Enhance your health and extend your lifespan by incorporating these vital exercises into your daily routine.

As we grow older, our bodies undergo natural transformations. Lean muscle mass diminishes, bone density decreases, and everyday tasks can become more challenging. Alongside regular strength and cardio workouts, it’s crucial to pay attention to your fascia—the connective tissue that supports your body and prevents sagging, often more effectively than muscles alone. According to Arlena Bessard, LMT, founder of Heavenly Hands Massage And Bodywork and a fascia expert with over two decades of experience in women’s integrative pain care, focusing on fascia can significantly rejuvenate your body after the age of 60. With insights from Bessard, we’ve identified the top exercises to help you feel younger.

Bessard emphasizes the importance of muscle, describing it as “a powerful, anti-aging, living tissue essential for health, vitality, and strength.” However, she also highlights the often-overlooked role of fascia, which she describes as a “humble superhero” that interacts with and supports muscle tissue by running through, on top of, underneath, and over it.

Fascia is rich in nerves that communicate directly with your nervous system and other bodily networks. Therefore, maintaining healthy fascia is crucial for overall well-being and longevity.

Your fascia contains nerves that directly communicate with your nervous system and the body’s communication networks. So, it makes perfect sense that keeping your fascia in top shape is key for overall health and longevity.

What Makes a Certain Form of Exercise “Anti-Aging”?

According to Bessard, an exercise can be classified as “anti-aging” if it supports your health, posture, and strength rather than causing undue stress or pain.

“This looks like building healthy, vital muscle, keeping fascia flourishing and mobile, promoting better balance, reduces stress, releases HGH, and improves sleep,” Bessard explains. “All of this prevents falls/allows speedy+healthy recovery should this happen while helping the brain and body to show forward improvement.”6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Rebounding

Rebounding involves performing jumps and movements on a mini trampoline. It’s not only a stellar full-body workout, but it’s also fun—and a stellar way to spice up a traditional sweat session.

“Rebounding expands and contracts every single cell in your body (hair, nails, eyeballs, all of your organs in addition to your very skin, muscles, bones, and more!) This is similar to the benefits of being in a steam sauna. It’s a cellular detox and cellular workout simultaneously which greatly improves strength to name just one,” Bessard tells us, adding, “Check with your health professional to assess if a rebounder is right for you and your situation as well as which particular rebounder is the best fit for you. That matters quite a bit.”

Dual-Task Training

Engaging in dual-task training, like walking, enhances balance, gait, attention, and cognitive function.

“This is especially helpful in older adults and those with neurological conditions like stroke, Parkinson’s, or MS,” Bessard points out. “It enhances the brain’s ability to multitask, boosts mental sharpness, improves daily living activities, and reduces fall risk by training the brain to handle movement and thinking simultaneously, mimicking real-life situations.”

Step-Back Lunges

“The step-back lunge strengthens the glutes, improves the stability of your walking, and maintains a functional gait pattern. This is essential for avoiding falls/recovering from them should they ever happen,” Bessard explains. This classic exercise builds lower-body strength and balance.

1. ​​To begin, stand with your feet hip-distance apart and arms at your sides. Maintain a tall posture.
2. Step your left foot back a few feet, making sure to land on the ball of your foot.
3. Lower into a lunge position until your front thigh is parallel to the ground and your back knee hovers just above the floor.
4. Press through your front heel to rise back up to standing.
5. Repeat all reps on your left side before switching over to the right.

Sit-to-Stand (Chair Squat)

“The sit-to-stand—aka chair squat builds leg strength, balance confidence, and prevents age-related muscle loss in lower body—the #1 predictor of fall risk and independence,” Bessard tells us.

1. Begin seated at the front of a sturdy chair, feet under your knees.
2. Lean forward just a bit.
3. Try to stand up without using your knees, hands, or additional support.
4. Use control to slowly sit back down.
5. To progress this exercise, perform single-leg stands or hold weights.

Single-Leg Standing Balance

“The single-leg standing balance improves neurological coordination, ankle and overall stability, and prevents falls, strengthens the glutes, core, and leg muscles all while enhancing functional fitness,” Bessard points out. “An additional bonus benefit is that this serves as a marker for overall health and longevity by engaging brain body systems.”

1. Stand tall on a flat surface with your feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides.
2. Activate your core while keeping your shoulders relaxed.
3. Shift your body weight onto your left foot.
4. Lift your right foot off the floor.
5. The time begins once your leg comes off the floor and stops when your foot touches the ground. Balance for at least 10 seconds.
6. Lower and repeat on the other side.