By Rush PT
Getting fitter after 60 usually means giving strength, stamina and balance a place in your week. Start with what you can manage, choose activities that matter to you and build from there. There’s no birthday at which you suddenly need an entirely different personality in the gym.
Maybe you want the stairs to feel less dramatic. Maybe it’s carrying shopping, keeping up on a walk or getting off the floor comfortably. Those are useful goals. Let’s work backwards from them.
What would you like to feel easier?
A training plan becomes much more useful when “get fitter” turns into something specific:
- Strength: lifting, pushing, carrying and getting up from a chair.
- Stamina: walking further or finishing an outing with less effort.
- Balance: feeling more confident when turning, stepping or changing direction.
These abilities overlap, but improving one doesn’t automatically cover the others. A longer walk won’t tell you much about your pulling strength. The weights rack is equally unhelpful at measuring how confident you feel on an uneven path.
Give strength work a regular spot
ACSM’s 2026 resistance-training guidance recommends working the major muscle groups at least twice a week. It puts consistency and individual needs ahead of complicated programming. Machines, bands, free weights and bodyweight exercises can all be useful. This guidance is for healthy adults; a particular injury or illness may need a different approach.
You might practise a supported sit-to-stand, a suitable row, a press and a carry. The variation and amount of work should fit your current ability. Our guide to scaling exercises explains how to adjust the challenge without turning every session into a test.
Pick realistic days and a convenient place. If training regularly makes ordinary daily tasks difficult afterwards, discuss the workload. Being unable to sit down isn’t a progress certificate.
Build stamina around something you enjoy
The LIFE trial in JAMA followed 1,635 sedentary adults aged 70–89 who had physical limitations but could initially walk 400 metres. They received either a structured physical-activity programme or health education.
Over an average 2.6 years, major mobility disability occurred in 30.1% of the activity group and 35.5% of the education group. The outcome was losing the ability to walk 400 metres. The programme included several exercise types and support, so this wasn’t a trial of walking alone.
It gives us a good reason to take everyday mobility seriously. It doesn’t tell everyone over 60 to walk a particular distance. A manageable route around Potts Point or Rushcutters Bay might suit you; someone with walking difficulties may need another option. Plan for rests, access and the return journey.
Practise balance with the right support
In a trial of 670 adults aged 70 or older who had fallen in the previous year or had impaired mobility, a specifically adapted therapeutic tai ji quan programme reduced the rate of falls compared with stretching and with a mixed-exercise programme. Classes ran twice weekly for 24 weeks.
That’s encouraging, but the details matter: a defined programme, a particular population and appropriate instruction. It doesn’t mean any tai chi class or wobbling exercise gives the same result. Rush PT isn’t claiming to deliver that trial’s programme.
If you’ve fallen or feel unsteady, speak with a health professional about assessment and suitable exercise. More difficulty isn’t always better. Closing your eyes while balancing is not a compulsory upgrade.
Why combine different kinds of training?
A six-month trial of 160 older adults with obesity compared aerobic training, resistance training and both together during a weight-management programme. The combination improved the physical-performance score more than either alone. Aerobic-containing programmes improved aerobic capacity more, while resistance-containing programmes produced larger strength gains.
This wasn’t a GLP-1 trial or a recommendation that every older person should lose weight. It shows why your goal should shape your training. If medication and weight change are part of your situation, see our guide to GLP-1 medicines and exercise.
Start with one page, not a complete life overhaul
Write down one everyday goal, what you can do now, two realistic activity opportunities and any support you need. Then choose something to review: attendance, a familiar walk or control in an exercise. WHO guidance recognises that some activity is better than none. You can build towards a fuller routine.
Want help putting that together? Talk to Rush PT about personal training in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs or online coaching. Bring any relevant medical or rehabilitation guidance so the plan fits you.
General exercise information; individual medical, falls-prevention and rehabilitation advice should come from your treating health professional.
