The Best Exercises For Long-Term Health
If you want to stay healthy as you age, it’s not enough just to watch your diet. Staying active and regular exercise will also support your long-term health goals.
When it comes to exercising, however, doing only one workout “will not address all of the areas of deficit” that come with aging, according to Peter Ronai, an exercise physiologist and clinical professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.
For example, walking is an excellent form of exercise for older adults because it can lower their risk of cardiovascular disease and many other health issues.
“But unfortunately, [it] doesn’t do a lot to help bone loss, bone density loss,” Ronai told AARP. “Doesn’t do a whole heck of a lot to address muscle loss. Doesn’t do a lot to address power.”
Healthy aging requires a mix of movements that “get your heart rate up, build strength, challenge your balance and keep your joints moving,” Dr. Elizabeth Joy told AARP. Dr. Joy is a family, sports, and lifestyle medicine physician based in Salt Lake City and chair of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Exercise Is Medicine program.
Health experts advise older adults to prioritize exercises that target their core, which includes the pelvis, lower back, hips, abdomen, and stomach. The core is the central part of the body.
Core exercises are essential because they help to improve balance, reduce the risk of injury, promote better posture, and make daily functioning easier.
One review of multiple studies on adults 60 and over found that core training significantly improved their balance, resulting in a 23% to 30% boost in stability and functional mobility. Older adults also improved in exercises that tested how far they could reach and how long it took for them to stand up from a chair, walk, turn, walk back, and sit down, according to the meta-analysis, published in October 2025 in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.
Besides core training, health experts recommend four additional exercises that promote healthy aging, some of which engage the core.
1. Strength Training
Strength training is very important because it helps you maintain muscle and strength. After age 30, your muscle mass begins to decline by up to eight percent per decade, with a further loss after age 60.
The decrease in muscle mass affects how well you can carry out your daily activities and function independently, Rebecca Lopez, a professor in the athletic training program at the University of South Florida School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, told AARP.
Strength training helps maintain muscle mass and improves bone density, which can lower your chances of developing osteoporosis, fractures, and falls, Lopez said. What’s more, a 2025 study published in Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics found that strength training also lowered blood pressure in people 60 and over.
Strength training does not always require heavy weights. Dr. Joy says you can build muscle and strength through squats, push-ups on your knees or against the wall, or sitting and standing from a chair. Ronai also suggests lunges and glute bridges.
After you feel confident with these movements, Dr. Joy recommends adding hand weights and resistance bands and doing overhead presses and deadlifts. The key is to start with a weight that allows you to comfortably perform a full range of motion for eight repetitions, and then gradually add more resistance.
2. Aerobic exercise
If you want to get your heart pumping, your feet moving, and your lungs breathing more air, try aerobic exercise. According to Lopez, aerobic exercise, also known as cardio, can reduce your risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and stroke. Studies also support this. The International Journal of General Medicine published a systematic review in 2025 that found that people aged 60 and over who engaged in aerobic exercise had improved cardiovascular health, including lower blood pressure and heart rate.
Aerobic exercise also helps to improve brain health. A study published in JAMA Network Open in 2025 found that people who are more physically active in midlife and late life reduce their dementia risk by more than 40 percent compared to those who are less physically active.
Maintaining good cardiovascular health has a “profound effect” on independence and quality of life, because without it, “activities of daily living can become more of a burden,” Anthony Wall, senior director of global business development and professional education at the American Council on Exercise, told AARP.
As people get older, their heart and lung function tend to decrease. This is why aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, swimming, dancing, and cycling, is beneficial because it keeps your mind sharp and your muscles strong.
3. Mobility and Flexibility
Mobility—the ability to move multiple segments of the body through a range of movement—is what allows you to do things like put your socks on, put your seatbelt on, and turn your head, Ronai said.
“And in order to be able to do that, you have to have some flexibility in those joints,” he added
Dr. Joy noted that mobility becomes more challenging as we get older because our joints tend to stiffen. “Some of that is a function of if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. And, as I’m fond of saying, motion is lotion for the joint,” she said.
You can protect and even improve your mobility with exercises that target the joints, such as yoga, tai chi, stretches, and lunges. Not only do these exercises protect your joint health, but they also improve your posture and can ease arthritis-related discomfort, Dr. Joy said.
4. Balance
Balance is also affected by age due to changes in muscle strength, or vision or hearing problems, according to Lopez. Certain health issues can also cause balance issues. For example, Dr. Joy noted that diabetes can cause neuropathy and decreased sensation in your legs. Some medications can also impact balance.
Balance training “improves your coordination, your stability, when you’re walking or getting in and out of a car or going up and down the stairs,” Lopez says. It’s also “very important for fall prevention,” Ronai added.
Yoga and tai chi also help with balance, Dr. Joy said. For those who have trouble with these exercises, many resistance-training movements, such as chair squats, calf raises, and core exercises, build strength and balance.
The health experts recommend combining strength, cardio, balance, and flexibility exercises because they address different age-related physical issues.
If you are not physically active or tend to focus on just one movement type, Ronai advises talking with your doctor about creating a safe workout routine based on your medical history.
If you want some extra help, consider working with a certified exercise professional or a physical therapist, who can tailor workouts to your individual needs and abilities, Ronai adds.
Lopez recommends finding exercises you enjoy because you are more likely to stick with them.
“The key to long-term success is to start small and establish a habit,” Wall said. “Once exercise is a habit, then you can focus on more specific and longer-term goals.”
Source Links:
https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/essential-exercises-older-adults/
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1661460/full
