IN SHORT
How hard should an older adult exercise? The answer depends much more on the person than on their age. A strong, active older adult may be able to exercise quite intensely, while someone recovering from illness or hospitalization may need to start with less resistance. Both may need to build leg strength - the difference is how much resistance and challenge their muscles can handle. With regular, progressive exercise, older adults can continue to build strength and improve what they are able to do.
How Hard Should an Older Adult Exercise?
“How hard should Mom be exercising?”
“Is Dad doing too much?”
“At his age, shouldn't he take it easy?”
These are questions families often ask, and the answer may surprise you.
Being older does not mean exercise has to be easy. Older adults can be challenged and continue to build strength at many ages and ability levels.
A healthy, active 90-year-old may be able to handle a very challenging workout, while someone much younger who has recently been sick, hospitalized, or injured may need to begin with very simple exercises.
The right amount of exercise depends on the person's strength, balance, endurance, health, goals, and what they are able to do today. The goal is not to make exercise easy because someone is older. The goal is to find the right level of effort for that person.
Finding the Right Level of Effort
For the body to become stronger, the muscles have to work harder than they are used to. That does not mean every workout should leave someone exhausted or that they should push through pain.
Being challenged is not the same as being pushed too hard.
An exercise may feel difficult, and the muscles may feel tired afterward. That's okay. What matters is finding the right level of effort for that person.
As an exercise becomes easier, it may be time to increase the resistance, add repetitions, change the position, or choose a more difficult exercise.
Pain, dizziness, chest discomfort, unusual shortness of breath, or other concerning symptoms should not simply be pushed through. For an older adult with significant health conditions, new symptoms, or specific exercise restrictions, talking with their healthcare professional can help determine what types of exercise are appropriate.
The body needs a reason to become stronger.
Research supports this approach. Studies have found that older adults - including adults over age 75 - can improve muscle strength through resistance training.
The Right Exercise May Look Very Different From One Person to the Next
Imagine two people who are both 85 years old.
One walks every day, gets up from a chair easily, climbs stairs, and exercises regularly.
The other has recently been in the hospital and now needs a walker to get around the house. Should they have the same workout? Of course not.
Both people need leg strength. The difference is how much resistance is needed to challenge their muscles.
The stronger person may need heavier weights, stronger resistance bands, or more challenging exercises to continue building leg strength.
The person recovering from illness may need less resistance and simpler exercises at first, then gradually increase the challenge as strength improves.
The exercises may look very different, but the goal is the same: build the leg strength needed for everyday life.
An exercise does not have to look difficult to be effective. What matters is whether it provides the right amount of resistance for that person.
This is especially important for families who see a parent exercising and think, “That looks too easy.” What matters is what the exercise requires from that particular person.
Start With What Matters to the Person
Exercise has a purpose. If Mom wants to get out of her favorite chair, Dad wants to get into the shower without help, or walking has become more difficult, the exercises should focus on the leg strength needed for those activities. The goal gives the exercise a purpose.
Walking Is Important - But It Is Not the Whole Picture
Walking is good for heart health and endurance, but it does not build all the leg strength needed to maintain independence. Walking uses the strength you already have, while progressive strength training builds the strength needed for everyday activities like standing from a chair, climbing stairs, and walking safely.
An older adult can walk every day and still lose leg strength. Shorter steps, increasing difficulty walking, or needing a walker more often can be signs of declining strength.
Want to learn more about why walking alone may not protect leg strength? https://tandemsb.com/news/walking-doesnt-keep-you-walking/
Progress May Be Easier to See Than You Think
Progress is layered.
It may start with one small change. An exercise that once felt difficult may feel a little easier. Someone may do one more repetition, need a little less help, or notice they are standing more easily.
Over time, those small changes build on each other.
Strength takes time to build. The important thing is to keep working, gradually increase the challenge as appropriate, and give the body time to respond.
Progress does not always happen all at once. Sometimes it happens layer by layer, until something that used to be hard isn't quite so hard anymore.
The Exercise Should Change as the Person Gets Stronger
Progressive exercise means the challenge changes as strength improves. If Mom has become stronger, she may need more resistance. If Dad can easily stand from a chair ten times, it may be time to make the exercise more challenging.
The goal is not to keep doing the same exercise forever. The goal is to keep giving the body a reason to improve.
Research has also found that lower-intensity resistance training can improve knee-extension strength in community-dwelling older adults. Not every older adult needs heavy weights to benefit from strength training. The appropriate amount of resistance depends on the individual.
Trust Matters
Older adults sometimes worry that exercise will hurt or that someone will ask them to do more than they can handle. That is where trust becomes important.
The older adult needs to know that the person guiding them understands their abilities and limitations. They also need to understand that being challenged does not mean being pushed beyond their limits. With time, the person learns what their body can do. They begin to recognize the difference between “this is hard” and “something is wrong.” That confidence can become just as important as the physical strength they are building.
So, How Hard Should an Older Adult Exercise?
Hard enough to challenge the muscles without pushing beyond what is appropriate.
As strength improves, the resistance and challenge should increase with it.
The exercise is matched to the person - not their birth date.
At Tandem Strength & Balance®, this is a big part of what we do. We look at what an older adult can do today, what they want to be able to do, and what needs to become stronger to help them get there.
Research Behind This Article
Effects of Resistance Training on Muscle Size and Strength in Very Elderly Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.