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Being able to rise from a chair without using your hands might appear trivial, yet it serves as a vital indicator of strength and autonomy as we get older. Having spent over 25 years in the fitness field, mostly working with clients over 60, I’ve observed that certain bodyweight exercises highlight the difference between those who are thriving and those who face difficulties. As a certified STOTT PILATES® Instructor and personal trainer, I’ve become adept at identifying what truly matters for functional strength. Today, I’m discussing three crucial exercises that demonstrate you have greater strength than most of your peers—and how mastering these can be essential for healthy aging.
The Strength Challenges You Face After 60
As a fitness expert, I’ve observed how the nature of strength challenges evolves for individuals over 60. These challenges encompass executing daily activities, muscle loss (sarcopenia), maintaining balance and stability, mobility and flexibility, as well as a decline in speed and power.
Bodyweight exercises are especially beneficial for building strength after 60 because they are low-impact, making them suitable for aging joints. These exercises closely replicate everyday motions and are excellent for enhancing balance and stability.
3 Bodyweight Moves That Prove Your Strength After 60
Squats
How it proves strength at this age: Squats use body weight and mimic sitting down into a chair and getting out of a chair. Squats are a functional movement that we perform every time we sit on a chair or the toilet. If you can get in and out of a chair or up and down from the toilet without using your hands, you have great strength over 60.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet hip distance apart
- Reach arms forward to counterbalance as the weight shifts back
- Flex the hips and knees
- Stick butt out
- Keep core engaged
- Return to standing, bringing arms by the side
- Complete 10-15 repetitions
Target that indicates “stronger than most”: Start with completing 10-15 reps. If you can successfully complete more than 30 reps in 60 seconds without breaking form, you are in excellent shape.
Common mistakes to avoid: People tend to flex the knees before the hips, which creates more pressure in the knees. That doesn’t make it easier, just harder on the knee joints. Some clients complain about it hurting their back. Keep the core engaged and spine neutral.
Planks
How it proves strength at this age: Planks are a great exercise to strengthen the core. Not only does it use the abdominal muscles isometrically, but it also challenges scapula stability and lower body alignment. You also have to perform planks on the floor. If you can get down and back up off the floor without assistance, you are strong over 60.
How to do it:
- Start on hands and knees
- Step feet back to extend the hips and knees
- Keep your hands under your shoulders
- Maintain a neutral spine
- Keep abdominals engaged
- Send energy to the heels
- Hold for 30-90 seconds
Target hold time that indicates “stronger than most”: Start with mastering 30-second planks. If you can hold a plank for 60 seconds or more, you are stronger than most.
Common mistakes to avoid: People will tend to poke their hips up to decrease the lever length, or they will sink into their spine, creating more tension on the spine.
Crawling
How it proves strength at this age: Crawling is very rudimentary. We learn to crawl as babies, and it is actually very beneficial as we age. It creates a cross pattern which stimulates proprioception, integrates cognitive function, and works the vestibular system. Most people don’t get down on the floor. If they fall, they can’t get up. Crawling is one of my favorite exercises to have my aging population perform.
How to do it:
- Get on your hands and knees on the floor
- Begin to crawl forward, ensuring that you are using your opposite hand and knee
- Take 4 to 6 crawls forward
- Then take 4-6 crawls in reverse
Target that indicates “stronger than most”: How fast can you crawl without losing form? If you are able to get down and back up from the floor, then you are stronger than most.
Common mistakes to avoid: Moving one hand first, then the opposite knee; not crawling with the opposite hand and knee simultaneously.
How You Compare to Your Peers
I have been in the fitness industry for 25 years. The majority of my one-on-one clients are over the age of 60. I have all of my aging clients perform these exercises. Most people that don’t exercise regularly won’t be able to perform these exercises with proper form. Let alone, they probably won’t be able to get down on the floor and back up again without assistance. What happens if they fall and can’t get up off the floor? Remember those commercials? It’s true. If you can’t get up on your own, you are not going to age well.
Looking for more easy ways to lose fat? Here’s How Long Your Walking Workout Should Be To Shrink Belly Fat.
Lisa Morton, BSc, CPT
