Challenge your legs today by seeing how many squats you can perform beyond 50, and then enhance your routine with five different variations.

Maintaining lower-body strength after the age of 50 is crucial for ensuring long-term mobility, independence, and injury prevention. Strong legs are essential for various activities, including walking, balancing, climbing stairs, and rising from a seated position. As we age, muscle mass and strength naturally diminish, making it vital to preserve lower-body strength to navigate everyday life with ease and confidence.

Assessing leg strength can be challenging because many traditional methods involve machines or heavy lifting, which might not accurately represent real-world capabilities. While a hefty leg press might seem impressive, it doesn’t necessarily demonstrate how well your hips, knees, ankles, and core work in unison. This is where bodyweight squats come into play. Research indicates that this dynamic exercise requires coordination, joint control, muscular endurance, and balance—qualities that are more significant for longevity and mobility post-50 than sheer strength alone.

We spoke with James Bickerstaff, CPT, a personal trainer at OriGym, who shared with ETNT, “Performing 25 to 30 continuous bodyweight squats with proper form places you above average. Achieving 40 or more reps signifies truly elite leg strength for this age bracket. Squats enhance the quads, glutes, and hamstrings while also improving the stability of the knees, hips, and ankles.”

We chatted with James Bickerstaff, CPT, a personal trainer at OriGym, who tells ETNT, “Completing 25 to 30 continuous bodyweight squats with good form places you well above average. While 40 or more reps indicates truly elite leg strength for this age group. Squats strengthen the quads, glutes, and hamstrings while reinforcing knee, hip, and ankle stability.”

(Next up: The 8-Minute Chair Routine That Rebuilds Leg Strength Better Than Squats After 65)

Bodyweight Squat Test

This is the main test that defines elite leg strength after 50. It measures how well your legs, hips, and core can repeatedly move your body through a full range of motion without assistance.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet just wider than hip-width apart and your toes turned slightly outward.
2. Engage your core and keep your chest upright with your eyes looking straight ahead.
3. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower your body.
4. Descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor while keeping your heels planted.
5. Drive through your heels to stand back up.
6. Squeeze your glutes fully at the top without locking your knees.
7. Continue for as many controlled reps as possible without pausing.
8. Perform one to two test sets, resting for 90 to 120 seconds between attempts. Stop immediately if your form begins to break down.

This test mirrors everyday movements like sitting down and standing up while challenging muscular endurance and joint stability. For adults 50 and over, doing 40 or more clean reps is a strong indicator that your leg strength is elite for this age group.

Tempo Squats

Tempo squats are a variation that builds the strength and control required to safely increase your squat endurance. Slowing the movement increases time under tension without adding joint stress. More time under tension means stronger quads and glutes.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than your hips.
2. Inhale and brace your core before lowering.
3. Lower into the squat over a slow count of four seconds.
4. Pause for one to two seconds at the bottom without relaxing.
5. Drive up to standing position in one controlled second.
6. Exhale at the top and reset.
7. Aim for three sets of 8 to 12 reps. Rest for 60 to 90 seconds between sets.

Pause Squats

 

Pause squats eliminate momentum and force your muscles to stabilize the joints at the bottom of the movement, which is the most demanding part. Holding the bottom position helps strengthen connective tissues around your joints and improves balance.

How to do it:

1. Set up in a standard squat stance.
2. Lower into the squat under control.
3. Hold the bottom position for two to three seconds.
4. Keep your chest upright and your knees aligned over your toes.
5. Drive through your heels to stand.
6. Fully extend your hips at the top of the movement.
7. Complete three sets of 6 to 10 reps with 90 seconds rest between sets.

Chair Squats

 

Chair squats allow you to build squat volume while maintaining consistent depth and form. This variation also helps build proper squat mechanics and endurance without impacting your joints or causing serious fatigue.

How to do it:

1. Stand in front of a sturdy chair.
2. Sit back slowly until you lightly touch the chair.
3. Keep tension in your legs (do not fully sit down).
4. Drive through your heels to stand up.
5. Squeeze your glutes at the top of the movement.
6. Control your breathing throughout the movement.
7. Perform two to three sets of 15 to 20 reps with 60 to 90 seconds of rest between sets.

Squat Breathing Sets

Breathing properly during squats can help delay fatigue and allow you to get in more reps without compromising form. Failing to breathe during exercises often limits squat endurance more than lack of leg strength.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

How to do it:

1. Stand tall in your squat stance.
2. Inhale before lowering and exhale slowly as you stand.
3. Take one full breath at the top.
4. Repeat the squat with the same breathing rhythm.
5. Aim for two to three sets of 12 to 20 reps. Rest for 60 to 90 seconds between sets.