I recently turned 38, and more and more I’m thinking about the things I want to keep doing 10, 20, and 30+ years from now.

And what I can do now to help make that possible.

When it comes to resistance training (and exercise more generally), my philosophy centres on doing the simple things often.

But I also recognise there are certain qualities a basic training approach doesn’t always challenge that well - some of which become increasingly important for healthy ageing.

Some of these qualities decline particularly fast with age, and they’re also easy to neglect in typical training programs.

There are four I think are particularly relevant. And I’m trying to make more room for each of them in my own program.

So let’s walk through what these four areas are, why I think they matter, and how they can complement a basic strength training routine for healthy ageing.

#1. Power: practice being fast

Strength and power are fundamentally different, but related:

Strength = the ability to produce force

Power = the ability to produce force rapidly

As we age, power tends to decline earlier and faster than strength or muscle mass.

Most everyday situations don’t require lots of force, but they do require force to be produced quickly: think getting out of a chair, crossing the road, climbing stairs, and catching yourself after a sudden loss of balance.

In these situations, it’s not just about having enough strength, but being able to use it quickly.

Traditional strength training is great for increasing strength, but may not target rapid force production as well if every rep is deliberately slow and controlled. Research in older adults suggests resistance training with the intent to move the weight quickly produces greater improvements in muscle power - and possibly physical function - than traditional slower-velocity training.

That’s why I generally perform the concentric (or lifting) phase of my exercises faster where appropriate, and I’m trying to include exercises like jumps, simple plyometrics, and med ball throws in my program.

Some power-focused exercises can be quite advanced, but most can be scaled based on your current ability.

So, keep building your strength - but over time, practice using it quickly too.

#2. Balance: occasionally make yourself less stable

If there’s one physical ability we take for granted until we start to lose it, it’s balance.

The thing is, balance isn’t only about strength - multiple systems need to work together to keep you upright.

That means improving balance isn’t just about getting stronger. You need to actually challenge balance specifically.

Being stable in the gym allows you to produce more force, which is great for building strength. But the flipside is balance isn’t being challenged much at all. This is probably why the evidence on whether strength training improves balance is quite mixed - it largely depends on the types of exercises in the program.

To be clear, I’m not saying you should deliberately make your training unstable by doing your exercises on a BOSU or Swiss ball... In fact that’s a very bad idea.

What makes far more sense is doing exercises that challenge your balance directly by supporting yourself on one leg, narrowing your stance, moving dynamically in different directions, or reaching while maintaining balance and control.

If you want to keep your balance (or improve it), then you need to put yourself in situations that challenge you to maintain it.

#3: Unilateral exercises: train one side at a time

When you think about it, much of how we move is one-sided.

Walking or running requires you to repeatedly support yourself on one leg - as does climbing stairs, stepping over obstacles, or recovering from a stumble. These all require one side of your body to produce force independently of the other.

This is quite different to most exercises in the gym that are largely bilateral. Squats, leg presses, and deadlifts are great for building strength, but they are also quite symmetrical and stable.

Being strong on both legs is great, but it’s also important to be able to control your body with one leg (or arm).

Aside from training balance, single-leg exercises also challenge you to keep your pelvis stable while producing force with one leg. This places greater demands on the muscles on the outside of the hip, known as the hip abductors. The strength of these muscles may decline particularly rapidly with age - potentially even faster than larger muscle groups such as the quadriceps - which could have implications for balance and falls risk.

That’s why, after building a solid base of bilateral strength, it can be valuable to add unilateral exercises like split squats, lunges, step-ups, or single-leg sit-to-stand variations.

So build strength with both legs - but if you can, occasionally train one leg at a time.

#4: Carries: don’t just lift things - move them too

Carrying is one of the great “real-world” expressions of strength.

Think about how often you need to pick something up and take it somewhere. Shopping, luggage, laundry, and carrying children are prime everyday examples. These tasks challenge multiple things at the same time: your grip strength, trunk control, posture, lower-body strength, locomotion, and your work capacity.

While most traditional resistance training exercises require you to produce force while stationary, real life often requires you to maintain force while moving through space.

This is where exercises like loaded carries come in. Doing farmer’s carries or suitcase carries with varied loads and distances challenges your ability to maintain posture and control while moving under load.

Rather than just picking up a weight and putting it down, try taking it for a walk too.

But - don’t major in the minors either...

I’m very conscious this could easily be read as “here are 4 more things you need to do” and make you think your training suddenly needs to be more complicated.

But that’s not the intended message here.

Just building a foundation of general strength gets you most of the way there. I’m confident that if everyone did just 3 or 4 exercises twice per week (one “squat”, one “push”, one “pull”, and one “hinge”), that’d solve a lot of downstream issues.

So for most people, I’d say start there.

But if you’ve been able to get some consistency with your training, there’s an opportunity to train yourself to use your base of strength in different ways.

That doesn’t require a complete overhaul of your training either. It could be as simple as doing some of your exercises a bit faster or with more intent (for power), making one of your lower-body exercises unilateral, adding 2-3 sets of carries, practising balance for a couple of minutes, or doing a set or two of jumps or hops before your main session.

Train to keep your options open

This all comes back to the goal of healthy ageing.

The aim is not to maximise your squat or your vertical jump, but to maintain enough physical reserve so the demands of daily life stay well within your capabilities.

Not maximal, but enough. You just need to be strong enough, powerful enough, balanced enough, and capable enough to keep doing the things you want to be able to do.

So as I move into midlife and beyond, I’ll keep focusing on maintaining my base of strength, and sprinkling in some of these movements into my training where I can.

Not to become a better athlete, but to keep as many physical options open as possible.

Once again, thanks for being here!

Until next week,

Jackson

PS: Do you incorporate some of these exercises into your training? If so, I’d love to know if you’ve noticed an impact on your daily activities!

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IMPORTANT:

The information contained herein is of general nature only and does not constitute personal advice. You should not act on any information without considering your personal needs, circumstances, and objectives. Any exercise program may result in injury. We recommend you obtain advice specific to your circumstances from an appropriate health professional before starting any exercise program.