Getting started with strength training can feel daunting. But increasing your muscle mass is one of the best ways to boost your longevity, increasing your chances of living a longer, healthier life.
Laura Anderson is a personal trainer and she recommends functional strength exercises to her clients who train for longevity, which also helps them improve the way they move in everyday life.
As you get older, day-to-day activities like walking up the stairs and opening doors can feel more challenging. Doing exercises that build strength through these ranges of motion can help you remain independent for longer.
Below, Anderson has shared two exercises that will help you build functional strength and don’t require any weights. Instead, they incorporate two things most people have in their homes: stairs and a wall.
Laura Anderson’s two functional exercises to help beginners build strength
1. Step-up
“Step-ups are super beneficial, because they’re a single-leg exercise which will train the lower-body to be able to handle stairs, stepping on uneven ground and even sitting down in chairs and getting back up,” says Anderson.
How to do it:
- Stand in front of a set of stairs (or other stable platform between shin and knee height) with your feet hip-width apart.
- Step up with your left foot onto the first step, keeping your chest high. Then, push through your left foot to extend your left leg and bring your right foot onto the step.
- Step down, leading with your left foot.
- Perform eight to 10 reps, then repeat, leading with your right foot. Or, to increase the difficulty and challenge your brain as well as your body, alternate legs.
2. Wall push-up
“Doing push-ups against a wall really helps to improve your posture,” says Anderson. “It also helps with being able to open doors, which you probably take for granted now, but things like that can quickly decline with age, so it’s really important to keep working those muscles.”
How to do it:
- Stand an arm’s distance away from a wall with your feet hip-width apart amd place both hands on the wall at chest height, with your fingertips turned in slightly.
- Engage you core and, keeping your body in a straight line from head to heels throughout, bend your elbows to bring your chest towards the wall. Allow your elbows to travel away from your torso—if you were looking at your body from behind, there should be a 45° angle between your upper arms and torso.
- Stop when your chest is a couple of inches away from the wall, until your elbows and shoulders are in line, or as close as you can get without compromising your form.
- Extend your arms to push away from the wall.
- Complete eight to 12 reps.
