Men's Workout Program

Warm up before you engage in any kind of exercise, whether aerobic or strength training. This gets the blood coursing through your body and loosens up your muscles so you reduce the chances of pulling something and injuring yourself. Run in place, do jumping jacks, or just walk up and down some stairs for 10 minutes.

Stretch your muscles by holding them rather than bouncing them. Stretch your arms, legs, and especially your obliques to the point of resistance, but not to the point where you begin to feel pain. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and then release. Always stretch before you do weight work.

Exercise your arms by doing curls and triceps extensions. Men tend to work on their arms more than any other part of their body when it comes to doing weights. This is partly due to the use of arms in sports from baseball to tennis, but it is also due to the media image of the big biceps as the epitome of male fitness. Don't make the mistake of concentrating solely on the biceps, however. Recommended exercises for the forearms include the forearm curl and reverse forearm curl. To build biceps, do the curls with either dumbbells or a barbell, the concentration curl, and the hammer curl. Exercises for the triceps include the triceps pulldown, overhead triceps extension, and dumbbell kickback.

Lengthen the time you can enjoy outdoor recreation as you get older by developing a stronger back. Over time, most men will begin to experience back pain more often. Build up your back with a series of exercises that include lateral pulldowns and the bent-over row. Add in non-weight exercises like pelvic tilts and seated twists.

Add an aerobic exercise to your regimen of stretching and weightlifting to keep your weight down. If you already enjoy hiking or biking, you are already probably getting enough aerobic exercise unless you are just a weekend warrior. Add a road bike to your mountain bike experiences and take a brisk ride around the neighborhood three days a week. Take up jogging in the morning before you go to work or in the afternoon after you come home. Consider investing in a recumbent bike. Some outdoor sports like rock climbing and even some hiking does not provide the aerobic benefit you need so a commitment to a dedicated regimen of jogging or biking may be necessary.