Many of us, regardless of our age or fitness levels, know that we should be doing more exercise but are unsure where to start. So what is the ultimate exercise for improving health, longevity and general wellbeing? Here, personal trainers share the best moves, whatever your individual needs or abilities.
Deadlift
Rachael Tate, Norfolk
“The deadlift is the king of exercises, because it is a compound move that recruits many muscles, right from the feet to the grip and the whole back of the body. It is also comparable to real life: it is a movement we use when we’re picking up something heavy.
“You want to have a really flat back and engaged core, and then you’re hinging at the hips so that you can pick up dumbbells or a barbell – or even buckets of water – off the floor and stand up straight.
“First, find the movement without a weight. Make sure that you’re feeling it in the back of your body. Then you could gradually add weight.”
Plank
Mollie Millington, Hatfield
“I would suggest doing a plank every day. It is a full-body workout that you can do anywhere. You want to get on all fours to begin with. Then extend your legs behind you so you’re on your toes and either keep your arms straight so that only your hands are in contact with the ground (this is known as a high plank), or bend your elbows so your forearms are on the ground (a low plank). Viewed from the side, your legs and torso should form a straight line from your heels, through your knees and hips, to your shoulders. Try not to stick your bum up or let your hips sag. If this is too challenging, you can do planks on your knees, but keep that straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
“The important thing is to keep the intensity in your abs. It really helps develop the core and having a strong core will help you to move around and do things.”
Sled push
Rhiannon Cooper, Wolverhampton
“This strength-based cardio is fantastic for feeling strong and powerful. It is fail-safe, too: even beginners can lean in with their body weight and get all the good endorphins.
“It involves a metal ‘sled’, which can be easily loaded with weight plates. Place your hands halfway down the vertical poles, which will be the point of contact, and step back to a split stance position, a bit like a big step or lunge. With braced shoulders, back and core and almost straight arms except for a slight bend in the elbow, drive your body weight forward and the sled should move forward with you. Then take a step forward and continue to push. One rep would be the distance of the track, often 10-20 metres (33-66ft), depending on the gym.”
Dead hangs
Rob Ghahremani, Mind Over Matter Fitness, Nottingham
“This is great for spinal decompression, mobility and shoulder health. As a wheelchair user, this is particularly important as we get older. It improves your grip strength, engages your back and core, and helps postural correction, which is good for those working at desks or hunched over phones.
“Set a bar above your head, reach up towards the bar, then hang off it, holding your body weight for as long as you can. It might be that you can only do five seconds to begin with, and then the next day six. The more you do it, over time your body will adapt.”
Sitting to standing
Dom Thorpe, Stevenage
“When you’re working with various disabilities, the important thing is that exercise can be any movement. Just because your legs don’t work and you can’t do the usual cardio or squats, that doesn’t mean that you can’t exercise.
“One of the best exercises is a basic sit to stand. If you need support, hold on to a table or a rail to help yourself get up. Without putting any specific numbers on it – everyone is different – find your starting point and aim to build on that over time.”
Lunge
Nick Bender, Yoked Fitness, London
“Falling is a huge concern for anyone over 60. While the fall itself is frightening, what people often fear more is the embarrassment of not being able to get back up. If there is nothing nearby to hold on to, it requires the strength to perform a lunge. That’s why I would choose the body-weight lunge. It is functional, accessible and vital for quality of life. If you have limited time or willpower, the lower body is more important for overall health than the upper body. Strengthening the pelvic region, your glutes, hip flexors and hips is critical.
“To perform a lunge, take a big step forward and aim to touch your back knee to the ground. Start with a medium-wide stance, lower until your back knee gently touches the floor. Keep your hands off your knees if possible, torso upright, and upper body weight evenly distributed. To make it easier, hold on to a countertop. To make it harder, hold a dumbbell in one hand. Do two sets of 15 reps for each leg, three times a week for resilience as you age.”
Farmer’s carry
Ollie King, Sheffield
“Simple and greatly underrated, a farmer’s carry builds grip, core and posture while carrying over to everyday life: carrying shopping, kids, anything heavy.
“Pick a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells you can hold comfortably, one in each hand. Stand tall with your shoulders down and back, and a slight brace through your core, then just walk. Think ‘tall posture’ the whole time, don’t let the weights pull you forward or from side to side. Keep the shoulders down; if you’re leaning or wobbling a lot, the weights are too heavy.”
Squat with heel raise
Dr Kate Ella, Edinburgh
“As a former orthopaedic surgeon who has fixed hundreds of fractures, I’ve seen first-hand how important balance is, as well as strength, and this movement does it all. Start with your feet hip-width apart and then squat down to wherever works best for you. Lift your heels off the ground and, staying on tiptoes, push back up to standing. Finish by lowering your heels to the ground, ready to repeat.
“This strengthens the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves so that walking and running are easier. It challenges balance and core strength, too. I do it every night.”
Neck flexor exercises
Shona Vertue, Australia
“Given how much time we now spend on devices, I’m seeing a gradual decline in neck strength. If I had to choose one area everyone should be training, it would be the neck, and specifically exercises that strengthen the deep neck flexors through controlled retraction.
“Lie on the edge of your bed and slowly lower your head back off the edge, then curl your chin towards your chest. That’s one rep. It’s like a crunch for your head.”
Single-leg work
Sarah Milne, London
“Single-leg exercises – including a deadlift, squat, bridge and Bulgarian split squat – have so many functional benefits. They can be gentle and intense, with multiple variations even before adding weights. This makes them accessible to the most cautious beginner and equally challenging to a seasoned strength trainer.
“Our posture and imbalances tend to catch up with us around middle age. This can limit our training and manifest as back and hip pain and stiffness. The glutes are the biggest muscle group, and tend to be largely underused, but single-leg exercises use just one glute to power the whole body, with the rest of the body’s muscles working as stabilisers.”
“Don’t be put off by the ‘single-leg’ description: many of these exercises allow you to support yourself with both legs, but one bears most of your weight and does most of the work – like Bulgarian split squats, in which one foot is a long step in front of you and the other leg is bent behind you, with your toes or the top of your foot resting on a bench or similar platform. From this upright split, lean forward just a little, while keeping your chest proud, and lower your back knee down until it is touching the floor or as close as possible. Then engage your entire body and push the ground away with your standing leg to bring you back up again. Repeat as many times as you like, before switching legs.”
Walking
“People don’t appreciate the benefits of walking. If you ever go to the doctor with back pain, they will ask you about your activity level and get you walking, because they know movement can be a cure. But I would put more emphasis on mental health: you will feel better if you walk.
“If you are new to walking, all you need is about 30 minutes at a gentle and leisurely pace, three to four times a week. That is what I do myself.”
Step-ups
Dafydd Judd, Cardiff
“Trying to pick up more movement outside the gym is a huge way to start. Take the stairs instead of the lift, or look for excuses to get up and move around, especially if working from home. Anytime that you can be on your feet is a big bonus.
“Start with one step on the stairs, and then build up to skipping a step. That gets your range of motion bigger as you’ve got to really push yourself. Step-ups work your quads, glutes, calves and hamstrings; they also stretch your hip flexors. If you hold weights in your hands, it becomes a full-body movement.”
Face pull
Jack the Fitness Butler, Essex
“This targets lots of underused muscles in the mid-back and improves posture. If you are rounding your shoulders and upper back because you have no strength in your mid-back muscles, the face pull is the best exercise to mitigate this and start to correct it over time.
“You can do it at home with a resistance band, or at the gym with the rope attachment on the cable machine. Grab hold of the rope or resistance band, with one hand on each end. Flaring the elbows, you are pulling the ropes or resistance band towards your face and either side of your ears, focusing on trying to retract your shoulder blades back and down. It is not a movement that really burns, but it is just so important for posture and the upper-mid back.”
Jumping
Anika Crane, Newport
“As much as I’d love everyone to sprint, it is quite a big ask. Instead, jump. Our bones get weaker as they age. It is better to train in a safe environment and not be afraid of it.
“Squat, then come all the way up and just keep going until you lift off the floor. To modify it for a lower impact, squat and then come all the way up on to your toes.
“As and when you want to start lifting off the ground, do it as fast and explosively as you can. But start gently, because there is the possibility of being sore if you haven’t jumped in a long time. It will tone your legs like nothing else.”
Copenhagen plank
Omar Mansour, London
“Most people neglect the adductors [inner thigh muscles], which play a huge role in pelvic stability, knee control and injury prevention. Weakness here is often the missing link in things such as groin strains, knee pain and lower-back problems. That is why the Copenhagen plank is really valuable, especially for runners and hybrid athletes.
“Lie on your side next to a bench or box. The top leg goes on the bench (ankle or knee, depending on level), the bottom leg rests on the ground, the elbow is directly under the shoulder, as in a side plank. Lift the hips and bottom leg off the floor, and keep the body in a straight line. Hold this position or perform controlled reps. You should feel your inner thigh working hard.”
Turkish get-up
Estela Llanos, Bristol
“It is not just an exercise; it is a skill. Lie on your back with a weight pressed straight up in your right hand and your right knee bent. Roll up to your left elbow, then push up on to your left hand. Bridge your hips high and sweep your left leg back into a half-kneeling position. Stand up straight, then reverse the entire motion – undoing each step – with control back to the floor. Repeat on both sides.
“What makes it so powerful is that it brings together all the basic human movement patterns in one smooth sequence; a lunge, a hip hinge, rotation, while holding a weight overhead. It also includes rolling from the floor, which is something we naturally do as children but lose as we get older. It improves shoulder and upper back stability and mobility, as well as hip mobility. I’ve coached it to people in their mid-60s and beyond.”
Kettlebell swing
Zavia Hill, Manchester
“These can be done at any stage of a fitness journey, whether you are just starting out or you are a pro-level athlete. Explosive hip drives build glutes, hamstrings and core, foundations that build strength and power, which are key for real-world strength, too. The rapid hip extension is the same pattern used in sprinting and jumping. And they provide cardio without long slow sessions as the swings elevate the heart rate quickly.
“Place the kettlebell about a foot in front of you. Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Hinge at your hips, grab the handle with both hands. Brace your core and engage the glutes to stand up. Bring the shoulders back and down. Let the kettlebell swing up to shoulder height and down again. It is important to hinge from the hips with a straight back.
“Ultimately I don’t believe there is a one-size fits all approach to exercise and kettlebell swings definitely aren’t my personal favourite, but speaking objectively, they are great for full body, can improve blood sugar regulation and can be done anywhere. So no excuses!”