Metrics like BMI or weight won’t tell the full story of how your body truly functions. Instead, movement challenges show whether you’ve maintained balance, control, and strength as you age, says Amanda Dvorak, certified personal trainer at Garage Gym Reviews. That’s why we learned the top exercises you should be able to do at 60 that signal whether your body’s fitter than people half your age.
“Measures that don’t involve movement miss the critical challenge of function,” Dr. Becca Jordre, physical therapist at National Senior Games Association, says. “This is key for older adults, but I would argue it may be equally true for younger individuals as well. We can speculate what a person should be able to do based on an X-ray, manual muscle test, or some other metric, but movement challenges show what a person CAN do. We have to factor in neurological control, pain, skill, and even motivation.”
Movement challenges can be excellent indicators of fitness and independence in the long run, says Caine Wilkes, an Olympian and certified USA weightlifting coach at BarBend.
“Aside from a few competitive athletes, after 60, it’s less about how much you can lift or how fast you can run, but about how well you can move so it can carry over into having a solid quality of life and longevity in your later years,” he explains. “Movement challenges can show how well your body performs in real-life tasks as simple as getting up, staying balanced, or handling your own body weight.”
Below, the experts share four moves that show your body’s fitter than people half your age at 60.
Sit To Stand Test
“This is a test that determines how fast you can stand up and sit down five times without your hands,” Dr. Jordre notes. “Historically, it has been linked to predicting mobility disability, and falls in older adults. It relates closely to sport performance in older athletes. This test requires lower body strength, power, and dynamic balance to move quickly and the way you move tells a physical therapist a lot about where you might have challenges.”
- Place a chair of standard height against a wall for support.
- Begin seated tall near the edge of the chair.
- Stand up completely.
- Sit back down with control and without using your hands.
- Do this 5 times.
Bodyweight Squat
“The [bodyweight] squat shows lower-body strength and joint range,” Amanda explains.
- Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart on the floor.
- Extend your arms ahead of you or place your hands on your hips.
- Bend at the knees and hips as you lower into a squat.
- Descend until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Press through your heels to rise back up to standing.
Half-Kneel-To-Stand
“The half-kneel-to-stand tests coordination, strength, and how easily someone can move between levels, which is a real-world skill that gets harder with age,” Amanda explains.
- Begin in a half-kneeling position with one knee on the ground and the other foot planted in front.
- Maintain a tall posture and engaged core.
- Lean a bit forward into your front foot, pressing into that heel.
- Drive through your front leg to stand up, without using your hands for support.
- Use control to lower to the half-kneeling position.
Bear Crawl
“The bear crawl performed with the body low to the ground tests coordination, shoulder stability, hip mobility, and core strength,” Caine says. “Plus, it’s a challenge.”
- Begin in a quadrupod position with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders.
- Lift your knees a few inches off the ground.
- Maintain a flat back and engage your core.
- Move your left hand and right foot forward.
- Then, move your right hand and left foot forward.
- Continue to crawl.
Alexa Mellardo
