Standing exercises have gained significant popularity, especially among older adults, for their numerous benefits. These exercises help build strength, enhance balance, and improve coordination, all while engaging multiple muscle groups simultaneously. The movements mirror everyday actions such as walking, climbing stairs, lifting, and standing up from a chair, making them highly functional. Additionally, standing workouts are generally easy on the joints. When practiced consistently, they can support fat loss, including stubborn belly fat.
5 Standing Exercises That Effectively Target Belly Fat
We spoke with Steve Chambers, a Senior Certified Personal Trainer and Gym Manager at Ultimate Performance, who highlights five standing exercises that can reduce belly fat more effectively than traditional gym machines for adults over 55.
“Your core’s primary function is to stabilize your body while upright. Tasks like walking, lifting, bending, carrying groceries, or getting out of a chair require your abdominal muscles to stay active while standing,” says Chambers. “Simply standing activates the core, and when you add movement, load, or instability, the demand on your abs increases significantly. That’s why standing core exercises are so powerful—they engage the abs to brace, stabilize, rotate, resist movement, and support the spine in real-world positions.”
Another advantage of standing exercises is the ability to apply progressive overload by increasing weight or time under tension, which can help you build muscle and improve fitness over time.
“Progressive overload is key to muscle change—especially for your abs,” Chambers explains. “After 55, it’s not just about appearance; you’re training for strength, balance, posture, metabolic health, and longevity. Standing core exercises offer all of these benefits together.”
Five Standing Exercises That Help Reduce Belly Fat
Chambers emphasizes that spot reduction is a myth, and fat loss happens across the entire body. “Endless crunches won’t reduce belly fat unless your diet supports fat loss by maintaining a calorie deficit,” he notes. “Standing core exercises are highly effective because they help build muscle, increase energy expenditure, and strengthen muscles that shape and firm your waist as body fat decreases.”
1. Farmer’s Walk
The farmer’s walk is often overlooked but is one of the most effective core exercises. Carrying heavy weights while walking forces your core to stay engaged, keeping your torso upright and stable.
“Farmer’s walks engage the abdominals, obliques, lower back, shoulders, and grip while also increasing your heart rate,” says Chambers. “The combination of muscular tension and cardiovascular effort makes them incredibly effective for fat loss.”
- Hold a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell (about 50% of your body weight) in each hand at your sides.
- Walk forward with control, keeping your torso tall and steady.
2. Deadlifts
While not typically seen as an ab exercise, deadlifts are a powerful core builder.
“Every rep requires the abs and obliques to brace hard to protect the spine while the lower body generates force,” explains Chambers. “For adults over 55, deadlifts help preserve muscle mass, strengthen the posterior chain, and increase metabolic demand. This is crucial for combating age-related conditions like sarcopenia and osteoporosis, both of which can affect posture. More muscle also leads to higher calorie burn at rest, helping with belly fat reduction.”
- Stand tall with feet hip-width apart, holding a heavy dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs.
- Keep your legs mostly straight with a slight bend in the knees.
- Hinge at the hips and lower the dumbbells along your legs toward the floor, maintaining a flat back and keeping the weights close to your body.
- Engage your glutes and hamstrings to return to standing.
3. Squats
Squats are a foundational movement that engages almost the entire body, including the abs, which work continuously to maintain balance and posture.
“To maximize the core benefits of squats, focus on bracing—take a deep breath, tighten your midsection, and maintain tension throughout the movement,” Chambers advises. “This transforms the squat into both a powerful core exercise and an effective calorie burner.”
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.
- Extend your arms forward or place your hands on your hips. Use a chair for support if needed.
- Bend at the hips and knees to lower into a squat, ensuring your thighs reach a seated position or go slightly deeper.
- Push through your heels to return to standing.
4. Dumbbell Side Bends
Side bends are excellent for targeting the obliques and deep spinal-support muscles.
“Unlike many floor exercises, side bends allow you to use meaningful resistance, making progressive overload possible. After 55, maintaining muscle around the waist supports posture, spinal stability, and the appearance of the midsection as fat decreases,” says Chambers.
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a light dumbbell in each hand.
- Engage your core and slowly bend to the right, lowering the right dumbbell toward your thigh.
- Return to the starting position and repeat on the left side.
5. Standing Woodchops
Woodchops are a highly effective rotational movement that targets multiple muscle groups, including the abs, obliques, shoulders, and upper back.
“The twisting motion under tension challenges the core in ways that sit-ups and planks cannot,” says Chambers. “Woodchops can be performed with a dumbbell, cable, resistance band, or bodyweight, and they effectively engage the entire core.”
