Maintaining a strong and healthy body as you age can be achieved by incorporating certain exercises into your regular workout regimen.

Strength training is a crucial component of fitness, particularly as we grow older. It’s not just about achieving a toned appearance. Engaging in bodyweight exercises is vital for preventing muscle deterioration, enhancing strength, and ensuring your joints receive adequate movement. Additionally, these exercises contribute to improved balance and a decreased likelihood of falls.

Leading an active life might involve activities like walking or playing with your grandchildren, but maintaining your strength is equally important for efficiently handling everyday tasks, such as lifting grocery bags.

We consulted with Domenic Angelino, a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) from the International Personal Trainer Academy, which provides NCCA-accredited programs for personal training and nutrition specialization. Angelino recommends six bodyweight exercises designed to help you remain active, agile, and robust beyond the age of 60. Incorporating these exercises into your routine can lead to noticeable gains in muscle and strength.

We spoke with Domenic Angelino, CPT, with International Personal Trainer Academy, which offers NCCA-accredited Personal Trainer (CPT) and Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) programs, who shares six bodyweight moves that will keep you active, mobile, and strong after 60. Once you add them to your regular routine, you’ll notice an increase in muscle and strength.

“Most of the implications of reversing aging aren’t associated with exercise,” Angelino stresses. “That being said, you can exercise in ways that help mitigate the effects of physiological processes that are associated with aging. For example, you can build more muscle. You can get stronger. You can improve your heart health. None of these things reverse aging, but they do make you healthier and more fit.”

A healthy, strong body makes tackling daily tasks seamless, allowing you to continue enjoying your favorite hobbies and lead a confident, independent lifestyle.

6 Exercises That Keep You Healthy and Strong After 60

Keep in mind that a well-rounded workout routine yields results. This includes combining your bodyweight training with weighted exercises, along with flexibility work, cardio, and balance training. Below, Angelino breaks down six productive exercises to weave into your regimen.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Swimming

Swimming puts your entire body to work as you move against the resistance of the water, providing an invigorating cardio session.

“This [aerobic exercise] is great at improving muscular endurance throughout your whole body, which makes it easier to maintain physical activity longer without getting tired, like when you were younger. It also improves aerobic endurance, too, which makes it harder for you to get out of breath throughout your day,” Angelino explains. He recommends performing 10 sets of one full lap.

Shoulder Circles

“Shoulder circles are great at improving shoulder mobility, while also having a minimal positive impact on shoulder muscular endurance,” Angelino tells us. “Both of which will help you get better at raising your hands high above your head. Over time, many people lose the ability to comfortably do so. This can help you work on regaining that ability, or preventing yourself from ever losing it.”

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Extend both arms out to the sides at shoulder level.
3. Make tiny, controlled circles with your arms in a forward direction, slowly increasing the size of the circles.
4. Then, make small circles with your arms in a backward direction.
5. Perform 20 reps of forward circles, then 20 reps of backward circles.

Standing Toe Touch Holds

“Hamstrings tend to get pretty tight for a lot of people over time, which limits their mobility. It even affects your ability to safely reach down and pick up a heavy object, since people tend to compensate for poor hamstring mobility by lifting with their back in a risky way, whenever trying to pick up a heavy box,” Angelino points out. “Getting your hamstring flexibility back to a point that’s closer to when you were younger will help reduce the odds of those sorts of injuries.”

1. Stand tall with your feet hip-distance apart.
2. Hinge forward at your hips, maintaining a straight back.
3. Reach toward your toes with the goal of touching them.
4. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds. Allow your head to hang naturally.
5. Release.
6. Perform 2 sets in total.

Single-Leg Balance

“Balance is something that tends to go with age, especially since the nervous system and brain tend to become less effective over time, especially if not taken care of very well over the years,” Angelino says. “But, balance is very important. Being able to  keep your body stable is something that many younger people take for granted. If you get knocked off balance, you’ll make it easier to  ‘catch yourself’ like when you were younger.”

1. Stand tall with feet hip-width apart.
2. Shift your weight to one leg.
3. Lift your opposite foot slightly off the ground.
4. Maintain a tall posture and level hips.
5. Perform 3 sets of 15 to 30-second holds on each side.

Jogging

“Being able to jog or run is really helpful. It helps you improve your heart health in a pretty efficient way. The healthier your heart is, the longer you’ll likely live,” Angelino says. “And, if you’re able to train your body to jog at a moderate intensity without pain, you’ll also be protecting yourself from pain while walking around throughout your day.”

Angelino recommends jogging for 20 to 30 minutes at a moderate pace.

Hand Plank

“This is highly effective at strengthening your transverse abdominis and improving core stability. It’s an exercise that makes your abs better at keeping your torso in a healthy neutral position,” Angelino explains. “It even helps you do the same for your hips, if you perform the exercise properly by keeping your hips up. Both of these things can help address common causes of back pain. Getting rid of back pain is an easy way to feel a bit younger since you’ll be able to move around throughout your day with way less stress.”

1. Start on all fours—hands under your shoulders and knees under your hips.
2. Step your feet back, one at a time, until your body is straight from head to heels.
3. Activate your core and keep your shoulders stacked over your wrists.
4. Hold the plank for 20 to 30 seconds.