When you’re young, your fitness routine may revolve around personal aesthetic goals: washboard abs, toned arms, and fitting into a certain dress size. But as you age, your priorities may shift into training for longevity, mobility, stability, and strength.
Focusing on those aspects before you reach your sixties is incredibly important, though. If you can enter into your senior years with a decent level of deep core strength, a good sense of balance, and sharpened coordination, you’ll be better protected against serious falls and other age-related issues.
I recommend the following three full-body exercises for all of my personal training clients under 60 (and even a few over 60, too). They’re great for strengthening multiple muscle groups at once and training the entire body to move more efficiently. If you’ve got a dumbbell handy, you can give them a try for yourself.
How to do the full-body exercises
Check in with your doctor before starting any new activity. Beginners should consider meeting with a certified personal trainer to learn correct form on these exercises. A trainer can provide feedback, offer modifications if necessary, and provide progressions when you’re ready.
Complete 10-12 reps of each exercise for 3 sets. You can choose to do all 3 sets together or perform the exercises as a circuit.
You’ll only need one moderately-heavy dumbbell for this workout (10-15 pounds).
Once these exercises start feeling easy, you can work with a heavier dumbbell or add more reps and sets to the workout.
These exercises each combine two different movements. If you’re a beginner, consider practicing the movements separately first, and then once you feel comfortable, combine them together for the full exercise.
The exercises are:
1. Reverse lunge to balance and press
- Hold a dumbbell in your right hand.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
- Engage your core muscles.
- Bring the dumbbell to your right shoulder.
- Step your right foot behind you.
- Bend your knees and lower your right knee towards the floor.
- Stand back up and drive your right knee forward to a 90-degree angle.
- Press the dumbbell overhead.
- Pause briefly.
- Bring your right foot behind you again.
- Continue for 10-12 reps, then repeat on the other side.
2. Side lunge to front raise
- Hold a dumbbell length-wise between your hands.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
- Engage your core muscles.
- Step your left foot to the side, keeping your toes pointed forward.
- Bend your left knee and lower your hips towards the floor, keeping your right leg straight.
- Lift the dumbbell to chest level.
- Push off your left foot and return to the starting position, lowering the dumbbell as you move.
- Continue for 10-12 reps, then repeat on the other side.
3. Deadlift to single-arm row
- Hold a dumbbell in your right hand.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
- Engage your core muscles.
- Hinge your hips behind you, as if you were about to sit down in a chair.
- Continue driving your hips behind you as you lean your torso forward, allowing the dumbbell to drop towards the floor.
- Bend your elbow and bring the dumbbell towards your hip.
- Pause briefly.
- Lower the dumbbell back towards the floor.
- Drive your hips forward and stand tall.
- Continue for 10-12 reps.
Benefits of these exercises
This workout consists of compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at the same time. They merge an upper-body and a lower-body movement together into one exercise, which challenges the entire body and enhances overall coordination.
The reverse lunge to balance and press targets your glutes, hamstrings, quads, shoulders, and core muscles. As you balance, your glutes and core must stabilize your entire body over a small base of support. Strengthening these stabilizing muscles is crucial for maintaining good balance as you get older.
The side lunge to front raise also targets your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and shoulders, and additionally the inner thighs, outer thighs, and pectoral muscles. As you bring the dumbbell up to chest level, your core muscles are activated to support the weight and keep the torso upright.
The deadlift to single-arm row works the hamstrings, glutes, lats, rhomboids, and trapezius muscles in the back. Your core muscles stabilize and support the spine, keeping the torso aligned against the one-sided resistance from the dumbbell.
More from Tom's Guide
- I’m a personal trainer who works with seniors — these are the 4 balance exercises I wish everyone would do before they turn 60, to build strength and stability
- I’m a personal trainer who works with seniors — these 3 ‘dynamic balance’ exercises are crucial for preventing falls
- If you can do this many bicep curls after 60, your upper body strength is considered 'elite'
