Signing you in

No heavy lifting, no gym required. Just three simple moves that help you stay strong, flexible, and independent as you age.

If you have the privilege of aging, it’s inevitable that you will experience a decline in your body’s abilities over the years. Muscle mass starts to gradually reduce—even in healthy bodies—as early as your 30s, bone density decreases around your late 30s-40s, and cardiovascular function naturally deteriorates with age. You also lose mobility and balance as you become elderly, too. It perhaps sounds like a bleak prognosis, but it doesn’t have to be. With lifestyle interventions, such as maintaining physical activity throughout your life, you can give your body its best chance at remaining mobile and strong into your 80s and beyond.

Dr Kate Ella, health coach, personal trainer, and former orthopedic surgeon, is a big believer that we, as individuals, can have a big impact on our future health outcomes by very simply keeping our bodies moving while we’re young. “As a former orthopedic surgeon, I’ve treated hundreds of broken hips following falls and I know the huge impact they have on peoples’ lives,” she says.

World Health Organization data from 2021 reported an estimated 684,000 fatal falls per year, with adults over 60 being the most at risk. “By working on our balance now, we can reduce the risk of falls later,” Dr Kate Ella continues.

That said, she understands it’s not always easy to make time for physical activity—even when we know the many benefits it brings. So, she developed a super-simple three-exercise routine that takes barely any time at all that will bolster your mobility into old age. And, bonus, you can do it from absolutely anywhere. “You can do them when the kettle’s boiling, the children are thinking about going to sleep, or when you’re cooking dinner,” she says.

According to Dr. Kate Ella, pogo jumps tick many boxes when it comes to preserving your health for the long-term. “They’re not only great for leg strength and cardiovascular fitness, they also may improve your bone strength, by loading it, and help your foot and ankle mobility too,” she says.

If you have a habit of avoiding lunges, now’s the time to readdress it. Not only can the unilateral movement build strength that’s useful for everyday life right now, it’ll also help you maintain muscle as you age. “This type of squat movement works our glutes, quads, hamstrings (and even core), helping you to get up off the floor and the toilet in your 80s,” says Dr Kate Ella.

“This hinge type movement really works the glutes, which is a key muscle to keep us walking for as long as possible,” says Dr Kate Ella. Incorporating the arm movement transforms this into a compound exercise, a move that recruits multiple muscle groups. “Add some light weights to increase the load [or some cans if you’re cooking dinner],” she adds.

Abbi Henderson is Acting Nutrition writer who covers health, fitness, women’s sport and lifestyle for Women's Health and Men's Health. Before settling in a British seaside town, she spent a couple of years living in Canada, where she contributed to publications such as Best Health, Foodism and Canadian Living, and discovered she is, in fact, a little outdoorsy. With a desire to help make healthcare, exercise and sport more accessible to women, she writes about everything from the realities of seeking medical support as a woman to those of being a female athlete fighting for equality. She has a personal trainer qualification, a couple of medals from her short time in competitive Irish dancing, and an Arsenal Women season ticket. When she’s not in front of a screen working, she enjoys weightlifting, going for walks and stopping for little treats (matchas and pastries), and trying new recipes (that are almost always pasta-based).

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