Fitness

The 13 Best Exercises To Lose Belly Fat & Slow Aging

Published

2 years ago

January 27, 2024

The 13 Best Exercises To Lose Belly Fat & Slow Aging

As you grow older, your body begins to change quickly—and these changes are challenging to accept. Gaining extra girth around your belly, for instance, is far from the best feeling. After all, you want to live your best life—and look like it, too. An annual physical can be stressful just by stepping onto the scale. But there are some crucial tweaks you can make in your daily regimen to turn back the clock and slim down. We have some of the best exercises to lose belly fat and slow aging that trainers highly recommend adding to your routine.

Killing two birds with one stone always sounds appealing when it comes to maintaining your physical fitness and leading an overall healthy lifestyle. You’re likely aware of the benefits of staying fit as you age. You lose lean muscle mass and may experience health issues such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and back pain as you get older, OrthoInfo reports. Regular physical activity can help strengthen your bones and lessen muscle and joint pain. So, we’re here to share some pretty stellar exercises that’ll help you lose belly fat and slow aging. What’s better than that?

Keep reading to learn more, and when you’re finished, be sure to check out these 11 Strength Exercises To Regain Muscle Mass as You Age.

Barbell Landmine Squats

barbell landmind squat to lose belly fat and slow aging — Tim Liu, C.S.C.S.

Ready to lose belly fat and slow down aging? Start this first exercise by positioning a barbell inside a landmine attachment. If you don’t have one, anchor the end of the barbell against a wall for the same effect. Pick up the barbell, and grip the end of it with both hands. Take a tiny step back. Keep your chest tall and your core tight. Lower into a squat by pushing your hips back and sitting down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Drive through your heels to rise up, flexing your quads and glutes to finish. Perform three to four sets of 10 reps.

RELATED: I Tested 5 Popular Workout Leggings & There’s One Clear Winner

Chest-Supported Dumbbell Rows

Adjust the bench to an incline (at least 30 to 45 degrees). Grab two dumbbells, position your chest on the pad, and keep your knees on the seat of the bench. Straighten your arms, and begin pulling the two dumbbells in with your elbows, squeezing your lats at the end of the motion. Lower the dumbbells down for the full stretch before the next rep. Perform three to four sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Barbell Split Squats (Between Legs)

barbell split squat exercise to lose belly fat and slow down aging — Tim Liu, C.S.C.S.

Assume a standard split squat position with a barbell between your legs. Keeping your chest tall and your core tight, squat down, reach down, and grab the bar with both your hands. Stand tall by driving through with the front heel of the leg, flexing your quad and glute to finish. Come down and all the way back up with each rep. Finish all reps on one side before switching over to the other. Perform three to four sets of 10 reps per leg.

RELATED: 12 Essential Rules To Get Back Into Shape After a Long Break

Landmine Shoulder Press

Place a barbell inside a landmine attachment. If you don’t have access to a landmine, stick a barbell to a corner of a wall to get the same effect. Assume a staggered stance with one foot forward and one foot back. Grab the bar, keeping your chest tall and your core tight, then press it forward. Flex your tricep and shoulder hard at the top, then bring the weight back to the starting position. Perform all reps on one side before switching over. Complete three to four sets of 10 reps for each arm.

Dumbbell Goblet Squats

Vertically hold one dumbbell with both hands in front of your chest. Keep your core tight, push your hips back, and squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Then, drive through your heels and hips to stand back up, flexing your quads and glutes to finish. Complete three sets of eight to 10 reps.

RELATED: 10 Best Balance Exercises To Keep You Active & Mobile as You Age

Barbell Romanian Deadlifts

Grab a barbell, and position it right in front of your body. Keeping your chest tall and your knees soft, push your hips back while dragging the barbell down your thigh. Once you feel a solid hamstring stretch, drive your hips forward, squeezing your glutes to finish. Complete three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Lie down on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Hold the weights straight up above you with your arms fully extended. Pull your shoulder blades back and down onto the bench as you lower the weights toward your chest. Get a solid chest stretch at the bottom, then press the weights up to the starting position, squeezing your upper pecs and triceps at the top. Perform three sets of eight to 10 reps.

Cable Rows

wide grip cable row to lose belly fat and slow aging — Tim Liu, C.S.C.S.

Grab the attachment on a seated row machine, and place your feet firmly on the footpad. Pull the handle out, then completely straighten your legs. Make sure your chest remains tall as you drive your elbows back to your hips, squeezing your back and lats hard to finish. Straighten your arms, and get a solid stretch in your shoulder blades before performing another rep. Perform three sets of 10 to 12 reps.

RELATED: 5 At-Home Strength Workouts for Belly Fat

Dumbbell Reverse Lunges

Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Take a long stride back with one leg. Firmly plant your heel down into the floor, then lower yourself until your back knee touches the ground. Push through with your front leg to come back up, then repeat with the other side. Complete three sets of 10 reps for each leg.

Incline Treadmill Walk

To perform this steady-state exercise, set your treadmill at the highest incline (usually 15 degrees), and set the speed at 2.5 to 3.5 mph. Walk at this pace and incline for at least 20 minutes, and watch your heart rate go up!

Climbing

trainer doing stair climber to increase visceral fat burn — Tim Liu, C.S.C.S.

Begin climbing on the stair climber. If you’re a first-timer, go at a comfortable pace you’re able to maintain for at least 15 to 20 minutes. Once you build up more endurance (or if you’re a bit more of an intermediate level), crank up the speed, or climb for at least 30 minutes.

Incline Treadmill Runs

incline treadmill run to burn belly fat and slow aging — Tim Liu, C.S.C.S.

Stand with your legs outside of the belt. Set your treadmill to a 10% incline and the speed a little higher than your typical jog pace. Once the incline and speed are set, hop onto the belt, and sprint hard for 30 seconds. Once you sprint for 30 seconds, grab the handles on the side, and carefully jump back onto the stable non-moving part of the treadmill. Rest for 30 seconds, and then repeat this workout for 10 rounds.

Bike Sprints

Hop on the exercise bike, and begin pedaling hard for 20 to 30 seconds. Once you sprint the prescribed amount of time, cruise at a slower pace for 30 to 45 seconds before sprinting again. Aim for eight to 10 rounds total.

Click to comment

Fitness

I’ve interviewed yoga teachers, physical therapists and personal trainers—here are the five stretches they’ve recommended that have actually made a difference for me

Published

10 hours ago

November 5, 2025

Press Room

I’ve interviewed yoga teachers, physical therapists and personal trainers—here are the five stretches they’ve recommended that have actually made a difference for me

Now I’m hitting my third trimester of pregnancy—and as my energy levels have dropped—I’ve pressed pause on working out, but I’m still doing the same set of stretches to stay mobile and limber.

I work from home most days and whenever I need a screen break, I do a micro sequence of stretches that trainers, yoga instructors and physical therapists have recommended to me during interviews over the years—ones that have genuinely helped.

Most of them target muscles in my hips and lower back—common problem areas for me and anyone who works a desk job or spends hours sitting. But there’s also a shoulder and mid-back stretch that feels particularly satisfying when I’ve been hunched forward for too long.

All these stretches provide a moderate amount of immediate relief, but I’ve noticed the biggest changes come when I do the moves consistently, a couple of times a day, holding each one for around 60 seconds.

Since committing to these stretches regularly, I’ve noticed improvements in my lower-body flexibility and mobility.

Seated forward fold

Time: 30-60sec

How to Do Seated Forward Bend Pose in Yoga – YouTube

Watch On

Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you.
Hinge at your hips and reach your hands forward until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings.
Hold your calves, thighs or feet and gently pull your torso down.
Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, breathing deeply.

Targets: Muscles along the backs of your legs, including hamstrings and calves.

Couch stretch

Couch Stretch – Hip Opener by Kettlebell Athletes – YouTube
Couch Stretch - Hip Opener by Kettlebell Athletes - YouTube

Watch On

Time: 30-60sec

Kneel with your back to a couch or wall.
Lift your right foot and move your right knee back, closer to wall, as far as is comfortable.
Step your left foot forward so your left knee is bent to 90° and your left knee is directly above your left ankle, and rest your hands on your front knee.
Lift your chest so your torso is upright and hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds, then switch sides.

Targets: Muscles on the front of the upper thigh, like the hip flexors and quads.

Pigeon pose

How To Do PIGEON POSE | Exercise Demonstration Video and Guide – YouTube

Watch On

Time: 30-60sec each side

Start on your hands and knees.
Bring your right knee toward your right hand and position your ankle toward your left hand, so your shin is horizontal, or as close to as your mobility comfortably allows.
Straighten your left leg on the floor behind you.
To deepen the stretch, lower down onto your forearms and lower your head toward the floor.
Hold for 30 to 60 seconds then switch sides.

Targets: Muscles around the hips, buttocks and lower spine, including the gluteal muscles, piriformis, psoas and hamstrings.

Calf stretch

How to do a calf (gastrocnemius) stretch | Bupa Health – YouTube

Watch On

Time: 30-60sec each side

Stand facing a wall, with your hands on it, and take a step back with your right foot, bending your left knee slightly.
Keeping your right leg straight, press your right heel into the floor and lean forward—you should feel a stretch in your right calf.
Hold for 30 to 60 seconds then switch sides.

Targets: Muscles in your lower leg, like your soleus and gastrocnemius.

Prayer stretch

Time: 30-60sec

Kneel facing your couch.
Clasp your hands together and put your elbows on the edge of the couch.
Walk your knees back until your torso is nearly parallel to the floor.
Drop your head and chest toward the floor.
Hold for 30 to 60 seconds.

Targets: Muscles around your chest, back and shoulders, including your pecs and latissimus dorsi.

Fitness

Nope, not pull-ups — this is the one bodyweight exercise you need to build strength and muscle in your back and biceps without weights

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2025

Press Room

Nope, not pull-ups — this is the one bodyweight exercise you need to build strength and muscle in your back and biceps without weights

I love pull-ups because they are the epitome of a challenging bodyweight compound exercise, meaning they target multiple muscle groups and joints simultaneously. If you can do them with just your own weight, great, but they are also endlessly scalable using one of the best resistance bands.

Don’t worry if you can’t do pull-ups yet, or you’re just looking for another way to build your back and biceps. All you need to start with is to improve foundational upper-body strength. And you can achieve this using a bodyweight exercise that targets the same muscle groups, but with a horizontal pulling motion rather than a vertical one.

Here’s how to do the bodyweight row and why I recommend it as a pull-up alternative. Plus, these are the benefits of building strength in your back and biceps.

What are the benefits of pull-ups?

(Image credit: Getty images)

Pull-ups are a bodyweight strength exercise, and many gym-goers see them as the gold standard for natural upper-body strength. But there are functional training benefits as well, like being able to pull your own bodyweight upward. That translates to situations like climbing or pulling yourself out of water.

The exercise mainly strengthens your upper body muscles, like your biceps, shoulders and back. It also improves forearm and grip strength and requires your core for stabilization. Of the back muscles, these include the latissimus dorsi, teres major, posterior deltoids and mid to lower traps, plus a little emphasis on the pectoralis major, depending on your grip (palms toward you, which is a chin-up).

It’s worth learning the difference between pull-ups versus chin-ups; most people find chin-ups easier, and it’ll work your biceps and pecs slightly differently.

Can beginners do pull-ups?

It depends entirely on your experience with exercise and, to some degree, how you’re built. I’ve found that even without much practice, I’ve always been able to maintain a couple of pull-ups unaided, and that is in part because I have high levels of relative strength. Think of a gymnast; these people have high relative strength, which means they are strong compared to their body size.

You might also find pull-ups fairly easy if you’ve developed the relevant muscle groups through other means of exercise or sports. For most of us, it takes time to build the strength and skill to perform them.

There are a few movements that will help you get there, and these include inverted rows or Australian pull-ups. I would aim to get strong at these before moving to pull-ups with a resistance band, because I’ve always been taught it’s usually better to work at strengthening your muscles first with your bodyweight and learning the correct movement patterns before relying on other means.

One bodyweight exercise I love is the bodyweight ring row; you can switch rings for TRX or suspension trainers. It builds foundational strength before you head to the bar, and improves stability and coordination.

How to do the bodyweight ring row

an illo of a man doing an interverte row

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The bodyweight ring row is a pulling exercise that can improve gymnastic skills and help with pulling power, strengthening your back and biceps like a pull-up does.

How:

Set up gymnastics rings or a bar in front of you. The handles should be between hip and chest height, depending on how vertical you want to be.
Grip the rings overhand or neutral, engage your core and place your feet on the ground hip-width apart.
Lean back and extend both arms shoulder-width apart. Ensure your body forms a straight line from head to toe.
Bend your elbows and pull your body upward as far as you can, drawing your elbows back and squeezing your shoulder blades together.
Lower to the starting position. Repeat for reps.

Verdict

There are plenty of variables to play around with to make this exercise harder or easier. Stepping your feet further away will make the exercise more challenging, whereas walking your feet closer to a standing position will make it easier. A neutral grip creates a narrower position, whereas an overhand grip creates a wider movement pattern and closely mimics a standard pull-up.

Gymnastics rings are fantastic at freeing up your range of motion, challenging balance, stability and coordination without the rigidity of bars. Suspension trainers are similar in this way, and you can adjust the height of the rings and suspension handles to suit your exercise.

The most well-known suspension training brand is TRX, and you can pick up options for home gyms with adjustable straps, a door anchor and combined foot cradles and handles.

Take your time practicing the full range of motion and moving with control as you lower your body weight every rep, utilizing time under tension — keeping muscles contracted for longer. I recommend aiming for 8-12 reps and 3-4 sets, gradually increasing the difficulty by adjusting the height of the handles or your body.

As master Hyrox trainer, Jake Dearden, explained to my fellow writer when she was learning to do a first pull-up: “There’s merit in building strength in the muscles individually, but it is better to train them simultaneously.” The main reason is that you’re training muscles to recruit together the way they would during the pull-up itself.

Barbell bent-over rows, seated rows, assisted pull-ups and other multi-muscle pulling exercises will help you develop the prerequisite strength to pull your own body weight over the bar. But that doesn’t mean that isolation exercises like biceps curls don’t have a place in your workouts; we just recommend prioritizing compound exercises.

More from Tom’s Guide

Back to Dumbbells

Fitness

NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science Expands Autonomy v2 Licensing Model for Chiropractic and Wellness Centers

Published

2 days ago

November 3, 2025

Press Room

NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science Expands Autonomy v2 Licensing Model for Chiropractic and Wellness Centers

NorthStar launches Autonomy v2, a cloud-based system for science-driven fitness and business growth.

Irvine, California – November 02, 2025 – NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science has announced the expansion of its Autonomy v2 licensing model, introducing a comprehensive framework for chiropractic and wellness centers seeking to integrate premium fitness services into their practice. The new release includes a Business Handbook and an Intuitive Revenue Worksheet, designed to guide professionals through every phase of licensing and implementation.

Autonomy v2, NorthStar’s flagship cloud-based exercise science system, combines research-driven programming with an adaptable business model that aligns with clinical operations. Using Google Drive and Google Docs for secure program distribution allows wellness centers to deliver structured, science-based strength and conditioning programs without the overhead or complexity of traditional fitness management platforms.

“The new licensing materials make the transition simple and transparent,” said Vanessa Rowe, Sales Director at NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science. “Chiropractors and wellness professionals can now evaluate projected revenue, understand program structure, and begin integrating Autonomy v2 into their service offerings within days.”

The Autonomy v2 Business Handbook outlines operational procedures, revenue structures, and client-facing program models that enable wellness facilities to expand their services while maintaining compliance and clinical credibility. The Business Revenue Worksheet gives potential licensees a clear view of financial potential by mapping out realistic conversion rates, pricing tiers, and scalability options.

Built on advanced exercise science, Autonomy v2 features proprietary sequencing and pathway-based training models derived from NorthStar’s research in adaptive kinesiology and exercise physiology. Each program is delivered with detailed session manuals and integrated progression systems, providing an intelligent blend of autonomy and professional oversight.

For wellness businesses, the system presents an immediate opportunity to add a new premium revenue stream by offering scientifically validated fitness services directly through their practice. The licensing model is structured to support both single-facility operations and multi-location scalability, with NorthStar providing complete digital setup and support via its cloud infrastructure.

NorthStar continues to expand its ecosystem of professional resources through its digital platforms, ensuring licensees have access to up-to-date documentation, analytics, and consult support. Interested wellness professionals can learn more or begin the licensing process by visiting

www.autonomyv2.com or www.northstar-central.com

About NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science

NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science (NorthStar AES) develops cloud-based fitness and wellness systems that merge physiology, biomechanics, and data analytics into scalable, research-driven programming. Through its flagship platform Autonomy v2, NorthStar equips gyms, chiropractic offices, and wellness centers with advanced exercise science solutions designed to elevate service quality and revenue potential.

For additional information or media inquiries, please contact:

Marketing and Communications Department

George Pierce george@northstar-central.com

www.northstar-central.com | www.autonomyv2.com

Press Contact

Name: George Pierce

Title: Director of Marketing & Communications

Company: NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science, LLC

Email: george@northstar-central.com

Phone: (800) 878-9438 ext. 6

Company Address

NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science, LLC

4000 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250

Irvine, CA 92604

Main: (800) 878-9438

SMS/MMS: (949) 687-1297

NorthStar Advanced Exercise Science (NorthStar AES) develops cloud-based exercise science systems that combine physiology, biomechanics, and data analytics to create structured, scalable fitness solutions. The company’s flagship platform, Autonomy v2, provides wellness and chiropractic professionals with a premium, research-driven fitness system that integrates seamlessly into existing clinical operations.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, NorthStar AES supports gyms, wellness centers, and healthcare providers throughout the United States by delivering advanced programming, licensing support, and digital infrastructure via its Google Cloud-based network.

Learn more at www.northstar-central.com and www.autonomyv2.com

This release was published on openPR.