8 Exercises That Support Healthy Aging
Here are some tried-and-true exercises that will benefit you your whole life long.
Tried-and-true exercises that will benefit you your whole life long
We’ve all heard that regular exercise is great for overall well-being — think improved cardiovascular health, lower cholesterol, boosted mood, and better sleep. The U.S. Department of Public Health and Human Services recommends 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate (e.g., walking or dancing) and/or 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous (e.g., running, cycling, or swimming) fitness weekly for adults. Ready to get moving? Here are some tried-and-true exercises that will benefit you your whole life long.
Nicole Rodriguez, a Wynnewood-based personal trainer who specializes in working with those who are 50 and older, shares her top body-weight exercises that anyone — no matter their age — can routinely do to stay healthy for longer. Start with a set of 10 reps, and increase the number of sets as you’re able.
1. Dead Bug
Dead bug activates deep abdominal muscles, improves pelvic stability, reinforces cross-body coordination, and helps to reduce back injury and pain.
Try it: Lie on your back with arms extended toward the ceiling and knees bent at 90 degrees. Lower one arm and the opposite leg toward the floor — do not allow your back to arch — before returning to the start and switching sides.
2. Plank
Planks strengthen your core and spine stabilizer muscles, which help you maintain an upright posture. They also enhance overall stability and increase bone density.
Try it: Start in a forearm or high push-up position (or on your knees), keeping your body in a straight line from head to heels. Make sure your hands — or elbows if in a forearm plank — are directly under your shoulders. Engage your core, avoid sagging your hips, and keep your neck in line with the rest of your body. (Gaze is down.) Start out holding this position as long as you can and work up to one to two minutes.
3. Bird Dog
Bird dog strengthens your core, back, and glutes; improves coordination, balance, and shoulder mobility; and enhances spinal stability, posture, and body control, which are critical for reducing back pain and the risk of falls.
Try it: Start on all fours with hands under shoulders and knees under hips. Engage your core and extend one arm forward with your thumb pointing up toward the ceiling while extending the opposite leg straight back. Keep your hips and shoulders level (avoid twisting your hips), hold briefly, return to the starting position, and switch sides.
4. Push-Up
Push-ups strengthen your chest, shoulders, and triceps and engage your core, promoting better posture and functional strength for daily tasks like pushing doors, lifting objects, and getting up from the floor.
Try it: Start in a high plank position — or on your knees — with hands slightly wider than shoulder width. Point your fingers forward or slightly outward. Lower your chest toward the floor, keeping elbows at a 45-degree angle, then push back up.
5. Reverse Lunge
Lunges improve lower body strength by targeting larger muscles, and they boost overall balance, coordination, and single-leg stability.
Try it: Stand in an upright posture with your feet hip width apart. Step one leg back, landing on the ball of your foot, bending both knees until your front knee is roughly over your ankle (not past your toes) and your back knee points toward the ground. Push through your front heel to return to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.
6. Single-Leg Balance
This exercise enhances balance and ankle stability and decreases your risk of falling.
Try it: Stand on one leg, keeping your core engaged. Remain in this position as long as you can, working up to a one-minute hold. Repeat on the other side. Once you feel stable in your balance, challenge yourself by moving the lifted leg to the front, side, and back, or in diagonal patterns.
7. Squat
Squats can help you live longer by improving strength, balance, and bone density — all of which can lower the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
Try it: Stand with your feet hip to shoulder width apart and lower your hips as if sitting in a chair, keeping weight in heels. Push through heels to return to standing.
8. Walking
We Walk PHL / Photograph by Albert Yee/Fairmount Park Conservancy
Perhaps the easiest exercise that’ll support your long-term health: Just go for a walk. The low-impact activity has risen in popularity of late — from much-needed outdoor jaunts in those early pandemic years to trending #hotgirlwalks on social media — for good reason. Getting in your steps can boost your mood; improve your cardiovascular health, mobility, and endurance; and even reduce your risk of chronic diseases.
And recently, researchers have found that walking roughly two hours every day, a little at a time or all at once, could add up to 11 years to your life. For social strolls, turn to these free Philly groups:
Muuve
A wellness- and community-centric walking group for women that ventures through various city neighborhoods and to coffee shops and farmers markets, and hosts happy hours.
Philly Girls Who Walk
Another woman-focused crew logging about three miles at least once per week around town — think the Ben Franklin Bridge, Penn Treaty Park, and the Art Museum. Bonus: Expect social events like monthly book club and visits to fitness studios.
The 5 Mile Club
An all-ages group that meets every Sunday morning — exact location shared in advance; it’s been Water Works and Lloyd Hall in the past — for a five-mile jaunt. There are three pace groups, but everyone takes a beat together at the three-mile mark.
We Walk PHL
A partnership of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and the city’s Department of Public Health that runs hour-ish walks through public parks multiple days per week. Open to all!
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Illustrations by James Boyle
Published as “How to Live Longer, at Any Age: Fitness” in the May 2025 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
