Top 4 Upper Body Exercises to Keep You Fit After 60

Mastering these exercises signals that your physique is in prime condition for your age group.

Here’s an important reminder: You only have one body to rely on, making it crucial to maintain its well-being. This means nourishing your body with healthy foods and engaging in regular physical activity. Such habits can ward off chronic illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Consistent exercise not only helps in weight management but also strengthens your body and promotes healthy aging.

But how can you truly assess if your body is robust and healthy? Beyond receiving a positive health assessment from your doctor, there’s another gauge: If you’re past 60 and can execute these four upper-body exercises, your body is in commendable shape.

“While machines have their uses, they don’t mirror the body’s natural functioning. They control the path and plane, eliminating real-life variables. This aspect is particularly crucial for this age group. The ultimate aim isn’t merely to gain strength in the gym but to ensure that strength is applicable outside of it,” states Rob Moal, CPT, a Vancouver, BC-based expert with over two decades of experience in aiding clients to build muscle, lose weight, and move without discomfort.

“Machines have their place, but they don’t replicate the way the body actually has to work. They fix the path, they fix the plane, they remove every variable that matters in real life. And for this age group specifically, that matters more than ever. The goal isn’t just to be strong in the gym. It’s whether that strength transfers outside of it,” explains Rob Moal, CPT with Train Like Rob who’s based in Vancouver, BC and has over 20 years of experience helping clients build strength, shed fat, and move without pain.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

What Is Functional Fitness?

Functional fitness is typically used to describe one’s ability to move seamlessly and maintain independence as they age. They’re able to perform daily tasks like carrying grandchildren, lifting grocery bags, reaching overhead, and getting up off the ground with ease.

“In the training world, I tend to think about this less as a specific category of exercise and more as the result of maintaining muscular strength, mobility, balance, and coordination over time,” explains Fredrick Hahn, Owner at SlowBurn Personal Training Studios. Hahn has owned his SlowBurn Personal Training Studios in New York City and New Jersey for over 20 years, and he and his team work with clients 60+ daily.

“As we age, one of the biggest physical changes we experience is the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength, unless we actively work to preserve it through resistance training,” Hahn adds. “So when evaluating whether someone is ‘in good shape’ after 60, I’m looking at how effectively they can control and use their body in real-world movements, not just whether they can lift a certain amount of weight on a machine.”

Below are four upper-body moves that signal you’re in stellar shape.

Full Pushups

“This is my baseline. Most people don’t think of a pushup as a dynamic plank, but that’s exactly what it is,” Moal tells us. “The whole system has to work, pressing strength, core, scapular control, all of it moving together as one unit. Someone over 60 who can do five clean reps tells me everything I need to know about how their upper body is actually functioning.”

1. Start with a high plank with hands under your shoulders and your body straight.
2. Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor.
3. Maintain a long, straight body as you lower.
4. Press back up, straightening your arms.
5. Perform 5 clean chest-to-floor pushups.

Dead Hang

“Grip strength is one of the most researched predictors of longevity, consistently linked to cardiovascular health and all-cause mortality. A dead hang also shows me shoulder mobility and joint integrity in a way no machine replicates,” Moal explains.

1. Hold onto a pull-up bar with an overhand grip.
2. Allow your body to completely hang with arms extended and feet off the floor.
3. Hang onto the bar for 20 to 30 seconds as a solid baseline. If you’re able to hold for 45 seconds or more, this signals strong grip and shoulder integrity—especially for those 60+.

Pull-ups

“Pull-ups are the gold medal of upper-body testing. Most people over 60 can’t do one, and that’s fine. But if someone can complete one to three full dead-hang pull-ups with control at this age, that’s exceptional. That tells me their posterior chain is strong, their shoulder joint is healthy, and they have real functional reserve that most people their age simply don’t have,” Moal points out.

1. Begin standing tall.
2. Grab onto a pull-up bar using an overhand grip, just outside shoulder-width.
3. Completely extend your arms to assume a dead hang position.
4. Activate your glutes, core, and back as you pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar.
5. Use control as you lower yourself back to the start position.
6. Perform 1 to 3 full dead-hang pull-ups with proper form.

Waiter’s Walk

“I call it the upper-body cousin of the farmer’s carry,” Moal tells us. “Most people have no idea how much is being tested in that one movement. Shoulder stability, thoracic mobility, core control, and gait. All of it at once. The second something breaks down, you know exactly where the weak link is.”

1. Begin standing tall, holding a kettlebell overhead.
2. Begin to walk forward.
3. Walk 20 to 30 feet with control.