If You Can Do These 4 Bodyweight Exercises After 60, You’re Stronger Than Most 40-Year-Olds
Training with your body weight is an excellent way to determine how well your body moves and functions. According to Payton Causey, personal training leader at Life Time Westlake (TX), bodyweight exercises challenge your strength and control as you move through space. We spoke with Causey about the benefits of bodyweight workouts—and the exact moves that show you’re stronger than most 40-year-olds after 60.
“These types of movements train strength, mobility, stability, balance, and coordination across multiple joints and muscles, helping your body work as one connected system,” Causey explains. “By keeping these patterns sharp, you preserve the ability to do the things that matter most such as getting up from the floor, walking up and down stairs, carrying groceries, or reaching for something on the top shelf, all with confidence and ease.”
4 Exercises That Prove You’re Stronger Than Most 40-Year-Olds After 60
While it’s challenging to narrow real-world mobility and strength down into solely four exercises, Causey says if you can master the ones below, he can “almost guarantee” you have stellar stability, mobility, and strength.
“[Acing these moves] shows that you have the strength, mobility, and stability to do things many of your peers may struggle with such as reaching overhead, squatting down, bending, rotating, or balancing on one leg,” Causey adds. “These abilities reflect a body that moves efficiently, absorbs force safely, and can perform the physical demands of daily life.”
Keep in mind that these sets and reps are generalized. Causey recommends following your current abilities and progress from there. It’s always wise to consult with a local certified personal trainer before starting any new exercise regimen.
Dead Hang
- Hold onto a pull-up bar with an overhand grip.
- Allow your body to completely hang with arms extended and feet off the floor.
- Hang onto the bar for 3 sets, 9/10 effort level—until your grip is almost compromised but not complete failure.
- The ideal goal is to aim for a 60-second hold.
Bodyweight Turkish Get-Up
- Begin lying on your back with right knee bent, right foot flat on the ground, and right arm extended toward the sky. Your left arm and leg should rest on the floor at roughly a 45-degree angle.
- Activate your core and press through your right foot and left elbow to shift onto your left forearm.
- Press up onto your left hand, keeping a tall chest and your right arm extended overhead.
- Lift your hips off the ground so you’re able to sweep your left leg underneath your body, positioning your left knee below your hip in a half-kneeling position.
- Come to a full kneel, keeping your right arm lifted overhead.
- Stand up tall, pressing through your front heel.
- Reverse the motion.
- Complete 3 sets of 1 to 2 reps per side, aiming for consecutive sets on each.
Single-Leg Box Squat
- Set up a sturdy box or workout bench behind you.
- Balance on one leg a few inches ahead of the box, the other leg extended straight in front of you.
- Bend the knee of your standing leg as you slowly lower into a single-leg squat.
- Lightly tap the box with your buttocks.
- Drive through the front heel to rise up.
- Perform 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps per side.
- Ideal goal is to aim for 10 reps on each leg.
Pushup
- Start with a high plank with hands under your shoulders and your body straight.
- Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor.
- Maintain a long, straight body as you lower.
- Press back up, straightening your arms.
- Perform 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps.
- The ideal goal is to complete 20 reps (for men) and 10 reps (for women).
