4 Daily Exercises to Restore Muscle Tone After 60

Strong, healthy muscles can help you stay active well into your golden years of life.

As you age, it’s essential to focus on building and maintaining muscle tone. The reason? You naturally start to lose muscle mass as early as your 30s at a rate of approximately 3% to 8% each decade. This rate speeds up once you hit your 60s. It’s not a matter of aesthetics, but rather the importance of having strong muscles in your daily life. After all, your muscles help you perform active hobbies, chores, and functions with ease—even those you may take for granted.

You can easily get started restoring muscle tone with these four daily exercises we learned from Jacob Siwicki, founder and head coach of Siwicki Fitness, NCSF and AFAA certified, former top 1% globally ranked Equinox group fitness instructor (2019), Dartmouth economics graduate and former Dartmouth football player, fitness expert on FOX 5 DC, ranked #1 personal trainer in D.C. in 2021.

“I picked these because they are compound exercises, meaning several muscle groups have to work at the same time. That gives you a lot more back than an exercise that isolates one small muscle. They can also be adjusted to almost any level. Use a higher counter for pushups, hold a chair during lunges, or make the range smaller until strength improves,” Siwicki explains. “These four [moves challenge you to] push, stabilize, and move your body weight through different patterns. And technically, they are still a form of weight training because your body is the weight. The difference is that you can do them at home without machines or a rack of dumbbells.”

Sit-to-Stand

1. Begin seated at the front of a sturdy chair with your feet placed on the floor under your knees.
2. Cross your arms in front of your chest.
3. Brace your core and lean forward slightly.
4. Try to stand up without using your knees, hands, or additional support.
5. Use control as you slowly sit back down.

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Counter Pushups

1. Place your hands on a counter, shoulder-width apart.
2. Walk your legs back so you’re at a straight incline from your head to your heels.
3. Keep your legs together and rise onto the balls of your feet. Engage your core and keep your gaze forward.
4. Bend your elbows to lower your body until your chest lines up with your elbows.
5. Return to straight arms.

Bird Dog

1. Start on all fours.
2. Extend your left arm and right leg.
3. Hold for a moment before returning to the start position.
4. Switch sides and continue to alternate.

Chair-Supported Reverse Lunges

1. Begin standing tall behind a sturdy chair, holding onto the back of it for balance.
2. Place your feet hip-width apart.
3. Activate your core and step one foot back, placing the ball of that foot on the ground.
4. Slowly bend your knees, lowering your back knee toward the floor while keeping your front knee tracking over your toes.
5. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds.
6. Drive through your front foot to rise back up to standing.

Alexa Mellardo