM REQUIRES basic equipment you’ll find in most commercial gyms. Don’t worry if your gym doesn’t have everything on the list. It’s easy to substitute similar exercises.

Full range of dumbbells, including weights that seem much heavier than anything you’d consider lifting right now

• Barbells (Olympic and EZ curl) and weight plates
• Flat and incline benches
• Landmine
• Squat rack
• Cable tower
• Leg press, leg extension, and leg curl machines(calf raise machine is optional)
• Kettlebells
• Ab wheel

Overview

YOU’LL TRAIN THREE times a week for four weeks. Most will use the classic Monday-Wednesday-Friday or Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule. Remember to include at least one full day of rest between workouts. You’ll do each exercise as straight sets, completing all the sets of one exercise before moving onto the next.

Weight Selection

FOR THE FIRST exercise on Day 1 (dumbbell incline bench press) and Day 2 (trap-bar deadlift) you’ll use the sets across method, which means you’ll use the same weight for all your work sets. (It’s the opposite of ramping sets, in which you use a heavier weight on each set, building up to a final set with a max weight.) With the sets across method, you don’t increase the weight until you hit all the reps on every set.

Let’s say you’re doing 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps. After doing a warmup set with a lighter weight, you select a weight you figure you can lift 10 times. You easily complete 8 reps the first set, and could’ve done at least two or three more. On the second set, you also get 8 reps, although this time you only have one or two left in the tank. On the third set, you can only complete 7.

The next week, you use that same weight for all your sets, with the goal of getting 8 good reps on each one. More important, you feel like you could’ve completed at least one or two more on every set. That means you’re cleared to increase the weight by 2.5 to5 percent for the following week.

With the rest of the exercises in Phase 1 that are not indicated as using the sets across method, you can use more weight on subsequent sets if your first-set weight was too light and you easily completed all the reps. Increase the weight when you exceed the range by 2 or 3 reps on every set. So if the workout calls for 2 sets of 12 to 15 reps, and you hit 17 or 18 on the final set, use a heavier weight the next time you do that exercise.

Rest

IN PHASE 1 and Phase 2, I don’t specify how to long to rest between sets or exercises. Here area couple of guidelines to follow:

• Don’t start a set while you’re still catching your breath from the last one. You want to feel like you’re at full strength each time you pick up the weights.
• If you feel like you can go straight into the second or third set of an exercise without any rest at all, it’s a good sign you aren’t pushing yourself hard enough. Either the weight is too light, or you’re doing the exercise in a way that isn’t putting tension on the targeted muscles.

Volume

YOU’LL SEE SOME progressions in volume within the workouts, specifically the number of sets. With some exercises, you’ll increase the number of sets (from 2 to 3) after Week 1. Then, in Week 4, you’ll decrease volume across the board, doing 2 sets of every exercise to give your muscles a break before starting Phase 2.

Want the full program? Check out Muscle After 40 before you get started with Phase 1.

The Workout

Week 1, Day 1

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press

3 sets of 6 to 8 reps

Seated Cable Row

3 sets of 6 to 8 reps

Dumbbell Curl

3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Dumbbell Incline Triceps Extension

3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Goblet Squat

3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Lying Leg Curl

3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Plank

3 sets of 30 second holds

Week 1, Day 2

Trap Bar Deadlift

3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Dumbbell Split Squat

3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Dumbbell Bench Press with Neutral Grip

3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Dumbbell One-Arm Row

3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Lateral Raise

3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Dumbbell Rear-Delt Raise

3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Standing Calf Raise

3 sets of 25 reps

Week 1, Day 3

Lat Pulldown

3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Cable Fly

3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Rope Hammer Curl

3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Rope Pressdown

3 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Leg Press

3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Leg Extension

3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Back Extension

3 sets of max reps

But with so many exercises to choose from, it can be hard to know which ones actually build muscle and support long-term health. That’s why we asked fitness experts to share their top recommendations.

1. Lunges

Leg strength is an important area to focus on when it comes to longevity, according to Grayson Wickham, DPT, CSCS, personal trainer and founder of Stretch Mode. Lunges target your quads and glutes, which are some of the biggest muscle groups.

“Of all the leg exercises to choose from, lunges are a top choice as they work on single-leg strength, which can help improve balance, joint mobility, and stability,” he told Health.

How to do a lunge: 

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your hands clasped in front of your chest or on your hips.
2. Keeping your torso upright, step your right foot forward 1 to 2 feet.
3. Bend your right knee to a 90-degree angle with your right thigh parallel to the floor.
4. Push through the bottom of your right foot and shift your weight to your left foot to step your right foot back to the starting position.
5. Repeat on the other side.

2. Push-Ups

Because push-ups work multiple muscle groups at once—including the upper and lower back, chest, shoulders, biceps, and core—they’re especially effective at preserving strength and healthy movement as you age, according to Hall.

“This exercise can help maintain the ability and strength to support our overall postural alignment and to be able to get up off the ground, such as when playing with grandkids or gardening,” she told Health. “Building muscle in these areas will improve longevity and preserve functional ability while empowering us to stay active throughout the lifespan, no matter what we want to do.”

How to do a push-up: 

1. Start in a high plank position. Your body should form a straight line from head to heels, and your hands should be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, palms on the floor.
2. Bracing your core and glutes, bend your elbows and lower yourself to the floor until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle.
3. Extend your elbows and push back up through your palms to the starting position.

3. Bent-Over Rows

This exercise—which involves pulling a weight toward your torso—targets the muscles in the upper back, shoulders, arms, and core, helping to open the chest and support the spine, Hall explained.

“Strengthening these muscles helps improve posture, which can lead to reduced risk of falling or injury to the spine,” she said, adding that bent-over rows may be especially helpful for counteracting the forward head and rounded shoulder positioning that can result from frequent cell phone use.

How to do a bent-over row: 

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing in.
2. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward by hinging at your hips until your torso is roughly parallel to the floor.
3. Keeping your back straight, lift the dumbbells up to your sides, keeping your elbows close to your body.
4. Squeeze your shoulder blades and back muscles at the top of the movement.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position.

One of the most important parts of any fitness program is consistency. Sticking with a regular routine helps you build on each workout and really make some progress. But, sometimes routines fall by the wayside. It’s something I’m guilty of right now.

Whether you’re busy at work, feeling under the weather, navigating an injury, or simply not feeling motivated, it’s completely normal for your once-regimented workout routine to hit a lull. While there’s nothing wrong with taking some downtime, waiting too long can mean all of that hard work you put in at the gym, on the track, or wherever else you like to sweat can start to decline.

As I sit here, blowing off yet another workout this morning, I’m wondering how much leeway I really have. So, I chatted with experts about how long it takes fitness to decrease. Some reassurance, right up top: “Short breaks of one to two weeks are going to have very minimal impact,” says Elizabeth Matzkin, MD, a sports medicine Orthopaedic Surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Here’s when your time off really starts to matter.

Some amount of rest is normal—and necessary.

If you’ve had a rough week of missing workouts and are being hard on yourself about it, cut it out. You don’t lose fitness that fast. A rest day or two doesn’t have an impact on anything, and even a week off won’t set you back too much. As you probably know, it’s actually beneficial to take recovery days. After a lifting session, rest is required to repair your muscles so they can grow bigger and stronger.

The importance of rest is true for just about every modality. With running, for example, “if you’re training for a 5K, 10K, or marathon, rest days are a critical part of the program,” Dr. Matzkin says. Over a day or two, rest is what gives your body the time to recover, get stronger, and mitigate risk of overuse injuries, which could sideline you for even longer. Well-timed breaks can also help fight burnout, and that’s something that can really mess with your progress.

The only time there’s cause for concern about dropping fitness is after taking weeks to months off—and it affects various aspects of fitness differently.

Aerobic capacity diminishes the fastest.

After just five to seven days of no cardio training, you will see a decrease in blood volume, says Aaron Leigh Baggish, MD, a sports cardiologist and founder of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. The implications? Less oxygen getting to your muscles, which can affect cardio performance, and potentially less efficient heat regulation. Sit out for an additional week and more change will accrue: Your heart becomes slightly smaller and muscles start to lose mitochondrial function.

What does that mean on your run, bike ride, or swim, though? After two weeks, Dr. Baggish says it might feel like you lost the “high gear” setting. “All of the things that make the high-performing athletes function start to reverse and they’ll do so sequentially over the course of weeks to months if training is not restarted again,” he says.

There’s one major caveat to all of this: how active you are, in general. “One of the main determinants of how quickly you lose fitness is actually how much physical activity you do during your daily activity,” Dr. Baggish explains. “If you were to go on bedrest, you would lose fitness pretty quickly—and you [would] lose a lot of [it]. If you maintain normal daily activities, get your 10,000 steps, and go up and down flights of stairs, you’re going to lose fitness at a much slower level.” Incorporating cross training with other forms of cardio throughout your rest can help even further.

A complete break for longer periods of time isn’t recommended, though, Dr. Matzkin says. That’s when you’ll see a real effect on your aerobic fitness, endurance, and VO2 max, she says.

Though you start to lose cardiovascular fitness one to two weeks in, there are ways to mitigate just how much, and you should be able to recoup the loss fairly quickly. Think: within a few weeks, you should start to see improvements after longer periods of time off.

When it comes to your strength, you have more wiggle room.

After about two to three weeks, you may notice a decrease in performance and even size, but true muscle atrophy tends to happen more gradually over a longer period of inactivity, says Rachelle Reed, PhD, an exercise physiologist. We’re talking anywhere from one to multiple months.

Early on, you’ll see changes in those higher-level skills. “The earliest changes are often neurological and performance-related,” Reed says. “Things like reduced force production, coordination, workout tolerance, and explosiveness.” Basically, after a few weeks, you’ll notice your go-to weights might feel a little heavier, and you may have reduced endurance during your workout.

Meanwhile, actual decreases in muscle size, strength, conditioning, and overall training capacity take longer to occur. Factors like your age (older people tend to lose muscle and strength faster), training history (those with more experience will hold onto muscle longer), protein and carbohydrate intake (more is better!), sleep (also important for maintenance), and overall activity levels will all affect how fast you lose muscle. “Someone who stops lifting for a few weeks but still walks regularly, hikes, or does occasional bodyweight movement will likely maintain more muscle than someone who becomes fully sedentary,” Reed says.

So, if you want to mitigate muscle loss—just like if you want to mitigate cardio capacity decline—you can try to stay active in other ways and incorporate resistance whenever possible. Once again, it’s complete inactivity you want to avoid. “Even shorter or lower-volume workouts can still provide a meaningful maintenance stimulus,” Reed says. “Sometimes this isn’t possible—like if you’re super sick, or maybe you’re on a long work trip, or life gets busy—so keeping a flexible versus rigid approach to your exercise can be important.”

Another perk: If you do lose some muscular fitness, it should come back sooner than it took to build it up the first time. “The encouraging news is that previously trained individuals often regain strength and muscle faster than they built it originally because of ‘muscle memory’ and retained neuromuscular adaptations,” Reed adds.

Your First Workout Back

To sum things up: A week or two isn’t the end of the world—whether you’re a cardio queen or gym obsessive. Once you get into the month-plus territory, that’s when you’re going to really want to do some strategizing.

When you do get back to working out after taking at least one month off, don’t go all out right away, the experts agree. It’s best to start slow, and you’ll likely build back faster than you anticipated. “I always tell my patients, ‘It’s baby challenges each week,’” Dr. Matzkin says. “You don’t want to go from zero to a hundred.”

That means if you stopped when you were running 5Ks, start back up with just one mile and see how you feel. If you left squatting 50 pounds, start back up with 20 or 25 and really focus on nailing the form. It may feel easy, but it’s better to ease in to avoid overwhelming your body and getting injured. Think about it like this: “Your lungs take a break, your heart takes a break, your muscles take a break, your bones take a break—and those are all living parts of you and they respond best to stress or impact when it’s introduced somewhat slowly,” Dr. Matzkin says.

Your first workout back should feel easy. Keep it short, simple, and with less intensity or duration than when you last left off. As for how long your build should take, Dr. Baggish typically gives his athletes a 1:3 rule—as in, for every one month off, you should take three months to get back to where you left off. Plus, coming back after a break isn’t just about the training itself. You also want to make sure you’re getting enough sleep and eating enough nutrients to support the increased load, Dr. Matzkin adds.

No matter how much time you took off—fear not—the experts say. You can totally get back to where you were. You just don’t want to rush. And, if it hasn’t been that long, you’re probably okay, so don’t let it throw you off course.

Ready to build a stronger, thicker set of shoulders? Canadian bodybuilder and YouTuber Jeff Nippard recently published a video in which he took his subscribers through an exact seven-step plan to build a 3D pair of delts.

The video, which examines seven ‘evidence-based tips’ for building shoulder muscle, runs the gamut from the most common training strategies to the most overlooked (the final technique is one which Nippard claims less than 1% of people have tried). The plan aims to hit each of the three ‘heads’ of the deltoid muscle: the anterior, lateral and posterior heads. Each is responsible for lifting your arms, creating shoulder stability and providing a rounded contour.

Take Your Traps Out of the Lift

Nippard’s first tip, inspired by something he sees a lot of guys doing during lateral raises, is to make sure that you’re working the right muscle group during the lift and not accidentally recruiting others.

‘If your traps are taking over on your shoulder movements, your delts could be getting robbed of precious tension,’ he says. ‘For some trainees, their delts go nearly silent when their traps take over.’ Nippard offers a coaching cue of holding a spade vertically and ‘sweeping the weight out to the side’.

Train Your Delts More Often

While a certain ‘less is more’ philosophy has permeated lifting circles over the last few years – Nippard himself has experimented with low-volume training himself by cutting his sessions in half for 100 days – is there something to say about ‘spamming’ shoulder work, rather than only hitting it once or twice a week?

‘I think that’s a mistake if you’re trying to maximise their growth,’ he says, pointing to multiple studies that confirm the efficacy of the workout diminishing after approximately six sets on one muscle group. ‘The best way to get in more effective shoulder work isn’t to throw more sets on top of the workouts you already do, it’s to hit them more often.’

Rather than cramming the volume onto one or two days, he says ‘spread it out to three or four days.’ This works particularly well with isolation exercises, including lateral raises and rear delt flys, Nippard explains.

Get a Strong Shoulder Press

Focusing on ‘any vertical press that you can overload,’ says Nippard, including ‘machines, dumbbells, or barbells’, is the secret sauce to noticeably greater shoulder mass. ‘Load it up with a weight that you can do for five or six reps and add a little weight each week,’ he says. ‘Stick with that for a year…as you progressively lift more weight on the shoulder press, you’re increasing the mechanical tension your delts experience’. Mechanical tension, Nippard says, ‘is the main driver of hypertrophy’.

Bring Your Waist Down

At the midpoint of the video, Nippard leans on a neat bodybuilding tactic that can make your shoulders appear larger. Comparing his physique between 20.6% and 9% body fat, he explains that his shoulders are ‘broader and rounder because my waist is smaller, and there’s less body fat around my deltoid muscles,’ he says. ‘The cuts are deeper, there’s more separation between the heads, and this gives the illusion of a more 3D look.’

Train at All Muscle Lengths

Discussing how each muscle, not just those in the shoulders, is shortened during the concentric phase of the lift and lengthened during the eccentric phase, Nippard offers an easy way to create some variety and make sure the whole range of motion is working in your favour.

While dumbbell lateral raises ‘provide more tension when the delt is short,’ he says, and ‘cable laterals provide more tension when the delt is long’, it’s really about allowing for the full range of movement during each exercise. ‘On your shoulder presses, go deeper and don’t stop when shoulders hit parallel, but sink your arms as low as they can comfortably go’. For cable lateral raises, he says, stretch the cable ‘across your body, rather than stopping at your side.’

Pick the Right Progression

‘We all know that progressive overload is the key to keeping a muscle growing,’ says Nippard, and ‘you need to add a little more stress to the muscle each week over time’. If you ‘keep using the same weight, for the same reps week in and week out, the muscle has no reason to keep growing’.

The catch, however, is that isolation exercises like dumbbell lateral raises are hard to progress – there are only so many increments you can lift safely, after all – so Nippard advises a technique called ‘double progression,’ in which you aim for a ‘rep range, not a rep target’. For example, hit 10 reps at week one, 11 reps at week two and 12 reps at week three, all using the same weight. Once you’ve maxed out, you can then up the weight. Adding ‘one rep to one set is enough to keep progression moving,’ says Nippard.

Target All Heads of the Delts

Though the anterior, lateral and posterior heads get all the headlines, Nippard points to a study that identified how there are ‘seven intramuscular segments to the deltoid, each with its own separate tendon,’ he says. ‘Each of these seven tendons has a separate function.’

To make the most of your shoulder training, Nippard explains that instead of rear, lateral and front raises, also incorporate movements for the planes in between, such as incline dumbbell Y-raises and 45-degree cable rear delt pulls.

Fitness coach Ajay Sangwan recently shared his idea of the “perfect workout” during an appearance on Pankaj Sharma’s podcast. Speaking about the importance of workout structure, Sangwan said, “5 steps to the perfect workout…Warm-up: Protect your joints before you push them. Compound Lifts: Focus on movements that engage multiple joints. Core Training: A strong core—not just visible abs—is the key to a healthy lower back. Cardio: Keep the heart healthy. Stretching: Never leave the gym with tight, unrelaxed muscles. If your trainer isn’t teaching you these five things, it might be time to find someone who actually understands the science of training.”

Orthopaedic specialists say the advice is far more important than many gym-goers realise, especially at a time when fitness routines are increasingly shaped by social media trends and fast muscle-building goals.

According to Dr Gazanfar Patel, Orthopaedic – Minimal Invasive / Robotic Joint Replacement and Sports Medicine Specialist, Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central, gym-related injuries are becoming increasingly common among young adults.

“As orthopaedic specialists, we are seeing a rise in gym-related injuries, especially among people who jump straight into heavy lifting without preparing the body first,” says Dr Patel. “Muscles may feel ready mentally, but joints, tendons, and ligaments need gradual activation.”

He explains that proper warm-ups improve blood circulation, increase joint mobility, and prepare muscles to safely handle physical load.

“Skipping warm-ups can lead to muscle strains, shoulder impingement, knee pain, lower back issues, and even ligament injuries over time,” Dr Patel says. “Similarly, avoiding stretching after workouts leaves muscles tight and stiff, which affects posture and recovery.”

Are influencer workouts ignoring fitness science?

“Social media has made fitness more visual than functional,” says Dr Patel. “People are chasing aesthetic exercises or viral routines without understanding movement mechanics or body alignment.”

He explains that foundational exercises such as squats, deadlifts, rows, and presses remain among the most effective because they train multiple muscle groups simultaneously while improving coordination, balance, and joint stability. However, he stresses that these exercises must be performed with proper form and gradual progression.

“Compound lifts are valuable only when technique is correct,” Dr Patel explains. “The ‘no pain, no gain’ mindset often pushes people to ignore early warning signs from the body, and that is where injuries begin.”

Why core strength matters beyond abs

Dr Patel also points out that core training is widely misunderstood in modern fitness culture. “A strong core is not just about visible abs,” he says. “It is the body’s natural support system for the spine.”

According to him, weak core muscles are among the leading causes of chronic lower back pain, poor posture, and movement instability.

“Many flashy workouts focus only on appearance-driven training and ignore spinal support, recovery, and movement quality,” Dr Patel says. “Fitness science has always prioritised sustainability over shortcuts.”

What a balanced workout actually looks like

“From an orthopedic perspective, an ideal workout should include four pillars: mobility, strength, cardiovascular fitness, and recovery,” says Dr Patel.

He recommends beginning every session with 5–10 minutes of dynamic warm-up and mobility drills, followed by structured strength training that combines compound and controlled isolation exercises.

“Core work should be included at least two to three times a week to support spinal health and balance,” he adds.

Cardio, according to Dr Patel, remains equally important for heart health, endurance, circulation, and recovery, while post-workout stretching helps maintain flexibility and reduce stiffness.

“The best workout routine is not the most intense one,” he says. “It is the one your body can sustain safely for years without breaking down.”

You’re standing at your front door, facing a five-kilometre commute to work. But you don’t have your car, and there’s no bus route.

You can walk for an hour, or jump on your bicycle and arrive in 15 minutes, barely breaking a sweat. You choose the latter.

Many people would make the same choice. It’s estimated that there are more than a billion bikes in the world.

Cycling represents one of the most energy-efficient forms of transport ever invented, allowing humans to travel faster and farther while using less energy than walking or running.

But why exactly does pedalling feel so much easier than pounding the pavement? The answer lies in the elegant biomechanics of how our bodies interact with this two-wheeled machine.

A wonderfully simple machine

At its heart, a bicycle is wonderfully simple: two wheels (hence “bi-cycle”), pedals that transfer power through a chain to the rear wheel, and gears that let us fine-tune our effort. But this simplicity masks an engineering that perfectly complements human physiology.

When we walk or run, we essentially fall forward in a controlled manner, catching ourselves with each step. Our legs must swing through large arcs, lifting our heavy limbs against gravity with every stride. This swinging motion alone consumes a lot of energy. Imagine: how tiring would it be to even swing your arms continuously for an hour?

On a bicycle, your legs move through a much smaller, circular motion. Instead of swinging your entire leg weight with each step, you’re simply rotating your thighs and calves through a compact pedalling cycle. The energy savings are immediately noticeable.

But the real efficiency gains come from how bicycles transfer human power to forward motion. When you walk or run, each footstep involves a mini-collision with the ground. You can hear it as the slap of your shoe against the road, and you can feel it as vibrations running through your body. This is energy being lost, literally dissipated as sound and heat after being sent through your muscles and joints.

Walking and running also involve another source of inefficiency: with each step, you actually brake yourself slightly before propelling forward. As your foot lands ahead of your body, it creates a backwards force that momentarily slows you down. Your muscles then have to work extra hard to overcome this self-imposed braking and accelerate you forward again.

Kissing the road

Bicycles use one of the world’s great inventions to solve these problems – wheels.

Instead of a collision, you get rolling contact – each part of the tyre gently “kisses” the road surface before lifting off. No energy is lost to impact. And because the wheel rotates smoothly so the force acts perfectly vertically on the ground, there’s no stop-start braking action. The force from your pedalling translates directly into forward motion.

But bicycles also help our muscles work at their best. Human muscles have a fundamental limitation: the faster they contract, the weaker they become and the more energy they consume.

This is the famous force-velocity relationship of muscles. And it’s why sprinting feels so much harder than jogging or walking – your muscles are working near their speed limit, becoming less efficient with every stride.

Bicycle gears solve this problem for us. As you go faster, you can shift to a higher gear so your muscles don’t have to work faster while the bike accelerates. Your muscles can stay in their sweet spot for both force production and energy cost. It’s like having a personal assistant that continuously adjusts your workload to keep you in the peak performance zone.

Walking sometimes wins out

But bicycles aren’t always superior.

On very steep hills of more than about 15 per cent gradient (so you rise 1.5 metres every 10 metres of distance), your legs struggle to generate enough force through the circular pedalling motion to lift you and the bike up the hill. We can produce more force by pushing our legs straight out, so walking (or climbing) becomes more effective.

Even if roads were built, we wouldn’t pedal up Mount Everest.

This isn’t the case for downhills. While cycling downhill becomes progressively easier (eventually requiring no energy at all), walking down steep slopes actually becomes harder.

Once the gradient exceeds about 10 per cent (it drops by one metre for every ten metres of distance), each downhill step creates jarring impacts that waste energy and stress your joints. Walking and running downhill isn’t always as easy as we’d expect.

Not just a transportation device

The numbers speak for themselves. Cycling can be at least four times more energy-efficient than walking and eight times more efficient than running. This efficiency comes from minimising three major energy drains: limb movement, ground impact and muscle speed limitations.

So next time you effortlessly cruise past pedestrians on your morning bike commute, take a moment to appreciate the biomechanical work of art beneath you. Your bicycle isn’t just a transport device, but a perfectly evolved machine that works in partnership with your physiology, turning your raw muscle power into efficient motion.

There were many secrets we would like to have known about Kate Hudson’s look at the Vanity Fair Oscar’s party. How did the 47-year-old look so flawless? Where is her dress from? And how did she get those abs? According to Megan Roup, founder of The Sculpt Society, double pulse scissors, alternating toe taps and cross-body crunches were just some of the moves used to get the star ready for the glamorous A-list event. Working up a sweat just thinking about it? Same.

Well, you can breathe easy. As experts tell Body+Soul, building strong abdominals needn’t require hours spent working out in the gym or forking out for an expensive regime. Because, at its core, the steeliest results when it comes to your midsection are achieved out of the gym as much as in it. The even better news? There are many holistic tweaks you can make, which, when done consistently, can nudge your middle closer to your goals.

While most of us don’t have the desire, time or money to try and achieve a Hollywood-standard physique, honing a strong core – whatever that looks like for you – can be valuable for long-term health. Dylan Rivier, a personal trainer who has himself trained a number of famous faces (and abs), explains, “This can aid functional stability, which in turn helps with your balance and posture, and ultimately keeps you injury-free and moving well.” Now you’re talking.

So, for the steps to nurture a stronger core, here are nine expert-approved ways to help bring those abs into the spotlight (with endless sets of crunches well and truly out of the picture).

#1. Pack in protein

There is a key ingredient when it comes to setting the scene for abs in the kitchen. “Protein intake is especially important, as it supports muscle maintenance and satiety, which helps with fat loss,” notes Veronika Larisova, a nutritionist, exercise physiologist and co-founder of Chief Nutrition. She emphasises the need for enough daily protein – a minimum of 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight to maintain muscle as you train. While that might sound daunting, you can load up on 31 grams alone via a single chicken breast, and up to  20 grams can be found in a serving of Greek yoghurt.

However, there are a variety of ways to top up on the increasingly popular macro – all without supplementing with a shake. “Protein can be obtained from both animal sources such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy, but also plant sources like legumes, tofu, nuts, seeds and wholegrains,” says Dr Jessica Fitzpatrick, a dietitian specialising in gastrointestinal diseases at The Melbourne Gut Clinic. Further still, recent research has shown that protein consumption at breakfast is even better for building muscle mass. We’ll take two poached eggs with our avocado toast, then.

#2. Hero your gut health

Bloating will do your ab goals no favours. “Bloating or abdominal distension, whether related to gut issues or fluid retention, may also make the midsection look less defined even when body fat is relatively low,” explains Laith Cunneen, an exercise physiologist and physiotherapist at Peak Physio.

“It’s often related to how food is being digested, how much gas is being produced, whether there is constipation, food intolerance or an underlying condition such as IBS,” continues Dr Fatima Khan, who specialises in hormonal health and teaches at the University of Melbourne. “The gut microbiome may also play a role.” Indeed, persistent bloating can be a sign that this area of your health needs some TLC.

There are some key ways to ease bloating while supporting your overall gut health, which is also linked to everything from boosted immunity to better mood. “Eat regularly and avoid long periods of grazing – allowing time between meals helps support normal gut motility patterns,” suggests Dr Fitzpatrick. “Taking time to eat, chewing thoroughly and tuning into hunger and fullness cues can also support better digestion.”

#3. Swap ‘ab challenges’ for yoga poses

While loading the supermarket trolley with legumes, yoghurt, meat and eggs, don’t forget that exercise remains an important component for a stronger core. It may be tempting to zone in on your midsection during workouts if that’s your goal, but it’s actually a combination of full-body strength work done simultaneously with core exercises that will ultimately deliver the results you’re after. “A common mistake is believing stomach fat can be spot-reduced by doing lots of ab exercises,” notes Cunneen. Indeed, those ‘30-day ab challenges’ you hear about or see online are unlikely to yield the desired effect.

The good news is that the simple act of lacing up your trainers could be a win for both daily exercise and an active gut (which is good for that bloating we’re trying to avoid). “Regular daily movement helps the bowel contract and move contents forward,” explains Kate Sindrey, a pelvic floor physiotherapist at The Melbourne Gut Clinic. “This doesn’t need to be intense exercise – walking is one of the most effective options. A short 10 to 20-minute walk after meals can help reduce bloating.” Give yoga a try, too. “Simple poses such as knees-to-chest stretches, gentle spinal twists, pelvic tilts and cat-cow movements can help stimulate bowel activity and reduce abdominal tension,” she adds.

#4. Mind your hips

Back in the gym (or the park, or your living room floor), Rivier points to a frequent mistake he sees when it comes to people training their abs: “Using your hip flexors instead of your abs to complete an exercise,” he shares. “Whether it’s a crunch, sit-up, weighted pull-down or hanging leg raise, the opportunity is always there to let your hip flexors dominate the movement – it’s important to understand the difference because one will help you sculpt your six-pack, while the other will give you sore hips and no results.”

If in doubt about your form, ask a PT, physiotherapist or other qualified expert for guidance. “It’s not hard, but people often need coaching through it at least once to discover the difference,” continues Rivier. “The easiest way is to imagine shortening the distance from your shoulders to your hips, curling into a ball – whether you’re lifting yourself up from the ground in a crunch or lifting your legs from floor to ceiling. If you keep the spine straight in any of the classic ab exercises, you’re just hitting your hips.”

#5. Champion wholefoods

Loading your plate with nourishing foods is vital for overall health as well as ab goals – and so is keeping grocery buys that will hinder your good work to a minimum. “Prioritising whole, minimally processed foods is a strong foundation,” says Larisova. “The biggest culprits for bloating and water retention are refined carbs, ultra-processed foods and sugar alcohols, such as erythritol and maltitol.” The latter are reduced-calorie sweeteners that may be found in foods marketed as ‘healthy’.

What should your fuel look like instead? “Focus on nutrient-dense meals that include quality protein as well as fruit and vegetables,” continues Larisova. This is an approach to nutrition that isn’t only conducive to ab definition, but also overall health and energy levels. However, Larisova also emphasises the importance of balance. “Consistency matters more than extremes, so it’s about sustainable habits rather than short-term restriction,” she adds.

#6. Avoid pop to help performance

Sipping on enough H2O is likewise crucial. “Adequate fluid intake supports bowel function, particularly for people prone to constipation,” says Dr Fitzpatrick, nodding to how hydration can ease bloating and gas. Larisova adds: “It also reduces water retention and helps regulate appetite and energy levels – plus, even mild dehydration can affect physical and mental performance.” Neither of which will make you feel especially inclined to smash your workout or want to cook up a nutritious meal.

While probiotic pop and alt-milks may be popular drinks in the wellness space, they are likely doing you no favours in the ab department. Valentina Duong, a dietitian, nutritionist and specialist in performance nutrition, highlights that carbonated drinks of any kind can increase bloating and gas, while Larisova points out that options like almond milk may contain emulsifiers, sweeteners and gums, with evidence of a disruption to appetite regulation. In short, not ideal.

#7. Prioritise sleep to support training

It may sound too good to be true, but your snooze time can also aid your ab agenda. “A lower body fat percentage, within a healthy range, is key – and therefore so is sleep,” explains Olivia Arezzolo, sleep expert and author of Bear, Lion or Wolf. She points out that in a study which changed nothing else except shut-eye – including eating and moving the same amount – participants lost 55 per cent more body fat by sleeping 8.5 hours rather than 5.5 hours.

In fact, not getting enough Zs can have a nightmarish effect, it seems. “With a lack of sleep, we experience a 28 per cent increase in the hunger hormone called ghrelin, and an 18 per cent decrease in the satiety hormone called leptin,” warns Arezzolo. “In the long-term, metabolism is driven down and there is increasing difficulty seeing muscle definition – meaning that even if we train for abs, the body isn’t provided the biological support to preserve it.” Makes sense.

#8. Try different moves to improve definition

Seeing good progress when it comes to a stronger core? Then it’s time to switch up your moves to help push those abs. “Once someone has a solid training base and relatively low body fat, then direct abdominal training can improve definition,” says Cunneen. “That includes exercises that target the rectus abdominis, such as crunches, hanging leg raises and rollouts.” It’s also crucial to train the core in different ways “such as through side planks, cable woodchops and anti-rotation exercises that can help develop the obliques and broader trunk musculature”, he adds.

“Dumbbell pullovers and scapula push-ups are also worth including,” continues Cunneen. “These engage the serratus anterior, which runs along the side of the rib cage and contributes to the layered, defined look of the midsection beyond just the abs themselves.” On that note, don’t forget to increase the intensity. “Body weight is great, but you need to progressively overload your abs just like you would with every other activity in the gym,” adds Rivier. Unsure where to begin? A PT can help get you on the right track.

#9. Personalise your approach

While we’d all like to have abs like Hudson, or another chiselled star like Chris Hemsworth (whose younger brother Liam was only half joking when he told him, “I hope I have abs like you when I grow up,” in a tongue-in-cheek snap to mark his 42nd birthday), it turns out that there’s more than Hollywood stardom making a difference in the stakes for a stronger core.

Yes, it’s true: a one-size approach definitely doesn’t fit all and some people will find building ab definition more of a breeze than others. “Genetics play a significant role in how we store fat, how easily we build muscle and even determine the shape of the abdominal wall itself,” points out Dr Khan. “Body fat percentage also influences how visible the underlying muscles are – so two people may have similarly healthy lifestyles, but very different levels of abdominal definition.” You heard that right: someone can be eating well, exercising regularly and still not see a six-pack.

“That desired ‘six-pack’ is simply the rectus abdominis muscle showing beneath the skin,” explains Larisova. “Ab definition ultimately comes down to body fat levels, and if it’s too high they simply won’t be visible.” But while being leaner may help if you’re shooting for a super-toned midriff, it’s vital that your body fat stays within a healthy range – typically considered to be around 25 per cent to 31 per cent for women and around 18 per cent to 24 per cent for men.

What’s more, ab definition is reliant on remaining well-fuelled. “Great nutrition supports training and recovery, which affects performance and long-term body composition,” explains Duong. So if you’re unsure how to get the balance right, or want a plan that’s personalised to you and your goals, seek qualified help to optimise your fitness while ensuring you’re nourishing your body properly. Because at its core, building abs is about a healthy middle ground.

Lower leg pain is a common issue that affects people of all ages. It can happen due to long hours of standing, excessive walking, running, muscle strain, poor posture, or even lack of physical activity. The pain may happen in the calves, shins, ankles, or surrounding muscles and can be a mild discomfort or a sore pain. In many cases, tight or weak muscles are one of the main reasons behind this problem. Ignoring the pain can make daily activities more difficult and may even affect balance and movement over time. Fortunately, simple exercises and stretches can help relax the muscles, improve flexibility, and help in leg movement.

Regular exercise not only helps reduce lower leg pain but also strengthens the muscles that support the legs and ankles. Gentle stretching and strengthening exercises improve blood circulation, reduce stiffness, and lower the risk of future discomfort. Here are some of the best exercises that can help reduce lower leg pain.

Exercises For Lower Leg Pain

1. Calf Stretch

This is one of the easiest and most effective exercises for reducing lower leg pain. Tight calf muscles can pull on the lower leg and create discomfort while walking or standing. Stretching these muscles helps release tension and improves flexibility. Stand facing a wall and place both hands on it. Step one foot backward while keeping the heel on the ground and the knee straight. Bend the front knee slowly until you feel a gentle stretch in the calf of the back leg. Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds and repeat on the other side. This exercise improves blood flow and reduces stiffness in the lower leg muscles.

2. Toe Raises

Toe raises help strengthen the muscles around the shin area. Weak shin muscles can lead to pain in the front part of the lower leg, especially during walking or running. Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Keep your heels on the ground and slowly lift your toes upward. Hold for a few seconds and lower them back down. Repeat this movement 10-15 times. This exercise improves muscle control and supports the lower leg during movement.

3. Heel Raises

Heel raises are excellent for building strength in the calf muscles and ankles. Strong calves support better balance and reduce pressure on the lower legs. Stand straight while holding a wall or chair for support. Slowly lift your heels off the floor so you are standing on your toes. Hold for a moment and then slowly lower your heels back down. Repeat 10-15 times. This exercise strengthens the muscles used in walking, climbing stairs, and standing. It also improves circulation in the lower legs, which can help reduce soreness and tiredness.

4. Ankle Circles

Ankle circles improve mobility and flexibility in the ankle joint. Stiff ankles can affect the way a person walks and may increase strain on the lower leg muscles. Sit comfortably and lift one foot slightly off the ground. Slowly rotate the ankle in a circular motion 10 times clockwise and then 10 times counterclockwise. Repeat with the other foot. This exercise is gentle and suitable for most people, including older adults. It helps improve movement, reduces stiffness, and supports better balance.

5. Seated Hamstring Stretch

The hamstrings are located in the back of the thigh, but tight hamstrings can affect the lower legs by changing posture and movement patterns. Stretching them can reduce tension through the legs. Sit on the floor with one leg stretched out and the other bent inward. Keep your back straight and slowly lean forward toward the extended leg. Hold the position for 20-30 seconds and switch sides. This stretch improves flexibility and reduces tightness in the entire lower body. Better flexibility can decrease stress on the calves and shins during daily activities.