7 Standing Moves to Shrink Belly Pooch After 45

Ah, belly fat—it’s so easy to put on and even more challenging to get rid of with age. As time passes, your metabolism slows, hormones shift, and you naturally lose lean muscle mass. In addition, body fat tends to gravitate toward the midsection—ugh. When it seems like no matter what you do, the dreaded “belly pooch” simply won’t budge, these seven standing exercises can help shrink and tone your midsection after 45.

“Standing core work demands balance, proper posture, and coordination, which means these exercises recruit more muscles beyond just the abdominal muscles,” says Caine Wilkes, Olympian and certified USA weightlifting coach at Garage Gym Reviews. “Crunches mostly target and isolate the upper abs, but standing movements can activate the obliques, lower abs, and even the glutes and back, giving more carryover to everyday strength and quality of life.”

7 Standing Exercises That Shrink Belly Fat

According to Wilkes, performing these exercises three to four times per week is a solid goal to strive for.

“It’s frequent enough to see progress, but it also leaves room for recovery and other modes of training, like lifting or cardio,” he says, while pointing out, “Exercises won’t target a specific part of the body to lose fat, but these are helpful exercises to help burn more calories, which will help reduce fat over time with a balanced diet that puts your body in a calorie deficit.”

Standing Bicycle Crunches

1. Start standing tall with your hands behind your head.
2. Lift your knee as you twist your torso and bring your right elbow toward your lifted knee.
3. Continue to alternate sides with control.
4. Perform 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per side.

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Overhead Dumbbell Side Bends

1. Stand tall, feet hip-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell with both hands and press it overhead.
3. Bend your torso from side to side, keeping your hips forward.
4. Return to the center.
5. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps per side.

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Standing Russian Twists

1. Stand tall, feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent.
2. Clasp your hands or hold a medicine ball in front of your chest.
3. Rotate your torso to one side, twist back through the center, then go to the other side, keeping the movement smooth.
4. Perform 3 sets of 20 to 30 twists total.

Reverse Wood Chop

1. Stand tall with feet shoulder-distance apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell with both hands.
3. Rotate your torso as you swing the weight diagonally upward across your body to the opposite side, ending with the weight over your shoulder.
4. With control, reverse the motion and lower the weight to the start position.
5. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps per side.

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Standing Mountain Climbers

1. Stand tall, feet hip-width apart, left arm reaching overhead and right arm bent.
2. Lift your right knee to your chest.
3. Return to the start.
4. Reach your right arm overhead while lifting your left knee.
5. Perform 3 sets of 30 to 45 seconds.

Side Leg Lifts

1. Stand tall, holding onto a wall or sturdy chair for support, if needed.
2. Lift one leg out to the side.
3. Slowly lower, and repeat.
4. Perform 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per side.

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March With Torso Rotations

1. Stand tall.
2. Begin to march in place, lifting one knee up toward your chest as high as you’re able to while rotating your torso from side to side.
3. Draw in your abs tight as you lift each knee.
4. Slowly lower before switching sides.
5. Perform 3 sets of 30 to 45 seconds.

Alexa Mellardo

Alexa is a content strategist, editor, and writer based in Greenwich, Connecticut. She has 11+ years of experience creating content for travel, lifestyle, fitness, wellness, F&B, home, and celeb news publications. Read more about Alexa