There are endless reasons you should keep up with movement as you age, which all essentially come back to the main goal: to stay functional and ward off aches and pains. “Having a good strength routine can help you build and maintain muscle mass, which is critical to maintaining your physical and mental health as you age,” Amy Potter, CPT, personal trainer in Hermosa Beach and strength coach at Ladies Who Lift, tells SELF. “Think of muscle mass as your body’s 401k. Investing time and energy into building a solid strength training routine is an investment in your future health and the return on investment is invaluable.” That’s because muscle mass allows you to keep doing the activities you enjoy, supports metabolic health, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, and so much more.
And unfortunately, if you don’t use it you lose it—faster than you may expect. “Around the age of 30, we typically begin to experience a gradual decline in muscle mass,” Potter says. “On average, adults lose about 3 to 5% of muscle mass per decade after this age if they don’t engage in regular strength training or physical activity.” When muscle loss worsens, it’s known as sarcopenia, a condition that can lead to decreased strength, endurance, and mobility, and as you age even more, loss of independence, she adds. This can ultimately increase your risk of falls and injuries later in life.
In fact, according to a 2017 study, older adults with low muscle mass were 65% more likely to lose their physical independence at 90 or above, while those with low muscle function were six times as likely.
But the good news is, there are things you can do to stave it off—and it starts decades earlier. “Incorporating resistance training, maintaining a balanced diet, and staying active can help preserve muscle mass and promote overall health,” says Potter. Exercise also helps your bones rebuild and stay strong, reducing your risk of developing osteoporosis (which gets more common with age, too) and fractures if you do fall.
Which brings us to this: By focusing on a handful of essential movement patterns, and building your strength workouts around those, you can make sure your routine hits all the important muscles and movements that you need to work on to develop balanced strength and function at your best over time. Getting back to basics will make it easier to build a solid foundation of strength and stability that you can easily build on as you progress—setting you up for success for the long haul, without any extra noise or complications getting in the way.
Here are the best essential movements for your 30s and beyond.
Below, experts share the essential movements you should be including in your resistance training routine in your 30s.
1. Push
Katie Thompson