As you get older, simple tasks you never even gave a second thought to suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, become more tiring or challenging. It might be walking uphill, climbing stairs, performing general daily tasks, or maybe your exercise routine is starting to feel harder than usual.
It’s natural to feel this way as you get older, but the best advice I can give you is to keep moving in whatever way you can. Walking, lifting weights (or any form of resistance training) and light cardio are just a few examples of ways you can stay looking and feeling your best as you reach past 60.
But my advice as a personal trainer aside, one physiotherapist, Shrey Vazir, says you just need these three exercises to help you climb stairs “like you’re 20 years younger.” Plus, he shares a simple hack for helping you do this pain-free.
What are the 3 exercises?
Climbing the stairs requires lower-body mobility and strength, as you use your hips, knees and ankles, plus the quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves and feet to climb.
As we age, sarcopenia, which means muscle loss, begins to accelerate at around 50, leaving us finding previously doable exercises harder to maintain.
Progressive strength training (PST) can help combat sarcopenia, which means regularly performing a form of resistance training to help maintain strength and muscle mass.
Slow sit to stand: Quads and glutes
Your quads and glutes help you push up onto a step and lower down, so these muscles must be worked to keep you moving well. This move is a more accessible form of squat, working both of these muscle groups.
Vazir demonstrates using a chair. Sitting with your feet roughly hip-width apart, scoot your butt to the edge of the chair, then slightly shift your feet back behind your knees. Use the armrests or extend your arms in front of you, then push into a standing position and squeeze your glutes and quads.
Next, slowly lower back onto the chair. Push to stand with power, then always lower slowly. Be controlled and mindful rather than relying on momentum.
2-3 x 10 reps
Lateral step-up: Hip stabilization and gluteus medius
This move works the gluteus medius muscles as you step sideways. Start with a small raised surface or the bottom ledge of the stairs and add height as you build strength.
Stand side-on to the step, then lift the leg closest to it and place your foot on the middle of the step so that you can balance. Push yourself up to stand and place your other foot next to your raised foot. Step down and repeat on the other side.
Use support if you need to, and avoid leaning sideways, forward, or backward.
10 to 20 reps with minimal pain or discomfort.
Step-down with weights
Vazir cites a “groundbreaking 2022 study” that references a surprising exercise helpful for building muscle mass and preventing muscle loss in healthy over-65s: step-downs.
Simply start standing on a stair or step with both feet firmly planted and with or without support to hold. Next, shift your weight forward and step one foot down onto the floor. Pause, then push off the same foot and reverse the movement to stand on the stair or step again.
The study suggests that adding weight (Vazir says a 10-15lb dumbbell or weighted vest) can elevate this movement even more using eccentric strengthening. Eccentric exercises involve the muscle lengthening under contraction, which is super effective for building muscle mass.
In this case, the eccentric phase of stair climbing is stepping down rather than stepping up! Squeeze your glutes, quads and gluteus medius to help protect your joints and lower back.
10-20 reps per leg.
Finally, Vazir reveals a trick he loves to teach clients, and it’s simple: shift your bodyweight slightly forward through your hips as you push to climb a staircase and avoid pulling on the handrail. This helps you position your weight over your toes and improves balance, using gravity for assistance.
More from Tom's Guide
- Over 60? Forget walking and swimming — this simple exercise builds strength and balance
- I swapped running for 'Jeffing' for a week — and now I'm hooked
- Stiff hips? Personal trainer says this is the one exercise you should do to unstick them and boost flexibility
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