“Getting older does not have to mean slowing down. It is really about shifting from just living longer to actually living well,” says Carter Lee, a certified personal trainer at BetterMe who has nearly a decade of experience helping clients of all ages.
He specializes in creating strength and mobility programs to guide clients to move better and stay consistent, and below, he shares five of his go-to exercises with Tom’s Guide.
As a reminder, if you’re a complete beginner or you’re returning to exercise following an extended break or injury, it’s always worth seeking personalized advice from a qualified professional to avoid putting yourself at risk of injury.
What are the exercises?
Here are the functional exercises Lee recommends for building strength and stability as a senior. The focus here is building a strength that’ll keep you independent for longer, not just in your workouts, but when carrying groceries, rising from a chair, or catching yourself before a stumble.
All of the exercises use a chair or wall for support to minimize your risk of falling. To increase intensity, you might want to invest in one of the best resistance bands for certain exercises.
1. Seated marches
“This move improves hip flexor strength and coordination while seated, serving as an effective low-impact way to elevate the heart rate. To maximize this, it is highly beneficial to use arm weights or small dumbbells. This creates a 'cross-crawl' challenge that forces your core to stabilize against the added momentum of the limbs, turning a simple mobility drill into a functional strength exercise,” says Lee.
2. Back folds
“A gentle way to keep your spine moving well. This one targets flexibility through the lower back and neck, so that range of motion stays where it needs to be,” Lee says.
3. Standing leg abduction
“Done with a chair for support, this works the muscles along the outside of your hips, the ones responsible for keeping you stable side-to-side and your pelvis level when you walk,” says Lee.
4. Chest mobility with a band
“This movement opens up the chest and gets the shoulders moving more freely. Over time, it helps correct that forward-rounded posture many of us develop, and it actually makes breathing easier too,” says Lee.
5. Alternating leg abduction
“Lying on the floor with your legs guided by the wall, this one zeros in on the outer hips and glutes, while your lower back stays fully supported and out of the equation,” Lee adds.
What are the benefits?
All of the exercises above help build full-body, functional strength while minimizing the risk of falling and getting injured while doing so. Exercises like seated marches and leg abductions also help address imbalances in the body, helping you work on your weaker side to improve overall stability.
If you spend a lot of time sitting, back folds and thoracic mobility exercises can improve the flexibility of your back and neck, helping prevent stiffness and discomfort.
Finally, all of the exercises above will help improve your core strength, which in turn can help protect your lower back from injury. Think about really engaging your core throughout the workout. To do this, imagine you’re trying to squeeze into a pair of jeans that are too small — suck your belly up and in and brace your core as you move.
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