Standing Exercises That Test Your Fitness After 65

A little healthy competition can make exercise more engaging, and research suggests it may also support attention and memory.

If you want to test your functional fitness after 65, five simple standing exercises can provide a useful challenge at home. Exercise scientist Domenic Angelino, MS, MPH, CSCS, CPT, says varying standing movements can place different demands on the body and help develop practical strength.

“Different types of standing exercises place different demands on your body. Some will require you to stabilize more with your lower back. Others will demand more from your abdominal muscles. It can vary a lot. So, it’s helpful to include a variety of standing exercises in your routine,” Angelino tells us. “In the real world, nearly all physical activity requires you to heavily stabilize your body as you do it. For example, when walking around, you need to use your lower back muscles to hold your torso upright so your body doesn’t collapse forward. If you’re sitting on a machine at the gym, those same muscles will still be at work to help you hold your torso upright, but they won’t have to work nearly as hard because the supports of the seat remove a lot of the demand that keeping your torso upright places on your body.”

These standing exercises work several areas of the body and can help build strength, stability, mobility and coordination. Here is how to perform each one.

Goblet Squat

This movement works the lower body and core while also requiring the upper body to support the weight.

“Squatting like this is a great way to build functional fitness because you’re doing something with your lower body, core, and upper body at the same time,” Angelino tells us.

1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell with both hands in front of your chest. Keep your elbows tucked down.
3. Push your hips back and bend your knees to lower into a squat.
4. Go as low as you can while keeping your back straight.
5. Drive through your heels to stand again.

 

Push Press

The push press combines leg drive with an overhead movement. It can help develop muscular power and coordination between the upper and lower body.

“The push press is an explosive exercise, meaning that it’s something that has to be done quickly. Explosive exercises help you build muscular power. And, the push press involves being explosive in both your upper and lower body. You also have to coordinate your upper and lower body muscles so that they work together to lift the weight both quickly and safely,” Angelino explains.

1. Stand upright with your feet about hip-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell in one hand at shoulder height, with your palm facing forwards or inwards.
3. Brace your core, keep your chest tall and bend your knees slightly.
4. Drive upwards through your legs while pressing the weight overhead until your arm is fully extended.
5. Lower the dumbbell back to shoulder height under control.

 

Bent-Over Row

This exercise targets the upper body while also requiring you to maintain a stable position through your hips and back.

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Hinge at your hips until your torso is roughly parallel with the floor.
3. Keep your back flat and your knees slightly bent.
4. Let your arms hang towards the floor.
5. Pull the dumbbells towards your torso.
6. Pause for one second.
7. Lower the weights slowly to the starting position.

 

Sumo Deadlifts

Deadlifts involve several muscle groups working together to produce force while keeping the body stable.

“Deadlifts are highly functional because they involve many muscles in your body working together in a complicated way to produce a large amount of force. Some muscles are working to lift the weight, like your quads and glutes. Other muscles are working to keep your body stable while you lift, like your transverse abdominis and trapezius,” Angelino explains.

1. Stand with your feet just outside shoulder-width apart in a squat position.
2. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell while keeping your chest lifted and back flat.
3. Lower the weight back towards the starting position under control, maintaining the same posture.

 

Standing Toe Touches

The final movement focuses mainly on hamstring flexibility, an important part of mobility and everyday movement.

“Standing toe touches are useful to build into your training because they largely test your hamstring flexibility. Tight hamstrings are common causes of a variety of different types of injuries. They’re also associated with persistent daily discomfort in some cases,” Angelino notes.

1. Stand upright with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Hinge forwards from your hips while keeping your back straight.
3. Reach towards your toes and try to touch them.
4. Hold the position for 30 to 45 seconds, allowing your head to relax naturally.
5. Return to the starting position.

Together, these standing exercises offer a broad test of functional fitness after 65, combining lower-body strength, upper-body strength, muscular power, stability and flexibility. Including different types of movements can also help ensure that your routine does not rely too heavily on one area of physical ability.

Which of these five standing exercises would be the biggest challenge for you?