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Tom's Guide
4 days ago
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Over 60? Forget walking and swimming — this simple exercise builds strength and balance
Strength and balance naturally decline as we age, but that doesn't mean we're powerless to prevent it. While aging is inevitable, staying strong doesn't require a pricey gym membership. With the right habits, even simple daily movements can help preserve mobility and independence. Walking is well known for its health benefits at any age, from boosting cardiovascular fitness to strengthening bones. At Tom's Guide, we've tested everything from Japanese walking techniques to rucking and the 5-4-5 method to get more out of our steps, using the best fitness trackers to monitor progress. But there's one everyday activity that deserves more attention for its strength-building potential, and that's stair climbing. According to research, stair climbing can build muscle power, improve balance, and offer similar benefits to traditional gym workouts for older adults. It is a low-cost and accessible way to stay strong, steady, and independent, with benefits that go far beyond just getting from one floor to the next. In a recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers compared stair climbing with traditional resistance training in adults over 70. Both groups improved in lower-body strength and everyday tasks like walking and standing up from a chair. Those who climbed stairs performed better in stair-climbing tests, which may not come as a surprise, but reinforces the idea that simple, familiar movements can be just as effective as a gym session. For anyone looking to stay strong without lifting weights, this is good news. Climbing stairs works your glutes, quads, and calves, and also challenges your balance with every step. It's a simple way to build strength and stability at the same time. It also gets your heart pumping, so even a few minutes can count as a quick cardio session. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. According to a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, short bursts of vigorous activity like stair climbing can significantly improve heart health. In women, researchers found that climbing stairs for just four to five minutes a day was linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and a healthier, longer life. Not ready to take on multiple flights? Start with a short stair circuit. Climb up and down a few steps for a few minutes at a steady pace to get your heart rate up and engage your lower body muscles. Use a handrail for support if needed, wear stable, supportive shoes, and focus on strong, controlled movements. Even a five-minute stair session can feel surprisingly effective and help build strength and stamina over time. If you're already active and want more of a challenge, try increasing your pace, adding more flights, or using a stair climber machine at the gym to build endurance and intensity. Whatever your starting point, stair climbing is easy to scale up or down. Just remember to check in with your doctor if you have any health concerns before beginning. The Skechers Max Cushioning Elite 2.0 is a super-cushioned, supportive shoe that's perfect for walking or casual runs. Its plush 2-inch heel lift and breathable mesh upper make it ideal for all-day comfort on your feet. And if you're looking for more simple ways to move, try boosting your metabolism with this 5,000-step walking workout, adding extra steps with the habit stacking trick, or mixing things up with the 6-6-6 walking challenge for a more structured routine.
Tom's Guide
21-05-2025
- Health
- Tom's Guide
12-year study reveals the type of exercise that makes you live longer — it's not cardio
Up your protein. Add collagen. Walk 10,000 steps. Get more sleep. The list of tips for living longer is endless, and much of the advice comes from people with more social media followers than qualifications. At Tom's Guide, the fitness team works hard to cut through the noise. In our latest search for evidence-backed insights, we found a fascinating study that suggests strength training could be a key piece of the longevity puzzle. Published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the study followed more than 14,000 adults aged 50 and over for 12 years, using grip strength as a simple measure of muscle health. It found that people with lower grip strength had a 45 percent higher risk of death during the study. The takeaway is simple: strong muscles aren't just about how you look, they could help you live a longer, healthier life. Grip strength is exactly what it sounds like: how hard you can squeeze something with your hand. Think of it as your hand's power meter. But it's more than just winning at arm wrestling or opening stubborn jars. It's actually a quick, simple way for doctors and researchers to get a snapshot of your overall muscle health. Why? Because your grip says a lot about how strong your muscles are elsewhere in your body. As this study shows, keeping that strength up might just help you live longer and feel better as you age. The good news is, you don't need to live at the gym or lift massive weights to build strength. In fact, small, consistent efforts can make a big difference, especially as you age. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. If you're starting out, bodyweight exercises like squats, push-ups, or even getting up from a chair without using your hands (and repeating for a couple of sets) are great ways to begin. The best resistance bands are another beginner-friendly tool that's easy on the joints but still effective. For those with a bit more experience, adding weights, like dumbbells or one of the best kettlebells, can help challenge your muscles, and incorporating progressive overload into your training will keep the gains ticking along. The BowFlex SelectTech 840 Adjustable Kettlebell is an excellent choice for home strength training that offers six weight settings from 8 to 40 pounds in a single compact design. It features an easy-to-use dial system to allow for quick weight adjustments. And remember, you don't need to do it every day. Just two or three strength sessions a week can help to boost muscle, improve balance, and support long-term health. Like with most things in life, the key is to find something you enjoy and stick with it. Strong muscles aren't just about aesthetics, they can help you move better, feel better, and stay independent for longer.
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Health
- Forbes
The Executive Woman's Playbook For Hiring The Right Personal Trainer
In today's uncertain business climate—rife with tariffs, layoffs and recession fears—most leaders focus on strategy and risk mitigation. But one of the most underleveraged tools for resilience in leadership? Physical activity. For many high-achieving women navigating demanding careers, finding time for fitness is a challenge. In fact, according to a study from the Journal of American College of Cardiology, only 33% of women meet weekly recommended guidelines for aerobic physical activity. It's not for lack of motivation. Increased caregiving responsibilities, unpredictable work schedules and the mental load of daily life—in short: lack of time—make consistent movement harder to access for women. For executive women juggling back-to-back meetings, travel and the invisible labor of home life, the 'mental load' is more than a buzzword—it's a barrier. It's no wonder that industry data highlights the demand for personal training continuing to grow, especially among professionals in their 30s, 40s and 50s. For many women, hiring a trainer is a way to reintroduce structure, accountability and personalized support into an already complex life. But in a world of increasing complexity, choosing the right personal trainer to invest valuable time with matters now more than ever. For those used to managing teams and driving results, it can be refreshing to step into a space where someone else has the plan—and your only job is to show up. So how can busy women executives feel more confident about selecting someone who understands the dynamic nature of their lives? Here's what to consider. Disclosure: I am NASM-certified in personal training, with specializations in Women's Fitness, Corrective Exercise, and Behavior Change. In addition to the research and studies shared, this piece is also written based on my training and experience. Research has shown that people are significantly more likely to reach their fitness goals when they work with a trainer. A personal trainer can safely create programs, lighten the mental load of figuring out what to do and act as an accountability partner. And when it works, it really works. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that women often viewed personal trainers not just as fitness guides, but trusted partners—offering emotional support, tailored strategies and motivation, especially during moments of life transition. The relationship is often deeper than reps and routines. While high-level goals may sound like 'weight loss,' 'mobility' or 'core strength,' what's underneath is often more personal: reclaiming a sense of self after a life transition like giving birth, changing careers or navigating grief. Mobility might mean picking up your kids without pain. Strength might signal a desire to support your body through perimenopause. These layers often reveal themselves over time and thoughtful conversation. Women at gym getty Before getting into the nuances of finding the right personal trainer and leadership style, it's helpful to know what's typically included in a foundational intake process. Most certified personal trainers will begin with a few core questions, including: These are all important, but for many women—especially those in high-pressure roles—these basics don't always get to the heart of what matters most, like how training fits into a week that includes early investor calls, evening board meetings and a red-eye flight. Personal trainer doing client intake getty It's not just about being interviewed—you're interviewing, too. Here are a few questions you can ask that go beyond the surface: Listen for questions such as the following: In all scenarios, professionals considering personal training should check if their company offers flex dollars or wellness benefits that could cover or reimburse personal training sessions. From there, great places to find a potential trainer include: Consistency is where the power lies. For high-performing women navigating demanding roles, the key is often less about 'finding time' and more about integrating fitness in a way that aligns with real-life demands—supporting performance, health and longevity. When thoughtfully chosen, a personal trainer can offer more than a workout plan—they can be a partner in navigating life transitions, reducing cognitive load and reinforcing routines that support sustained leadership and well-being. The right fit doesn't just unlock physical results. It can reinforce a foundation of energy, confidence and clarity that extends far beyond the gym - into the boardroom, the Zoom room and the moments that matter most.
The Guardian
01-03-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
No pain, all gain: how to get stronger and build more muscle
Gym culture is changing. Once the preserve of musclemen whose veins looked ready to pop, now muscle-strengthening activities are being advised by the NHS for those aged 19-64 at least twice a week. That's because an increasing body of evidence links strength work with wellbeing and longevity, including a 2024 study that showed 90 minutes of strength training a week resulted in four years less biological ageing. Maybe that's why about 15% of the UK population is now a member of a gym. Part of the appeal is accessibility – it's not as technical as swimming, for example – but despite its simplicity, there's a huge amount of misinformation and conflicting advice. Low or high reps? Strength-training exercises are structured into a number of sets made up of repetitions. For instance, eight lifts, rest, followed by eight further lifts equates to two sets of eight. Finding the optimal combination of sets, reps and rest for gaining strength is a well-worn gym debate, but science is beginning to settle on an answer. 'Building muscle – hypertrophy – can occur across all rep ranges, from low, moderate and high,' says Chris Peden, a former Royal Navy physical training instructor and now a strength and conditioning coach to professional and amateur athletes. 'However, the optimum range appears to be in the moderate range of 6-12 reps and with a moderate intensity of load between 65% and 85% of an individual's one-rep maximum.' Peden adds that finding your one rep maximum (1RM) isn't essential for beginners, especially as you could strain a muscle through inexperience. Just go on what feels tough but not dangerously so. Alternatively, you can use an app such as Hevy or Stronglifts to create a programme, calculate your 1RM, track your progress and suggest when you're ready to upgrade to a heavier weight. Peden stresses that a high rep number isn't the most efficient way to increase strength. A 2015 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that compared a high-rep (25-35 reps), low-weight group and a higher-weight, lower-rep (8-12) group, and discovered that muscle size for both groups was similar. However, the heavier-weight group enjoyed the greatest strength gains because of the greater recruitment of muscle fibres. How much rest do I need?When it comes to strength gains, what you do between lifts matters as much as what you do during them. 'Generally, you should enjoy 90-150 seconds' rest between sets for hypertrophy and 3-5 minutes' rest for building strength,' says Peden. 'If time isn't an issue, I'd recommend resting a little longer if you can because it cranks up quality across all reps and sets. Rest as required; in other words, rest until you feel ready to go again and not by a strict timer.' Free weights or machines?When it comes to choosing machines or free weights, take heed of the legend of Milo of Croton, a six-time Olympic champion wrestler in the sixth-century BC, whose training is said to have involved lifting a calf over his head every day until it became a fully grown cow. Milo's beefy exploits show that your workload needs to progress if you want to keep on improving, and also indicate that the precise usage of specific equipment isn't the be-all and end-all. 'A mix of machines and free weights usually works best for strength and building muscle, though free weights help train the body in a more rounded fashion, incorporating stabiliser muscles,' says Peden. 'This has its advantages in sporting settings and everyday life.' Dumbbells and barbells that aren't connected to a pulley deliver a greater benefit because you're forced to balance your entire body while performing an exercise. For example, a standing biceps curl, which engages not only the biceps but also your back, abdominals and even your quadriceps to keep your body upright. This multimuscle engagement is more reflective of the real world, whether hitting a forehand on the tennis court or easing yourself in and out of a car. Aren't body-weight exercises sufficient?Do you really have to spend on gym membership if crunches, press-ups and so on will give similar results? 'Body-weight exercises kickstart the process of getting stronger and building muscle,' says Peden, 'but ultimately it becomes harder to progress as you'll lack the meaningful level of resistance to sufficiently stress the muscular system.' A fundamental weakness of body-weight exercises is that the stress (your weight) stays the same (or even decreases) while your strength increases. That said, you can adjust the difficulty of home-based exercises; with press-ups, you can put your feet on a chair or use just one arm. How should I balance weights and cardio? The benefits of strength work are unequivocal, but what if you wish to tap into cardio work, too? One school of thought said that they're unhappy bedfellows, each minimising the impact of the other. But a recent study revealed that people who took the NHS's recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week lived longer than those who didn't, while those who combined regular aerobic exercise with muscle-strengthening activities once or twice a week fared even better. Am I too old to start? Thinking of hitting the gym but put off by your advancing years? Don't be. 'It's never too late to start,' says Peden. 'We can still build muscle and grow stronger in later life, which helps to offset the rate of the ageing process. Weights are great for maintaining quality of life.' Muscle mass declines with age – a process that can begin in your 30s – and the resulting reduction in strength can lead to frailty and falls. But studies have shown that strength training can reverse this process and is associated with a variety of other benefits, including reductions in belly fat and blood pressure, and improved cholesterol readings. Additionally, strength training has been shown to slow age-related decline in testosterone in men. And resistance training increases bone density – particularly beneficial for women at risk of osteoporosis. Older gym-goers should think about increasing their protein intake. This is important for all ages but especially the over-60s because of an age-related anabolic resistance to protein. One study showed that protein absorption and assimilation was much slower in those over 60 compared with 20-to25-year-olds, leading to reduced strength gains. Evidence suggests a minimum of 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of bodyweight is a good starting point as you age.
