You can have the healthiest diet in the world, but if you want to age well and remain independent the key things you’ll need are balance, strength and flexibility.
As a fitness coach specialising in strength workouts at home – specifically for those of us in midlife – I can’t stress enough how important it is to future-proof our bodies. From the age of just 35 onwards, we lose bone density and muscle mass; research repeatedly shows that exercise and daily movement are essential to combat this. Putting in the effort now, there’s no reason why we can’t be healthy in our later years.
Increasing our muscle strength, flexibility, improving our balance and posture are all key to being able to perform daily activities as well as preventing injuries and the risk of osteoporosis.
These tests are all designed to be done at home, there’s no fancy equipment needed, and they indicate your current fitness level as well as allowing you to track your progress over time – perfect for motivating us. Setting achievable goals inspires us, and there’s no reason why those in midlife onwards can’t feel fitter and stronger than we did in our 20s and 30s.
1. Standing on one leg
Why it’s important
The ability to remain upright is something we don’t miss until it’s gone. We learn to ride a bike when we’re young but then probably don’t think about it again until we notice things like needing to hold onto something when we get out of a wet bath. Falls are the most common cause of accidental death after road accidents and a lack of balance has been linked to earlier death. Balance taxes the brain because it requires your eyes, your vestibular system (which comes from the inner ears and detects movement) and proprioceptors in your limbs that send signals to your brain, telling it what is going on.
How to improve it
This one has been hugely popular on social media and for good reason, being able to stand on one leg for the time it takes to tie your shoelace is excellent practice; as you can see progression and whether your balance is stronger on one side than the other. Practice will help improve this.
If tying your shoelace seems too much, you can also try standing on one leg as you brush your teeth, so the sink is there for support should you need it.
How to test your progress
- If you’re under 40, you should be able to stand on one leg continuously for 43 seconds
- If you’re aged between 40 and 49 it’s 40 seconds
- If you’re aged between 50 and 59, it’s 37 seconds
- If you’re aged between 60 and 69, it’s between 18 and 19 seconds
- If you’re aged between 70 to 79 seconds
- If you’re over you’re over 80, aim for a little over five seconds
2. Plank
Why it’s important
A strong core is more important than just looking good at the beach, it helps with everyday activities including lifting children, housework, carrying groceries and gardening which all involve engaging our core muscles. A plank is a common metric for physical fitness, and will do your abs more good than endless sit-ups. Strengthening deep core muscles is an effective way to ward off back pain, which one in six in Britain suffer from. Anyone who’s suffered chronic back ache will know how debilitating it is and why it’s worth making the effort to prevent it.
How to improve it
Place your foremans on the floor directly under your shoulders, lift your body into a straight line so the weight is on your toes and forearms and hold your head in line with your spine. The beauty of this exercise is its simplicity, as well as how it engages multiple muscles that help support the core. This test can give you a good read on your current core strength and can be used to follow your progress over time.
If you want to add a challenge, try a military plank for 30 seconds, which involves moving from a high plank to a low plank position and back up again, transferring your weight from one to the other with minimal movement through the hips
How to track your progress
This core strength test is simple. Assume the plank position and use the stopwatch on your phone. Build up gradually, a few seconds at a time, aiming for up to 60 seconds of holding it. But even 10 seconds is great for total beginners, and improvements at any age are entirely possible.
3. Standing from seated in a chair
Why it’s important
If you’re one of the ‘oof’ people you’re not alone. But people who struggle to stand up from a chair repeatedly have lower levels of body strength, resulting in inactivity, balance problems, falls, accidental death and injury.
This test has been shown to be helpful in predicting risk of musculoskeletal problems, such as back pain, in office workers.
How to improve it
Use an armless chair, a standard kitchen chair with a hardback works nicely, and with your feet shoulder width apart and planted firmly on the floor, simply see how many times you can stand from sitting in 30 seconds. Make sure you fully rise to standing and properly sit down, with no cheating half-measures.
How to track your progress
- Set your timer to 30 seconds and complete as many reps as you can, without using your hands for support if possible
- For those up to age 60, an average score would be around 24-25 for women and 25-27 for men
After 60 you might expect to do less. Somewhere between 10 and 12 would be something to aim for.If you’re aged between 70 and 79 the average would be 10-15 (women) and 11-17 (men). If you’re aged 80 and over, the average would be 8-14 (women) and 8-15 (men).
4. Squat and press with water bottles for weight
Why it’s important
This is a perfect example of functional fitness with compound movements – essential for longevity. Functional fitness is all about exercises which mimic what we do everyday, without even realising it. Whenever you bend down to pick something up, remember your technique, engage your core and you will find your back feels stronger and protected because of it. Especially if you are gardening or doing household chores.
Squats are the ultimate compound movement incorporating many muscle groups at once, not only do they help with lower body and core strength, they also improve your balance and posture, preventing injuries. Having problems with your knees doubles the chance of falling in later life.
How to improve it
You can do this without weights. You don’t need to buy dumbbells, you can use full water bottles instead, one in each hand, to make it more challenging. With your feet wider than hip width apart (toes pointing out in a sumo squat stance), engage your core and drive the hips back, with all the weight through the heels, keeping your chest lifted and shoulders back. As you come back to standing, drive up with your arms into a shoulder press.
How to track your progress
With this test, how many reps you can do is more dependent on a person’s general fitness than age. People of any age can work on improving their strength.
To start with, aim for 10-12 reps, and three sets.
5. Grip strength
Why it’s important
When it comes to exercising, few of us would prioritise giving our hands a workout. But much research proves the correlation between grip strength in midlife (think Penny Mordaunt’s sword-clutching at King Charles’ coronation) with a decreased rate of mortality. One study of 140,000 people found that for each 5kg drop in grip prowess, chance of death rose by 14 per cent, and heart attack risk was upped by seven per cent. Grip strength is a good indicator of general health, while low grip strength is a symptom of sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) as well as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Having a stronger grip will benefit everything from being able to open jars, carry groceries etc and to be able to live independently for longer (as well as being able to clutch at a railing, for example, should you fall).
How to improve it
Using a medium sized bathroom towel, firmly hold it between both hands and use the same twisting action you would to wring it out if it was wet. This will exercise both hands at the same time, though alternatively you can use a tennis ball, practice squeezing as hard as you can for 10 seconds, release, and repeat three times. Remembering to swap hands, of course. You can even do it as you watch television.
How to test your progress
To check your progress you can hold a pair of bathroom scales in both hands and grip as hard as you can on two sides, checking your reflection in a mirror to see what the reading is (and then aim to increase it over time). The most accurate way of measuring grip strength is using a hand dynamometer (available online for around £15).
- For women aged 40-50 a score of 22-27kg would be average
- For women aged 50-60 a score of 20-25kg would be average
- Men have a stronger grip, so 40-50 year olds should aim for 42-49kg
- For men aged 50-60, a score of 39-45 kg would be average
As told to Susanna Galton
For more information about Caroline’s strength workouts see her website. As a Telegraph reader, you can use the code Telegraph25 for 25% off your first month of classes on the website.
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