6 Daily Moves After 55

Boost your hip health and strength by adding these daily exercises to your regimen.

Your hips keep you mobile and balanced—two essential factors to focus on as you age. By adding daily movement to your routine, you’ll help strengthen and boost the health of your hips. We linked up with experts who break down six daily exercises that help restore hip strength quicker than heavy weight training after 55.

The Importance of Training Your Hips

As you age, you start to lose a significant amount of lean muscle every decade without regular resistance training. Since your hip muscles—including the glutes—are large muscle groups, they experience the most muscle loss through aging, says Dr. Derek Ochiai, Board-Certified Arthroscopic Hip Surgeon and Sports Medicine Expert in Arlington, VA.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Your hip joint is one of the most mobile joints in the entire body, as it can move through multiple planes of motion. In this day and age, it’s common to walk shorter distances and spend most of your day sitting, which means underusing those essential hip muscles.

“The lack of movement compounded over the years leads to degeneration,” explains Dr. Amir Hakim, PT, DPT for FYZICAL Therapy and Balance Centers. “In addition to that, even when we do move, we only move in the sagittal plane (front and back). The hips rarely get any lateral or rotational movement. These factors also result in weakness and atrophy of the glutes, which work to stabilize the hip joints. This is where the old adage comes into play: You don’t use it, you lose it.”

That’s where these exercises come in clutch.

Dr. Ochiai makes it clear that “low-load hip exercises are good, but they do not substitute for heavier weight training.” He stresses, “Both are important. Low-load daily exercises can help with balance (avoiding falls) and maintaining range of motion. These exercises are things like single leg balance drills (having something to support you nearby, to avoid a fall) and air squats.”

Performing resistance exercises two to three times a week is essential. This doesn’t necessarily mean lifting heavy weights, but using ones that make completing a full set of three reps “slightly difficult, but achievable.”

Dumbbell Goblet Squats

“I love goblet squats for strengthening,” Dr. Ochiai says. “These can be done starting on a chair, if the person needs it. Gradually increase weight when this becomes easier.”

1. ​​Stand tall, feet slightly wider than shoulder-width.
2. Grasp a dumbbell with both hands, and hold the weight in front of your chest with your elbows pointing down and tucked in.
3. Hinge at the hips and bend your knees to squat, keeping the weight in place.
4. Squat as far as you can with a straight back.
5. Push through your heels to return to the starting position.
6. Complete 3 sets of 10 reps.

Step-Ups

Step-ups help you establish real-world balance and strength. Weaving dumbbells into the mix ups the challenge and builds even more strength. Dr. Ochiai recommends starting with light dumbbells in each hand.

1. Begin by standing tall, facing a sturdy workout bench, plyometric box, or step that’s about knee level. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Place your left foot firmly onto the surface, keeping your core engaged and chest tall.
3. Press through your left heel to lift your body until your left leg is straight and you’re standing on the surface.
4. Use control to lower back to the start position.
5. Repeat on the other side.
6. Complete 3 sets of 8 reps on each leg.

Alternating Split Squats

“Alternating split squats are hard,” Dr. Ochiai says. Start by using light weights and emphasizing proper form. Both the front and back knee should bend roughly the same amount.

1. Start by standing tall with your hands on your hips or clasped at your heart’s center.
2. Step your left foot forward about 2 to 3 feet to assume a staggered stance.
3. Bend both knees, lowering the bottom toward the ground.
4. Press through your front heel to rise back up.
5. Next, step forward with your right foot, bend both knees, and lower toward the floor.
6. Rise back up.
7. Perform 3 sets of 6 reps on each side.

Planks

“Hip and back strength go hand in hand. If difficult, start with the plank with knees on the ground,” Dr. Ochiai says.

1. Place your hands under your shoulders.
2. Press into the pads of your fingers and hug your inner arm toward your armpit.
3. Alternatively, lower onto your forearms.
4. Walk your feet out to hip-width.
5. Engage your abs, squeeze your buttocks, and pull upward through your quads.
6. Aim to hold your plank for 2 reps of 20 seconds. Increase to 3 reps as you progress.

Clamshell

Bent-knee clamshells strengthen the hip stabilizers.

1. Lie on your side with a Theraband between your legs.
2. Keep your feet together as you lift your top knee, like a clamshell opening.
3. Lower.
4. Avoid rotating through your lower back.
5. Perform 3 sets of 6 reps on each side.

Banded Glute Bridges

1. Begin by lying flat on your back with bent knees and feet hip-width apart on the floor, arms at your sides with palms pressing into the ground.
2. A loop resistance band should be placed above your knees.
3. Press through your heels to lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
4. Squeeze your buttocks, holding at the top for a moment.
5. Lower your hips back to the start position.
6. Perform 3 sets of as many reps as possible.

Alexa Mellardo