Declines in muscle and bone strength start earlier than you might think. Build a smart workout habit now.
Strengthen the lower body: Squats and stairs.
“Injuries happen when you’re fatigued, and your muscles can’t react as quickly,” Dr. Feeley said. Squats help prevent this fatigue by strengthening the large muscles in your lower body while moving multiple joints at once, which improves overall endurance as well as balance and coordination.
Suggestion: do three sets of 10 to 15 squats four times a week. To further challenge your balance, do them with one foot or both feet on a pillow. Or to focus on strength, squat while holding free weights — close to your chest to start or extended in front of you to work your core more.
If you loathe squats, but still want to strengthen the same muscle groups, try climbing stairs, which is adaptable to different fitness levels, said Dr. Maria Fiatarone Singh, a geriatrician at the University of Sydney. Start by walking up and down the stairs, and graduate to sprinting or wearing ankle weights.
For added difficulty, hop up the stairs on one foot or two feet — holding onto the handrail if necessary for safety. “Hopping is a power movement for your hip and knee extensors,” similar to the power training of box-jumping exercises,”
Get your heart rate up: Take a Nordic walk.
“Nordic walking is unparalleled as an aerobic exercise because you’re not just using the major muscle groups of your legs and hips, but your core, shoulders and arms too….Start with 15 to 20 minutes three times a week and work up to one hour,” Dr. Schaefer advised.
Nordic walking uses the upper body to help propel the body forward. It’s important to keep the arms straight and the poles angled backward so that they push with every step. The basic movement — walking, using poles to propel your movement — can take some getting used to, but online videos can get you started.
Train your upper body: Try hanging around
You don’t need to do pull-ups to benefit from a pull-up bar. Hanging for a minute at a time can be a good way to build grip and arm strength. As with any exercise, it’s best to progress slowly — start by hanging on a bar with your feet supported on a box or chair so that muscles unused to carrying a load can become accustomed to bearing some tension. From there, proceed to an active hang, in which your shoulder blades are retracted and pulled down (as if you’re about to start a pull-up), your core and arms are engaged, and your hands are about shoulder-width apart.
Strengthen your core and hips: Use a slider.
If you’re new to working your upper body and core, Ms. Sciacca suggests holding a simple plank for 30 seconds. Once that’s comfortable, position your feet on the sliders, assume the same position, and work to keep yourself stable. Sliders are small disks on which you rest your hands or feet that slide freely on the floor, or you can use paper plates.
To progress, move one foot in under your body until your knee reaches your chest. Slide that foot back out while your other foot comes in. Continue alternating your feet for up to three rounds of eight reps, keeping the core strong and the back straight.
Improve your flexibility: Foam roll.
Fascia is a system of connective tissue that wraps around our muscles and organs. As we age, fascia becomes less pliable and elastic, which contributes to back pain, stiffness and a limited range of motion. Foam rolling massages out the fascial kinks and improves flexibility.Best of all, the basic moves are simple and time-efficient. Typical areas to roll include the calves, thigh and back. Experiment to see which exercises provide the most relief and between rolling before and after a workout.
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