Build and maintain strength after 60 with these four seamless daily moves.
Once you reach 60, one thing’s for certain—building strength is essential. The reason? Sarcopenia, the natural loss of strength and muscle you endure with age. There are many things that cause sarcopenia, including hormonal changes, inactivity, diet, and more. It’s important to take the right steps to strengthen your muscles so you can continue to perform daily tasks and live an independent life.
We spoke with Domenic Angelino, CPT with International Personal Trainer Academy, which offers NCCA-accredited Personal Trainer (CPT) and Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) programs, who shares four daily exercises that can do exactly that. In fact, performing them regularly will keep you stronger than most 40-year-olds after 60.
“If you don’t use your muscles, they will get weaker over time,” Angelino tells us. “One way to reduce the loss of muscle over time is to regularly lift weights at the gym. Another way to go about it is to naturally maintain an active lifestyle. If you’re always moving around, your body will act to preserve your muscle mass, and therefore strength, because you’re using it more. So, making movement a part of your day can have some benefits—although, you’ll see the biggest benefit from more traditional exercise using heavy resistance.”
So without further ado, Angelino breaks down the best exercises to weave into your daily routine to build strength and overall fitness.
Dumbbell Goblet Squats
“This is a solid all-around strength exercise for your lower body. It also requires you to engage your upper body muscles to hold the dumbbell right in front of your chest, so it gets a lot done in a short period of time,” Angelino explains. “You can start with body weight to work up to using a dumbbell if you need to.”
- Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width.
- Grasp a dumbbell with both hands, and hold the weight in front of your chest with your elbows pointing down and tucked in.
- Hinge at the hips and bend your knees to squat, keeping the weight in place.
- Squat as far as you can with a straight back.
- Push through your heels to return to the starting position.
- Perform 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps.
Dumbbell Bench Press
“This trains about half of your most important upper-body muscles,” Angelino points out.
- Lie flat on your back on a workout bench.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand just outside your chest.
- Keep your feet flat on the ground and maintain an engaged core.
- Press the dumbbells over your chest until your arms are extended but not locked out.
- Use control to lower the weights.
- Perform 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps.
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Dumbbell Bent-Over Rows
“This trains the other half of your most important upper body muscles,” Angelino says.
- Stand tall, feet hip-width apart and a dumbbell in each hand in front of you.
- Hinge at the hips until your torso is parallel to the ground.
- Maintain a flat back and soft knees.
- Allow the weights to lower with your arms completely extended.
- Row the dumbbells up toward your torso.
- Lower to the start position with control.
- Perform 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps.
Plank
“This exercise helps improve your core stability by strengthening the part of your abdominal muscles most responsible for doing so,” Angelino says. “It might seem intimidating at first, but you can perform this exercise on your forearms and knees at first to get used to it. And, you can work up to regular planks over time. It’s also important to do these over a soft surface to keep your joints, like your knees, safe.”
- Assume a forearm plank with your forearms on the floor—elbows under your shoulders—and body straight from head to heels.
- Engage your legs, glutes, and core.
- Perform 3 sets of 30 to 45-second holds.
Alexa Mellardo
Alexa is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist based in Greenwich, CT. She has 11+ years of experience covering wellness, fitness, food, travel, lifestyle, and home. Read more about Alexa
