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3 days a week · Adults aged 65 and over

Workout plan for seniors (65 and over)

Strength and balance three times a week, short balance practice on other days and walks that build up gradually: the shape of the falls-prevention programmes with the best evidence. Every exercise is done next to a counter or chair, and there's a seated starting point if standing is hard. If you've fallen and were hurt, or fall often, start with your GP or a falls service.

3 training days40 min a session12 weeksBeginnerA sturdy chair, a counter and a step; ankle weights and a band help

Your week

Tap a day to open its session, with a follow-along player.

  1. MonStrength and balance40 min · 18 movesIf standing is hard: the chair exercises for seniors instead, for now
  2. TueBalance practice, plus a walk10 min · 7 movesHold the counter. Then walk for 10 to 30 minutes at a pace where you can talk but not sing, resting for a minute when you need to
  3. WedStrength and balance40 min · 18 moves
  4. ThuBalance practice, plus a walk10 min · 7 movesAs Tuesday
  5. FriStrength and balance40 min · 18 moves
  6. SatA walk, or a class40 min · 3 movesTai chi, dancing or aqua aerobics count toward balance and strength as well
  7. SunRest, or the balance routine10 min · 7 movesEvery day: stand up and move about at least once an hour

The sessions

Every move links to its guide and 3D demo, with an easier and a harder option.

Strength and balance exercises for seniors

40 min · Beginner

  1. Standing march1 to 2 min · 3D demo · Beginner
  2. Thoracic rotation6 each side · 3D demo · Beginner
  3. Sit to stand from a chair2 rounds · Up to 10 · 3D demo · Beginner
  4. Seated knee extension (chair)2 rounds · Up to 10 each leg · 3D demo · Beginner
  5. Wall side leg lift (standing side kick at the wall)2 rounds · Up to 10 each leg · 3D demo · Beginner
  6. Slow calf raise2 rounds · 10 to 20 · 3D demo · Beginner
  7. Tibialis raise2 rounds · 5 to 10, 2 s hold · 3D demo · Beginner
  8. Low step-up2 rounds · Up to 5 each leg, building to 8 to 12 · 3D demo · Beginner
  9. Wall push-up2 rounds · 5 to 10 · 3D demo · Beginner
  10. Band row2 rounds · 10 to 15 · 3D demo · Beginner
  11. Tandem stance and heel-to-toe walkHold 10 to 30 s, then 5 to 10 steps · 3D demo · Beginner
  12. Single-leg stand3 holds of 5 to 10 s each leg, building to 30 s · 3D demo · Beginner
  13. Side-stepping (sideways walking)10 steps each way · 3D demo · Beginner
  14. Backward walking10 steps, 2 or 3 times · 3D demo · Beginner
  15. Heel walk10 steps · 3D demo · Beginner
  16. Get Up and Down from the Floor1 to 3 practices · 3D demo · Beginner
  17. Wall calf stretch (gastrocnemius)30 s each side · 3D demo · Beginner
  18. Doorway chest opener30 s · 3D demo · Beginner
Start this session

How the weeks progress

Weeks 1 to 2
Start safely

1 round of the strength moves, up to 10 slow reps each, stopping with 3 or 4 to spare. Balance with both hands on the counter. Walks of about 10 minutes, resting for a minute when you tire. On the floor, practise only the last step of getting up, with someone present.

Weeks 3 to 6
Build

2 rounds. When 10 slow knee extensions or side leg lifts feel easy, add a light ankle weight; use a higher step; hold the counter with one hand, then with your fingertips. Walks of 15 to 20 minutes on 4 or 5 days.

Weeks 7 to 12
Challenge

2 rounds of 8 to 12 (3 if you have the time and energy), stopping about 2 reps short. Stand up briskly and sit down slowly. Make balance harder one way at a time: feet closer together, a finger off the counter, turning your head, or counting backwards while you hold. Walks build toward 150 minutes a week.

After 12 weeks
Keep going

Repeat the week and keep making it a little harder. Every 4 weeks, count how many times you can stand up from the chair in 30 seconds (our suggestion for tracking progress). Think about joining a local strength and balance class: the benefits fade when you stop.

How to run it

Choosing your starting weightEmerging evidence

Warm up, then pick a weight you think you could lift about 10 to 12 times at most. Do the bottom of the rep range (for 8 to 12, do 8) and ask: how many more could I have done with good form? Two or three more: that is your weight. Five or more: go up one step next set. None or one: go down one step.

For bodyweight moves, choose the version (the easier or harder option on each move's page) where you reach the bottom of the rep range with 2 or 3 reps to spare.

In the first two weeks, stop each set with 3 or 4 reps to spare. Most people misjudge how many reps they have left by about one, and you are still learning the movements.

Sources 1, 2, 3

Progressing week to week: double progressionEmerging evidence

Each exercise has a rep range, such as 8 to 12. Keep the weight the same and add reps, set by set and session by session, while still stopping 1 to 3 reps short of failure.

When every set reaches the top of the range, add the smallest weight step you have (roughly 2 to 10%, smaller jumps for the upper body and small muscles) and go back to the bottom of the range. Adding reps and adding weight both work; this rule uses both.

With body weight, add reps, then slow the lowering, then move to the harder option. If a lift stalls for 2 or 3 sessions, hold the weight, check your sleep and food, and consider a lighter week.

Sources 4, 3, 1

How hard each set should feelStrong evidence

You do not need to train to failure. Stopping 2 or 3 reps short, often written as 2 to 3 reps in reserve (RIR), gives similar results for most people.

Stop each set with about 2 reps to spare; in weeks 1 to 2, stop with 3 or 4 to spare.

Sources 1, 5

Rest between setsEmerging evidence

Heavy compound lifts in sets of 5 to 8 (squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, chin-up): 2 to 3 minutes. Other compound lifts in sets of 8 to 12: about 90 seconds to 2 minutes. Isolation moves such as raises, curls, extensions and calf raises: 60 to 90 seconds.

For muscle growth, resting more than about a minute gives a small advantage, with no clear extra gain past about 90 seconds. For strength the evidence on rest is mixed: 1 to 2 minutes is enough for beginners, and trained lifters may do better with longer rests on heavy lifts.

Short on time? Pair two moves that do not compete, such as a press with a row or a leg move with a core move, and rest after the pair. Supersets like this roughly halve session time while keeping the sets.

Sources 6, 7, 1, 8

Lighter weeks

This plan has no planned lighter weeks: the loads are moderate, and the falls guidelines ask for programmes to carry on, because the benefits fade when people stop. After an illness, a fall or a break, go back a phase and build up again over a week or two; that is our editorial advice.

Source 9

Warm-up and cool-downEmerging evidence

Warm up with 3 to 5 minutes of easy movement, the moves listed at the start of each session, then 1 or 2 lighter sets of the first lift. A short warm-up specific to the exercise is enough.

The cool-down is optional. Its stretches are there for comfort and flexibility; they do not add strength or muscle.

Source 8

Missed days, soreness and when to stop

Missed a session? Do the next one in the order rather than doubling up. Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new exercise is common and fades as you repeat it.

Stop and get medical help for chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting. If a joint pain is sharp, gets worse during a set or lingers into the next day, swap to the move's easier option, and see a clinician if it persists.

WHO notes that people without contraindications generally do not need medical clearance before light or moderate activity. If you have a heart, lung or metabolic condition, are pregnant, or have osteoporosis with fractures, ask your clinician first.

Source 10

For adults aged 65 and over: what the evidence says

What the guidelines ask forStrong evidence

UK guidelines ask people over 65 to be active every day, to do activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on at least 2 days a week, and to build up gradually to 150 minutes a week of moderate activity, such as brisk walking. The World Health Organization (WHO) asks older adults for varied activity that emphasises balance and strength on 3 or more days a week, to prevent falls. This plan does both.

Sources 11, 12, 10

Balance and strength prevent fallsStrong evidence

In a Cochrane review of 108 trials with over 23,000 people, exercise cut the rate of falls by about a quarter (23%), with high certainty. Balance and functional exercise, such as standing up from a chair and stepping, has the strongest evidence, and adding strength training probably helps more.

The biggest effects came from programmes that challenged balance and added up to 3 or more hours a week. The world falls guidelines advise sessions 3 or more times a week, made harder over at least 12 weeks and then continued.

Sources 13, 14, 15, 9

How much this plan gives you, and how to do moreEmerging evidence

By week 7 this plan gives about 2 hours 20 minutes to 2 hours 40 minutes of strength and balance work a week: three 40-minute sessions plus 10-minute balance sessions on 2 to 4 other days. That is below the 3 or more hours a week linked with the biggest cut in falls: in the review for the WHO guidelines, programmes of that size that included balance work cut falls by 42%.

To build toward 3 hours, do the balance routine on 5 or more days and stretch it to 15 to 20 minutes, or join a weekly strength and balance class. For people at risk of falling, the UK osteoporosis consensus suggests about 25 minutes a day, or three 1-hour sessions a week.

The days and minutes, the ankle weights, the backward and heel walking, the toe raises and the 30-second one-leg target are our editorial choices within these programmes.

Sources 14, 15, 16, 9

Built on the Otago programmeStrong evidence

The Otago home programme, leg strengthening and balance exercises three times a week plus walking, cut falls and fall injuries by 35% across four trials of 1,016 people aged 65 to 97, and the over-80s gained most. In its first trial, of 233 women aged 80 and over, the exercise group had 88 falls in a year against 152 in the comparison group.

This plan's knee extensions, side leg lifts, calf and toe raises, sit-to-stands and finger-by-finger balance progression follow the Otago beginners' booklet used in UK falls services, and its one-leg stands, heel-to-toe walking, side-stepping, step-ups and wall push-ups follow the NHS strength and balance exercises.

Sources 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

And on Falls Management Exercise (FaME)Emerging evidence

FaME is a UK programme: a weekly class plus home exercises twice a week. In its first trial, 100 women who had fallen 3 or more times in a year became stronger and steadier over 9 months: strength rose by 7 to 45% and balance with the eyes closed by 56%.

We could not read that trial's own falls figures. So FaME's effect on falls here comes from a later analysis of the trial, which reports that it reduced falls, and from ProAct65+, a trial in 43 GP practices in which people who did FaME for 24 weeks had about a quarter fewer falls in the following year.

Sources 22, 23, 24

It's never too lateStrong evidence

Strength training gave large gains in strength and in getting up from a chair in older people. Nursing-home residents aged about 90 more than doubled their leg strength in 8 weeks, and in 1,635 people aged 70 to 89, a walking and strength programme made them less likely to lose the ability to walk 400 metres.

Sources 25, 26, 27, 28

How hard to workEmerging evidence

International experts advise 2 to 3 strength sessions a week, starting with 1 to 2 sets and building to 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, with weights that feel hard by the last few reps. Standing up briskly and sitting down slowly adds power, which helped everyday function a little more than slow lifting in trials, though the evidence is low certainty.

Sources 29, 30, 1

Three starting pointsStrong evidence

If you're already active, keep it up and add the strength and balance work. If you've been losing strength, start with sit-to-stands, short walks and this plan. If you're frail, any extra light activity and less sitting is a start: begin with the chair workout, which builds some strength but not balance, and add standing moves as soon as you can.

For frailty, an exercise programme that includes strength training is the first treatment international guidelines recommend.

Sources 11, 31, 32

Start supervised if this applies to youStrong evidence

UK guidelines suggest new exercise is supervised at first if you live with frailty, have moderate to severe dementia, have had a spinal (vertebral) fracture, or fall regularly.

If you've fallen and were hurt, have fallen twice or more in a year, couldn't get up, or blacked out, ask your GP about a falls assessment. In some areas you can refer yourself to a falls service: ask at your GP surgery.

Sources 11, 9, 33, 34

Osteoporosis and spinal fracturesStrong evidence

Most people with osteoporosis can exercise safely, and the benefits in general outweigh the risks. Avoid deep forward bending of the spine; this plan has none. If you've had spinal fractures or several low-trauma fractures, keep impact to the level of brisk walking. If you're at risk of falling, build strength and balance before brisk walking.

See a physiotherapist first if spinal fractures are painful, you've broken many bones or you've had many falls. Back pain or a change in shape, such as losing height or a more curved upper back, can be signs of a spinal fracture: tell your doctor.

Sources 16, 35

Walking: good for you, not falls prevention on its ownMixed evidence

In people over 60, more daily steps went with a lower risk of death, up to about 6,000 to 8,000 a day. But walking programmes haven't been shown to prevent falls, and in one group already at risk of falls, brisk walking increased fractures. Walk for your heart and mood, and do the balance and strength work as well.

Sources 36, 13, 16

Keep goingEmerging evidence

The benefits fade when people stop. In ProAct65+, the effect on falls had gone 2 years later, except in people who stayed active; in the Otago trials only about a third of people were still exercising 3 times a week after a year; and in a real-world FaME rollout, the gains had faded 6 months after the classes ended. Pick days and times you can keep.

Sources 23, 37, 38

Getting up from the floor

Practise when you're well, with someone present and a sturdy chair close by, starting with the last step: from kneeling with your hands on the chair seat, bring one foot forward and push up to sit. Once that is easy, practise the step before it. The world falls guidelines and the FaME programme both teach getting up this way, last step first.

Sources 9, 22

After a fall, and other warning signs

Call 999 after a fall if you may have hurt your head, back, neck or hip, or you can't get up. Get help from NHS 111 if you may be in pain, injured or unwell. See a GP if you've had a fall or are worried about your balance, and ask whether any of your medicines could be affecting it.

Call 999 straight away for signs of a stroke, even if they pass: one side of the face drooping, weakness in one arm, or slurred or confused speech.

Sources 34, 39

Who it suits

  • People aged 65 and over who live at home and can stand and walk
  • Starting from very little, or wanting to stay steady and independent
  • Standing is hard? Start with the chair track
  • Had a fall with an injury, or fall often? Start with a falls assessment

Other plans

3 days a week

Workout plan for women over 50

A weekly plan for women over 50: strength, bone-loading and balance on 3 days plus walking, built on UK osteoporosis consensus advice.

Beginner45 minDumbbells or a gym; a chair and a counter3 days a week

Workout plan for men over 40

A 3-day strength plan for men over 40 with power and bone work, two cardio days and mobility, built on research on ageing muscle.

Beginner45 minGym (home swaps listed)2 days a week

Beginner workout plan: your first 4 weeks

Your first four weeks: two, then three short strength sessions a week at home plus walks, building gently to a full routine.

Beginner20 minNone (a chair and a wall; a band helps)3 days a week

4-week beginner Pilates plan

A free 4-week, 3-day Pilates plan for complete beginners. Two mat days and one wall day, with clear rules for when to move each exercise to its harder version.

Beginner25 minA mat and a wall

Guides that recommend it

Swap in other moves

Questions people ask

What is the best exercise plan for seniors?

A mix: strength and balance work at least 2 days a week, ideally 3 or more for preventing falls, walking built up toward 150 minutes a week, and less sitting. Balance and functional exercise, such as sit-to-stands and stepping, has the strongest evidence for preventing falls.

How much exercise should a 70- or 80-year-old do each week?

The same guidelines apply at any age, built up gradually: something every day, strength, balance and flexibility on at least 2 days, and 150 minutes of moderate activity. Falls programmes work best done 3 or more times a week and kept up.

How do I start if I haven't exercised for years?

Start small: one round of each move, holding the counter, and 10-minute walks, resting for a minute when you need to. Make it a little harder every week or two. If standing is hard, begin with the chair workout.

Do I need to see my GP first?

Most people don't need a check before light or moderate activity, but the NHS suggests speaking to a GP if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions. Ask first if you've fallen, get chest pain or dizziness when you're active, or have a heart condition.

Is it safe to exercise with osteoporosis?

Yes, for most people, and the benefits in general outweigh the risks. Avoid deep forward bending, and if you have had spinal fractures, keep impact to the level of brisk walking. See a physiotherapist first if fractures are painful or you fall often.

What if I've had a fall or I'm afraid of falling?

Ask your GP about a falls assessment; a falls service can offer supervised strength and balance training. Exercise also reduces the fear of falling.

What if I can't stand for long?

Use the chair exercises for seniors three times a week, and stand up and move about every hour. Seated exercise builds some strength but not balance, so add standing moves, holding the chair, as soon as you can.

Is walking enough?

Walking is good for your heart and health, and in people over 60 more steps went with a lower risk of death up to about 6,000 to 8,000 a day. But walking programmes haven't been shown to prevent falls, so add strength and balance work.

What are the Otago and FaME programmes?

Otago is a home programme of leg strengthening and balance exercises with walking, which cut falls and fall injuries by 35% in trials. FaME is a weekly group class with home exercises that improved strength and balance, and in a trial in GP practices, people who did it fell less in the following year. This plan uses their exercises; in the UK, falls services offer them.

How long until I feel steadier?

Falls programmes are made harder for at least 12 weeks and then continued. In the first Otago trial, balance had improved by 6 months. Keep going, because the benefits fade when people stop.

Sources

  1. Currier 2026 · ACSM position stand: resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy and physical performance (overview of 137 reviews, MSSE)
  2. Halperin 2022 · Accuracy in predicting repetitions to failure (scoping review and meta-analysis, Sports Medicine)
  3. ACSM 2009 · Position stand: progression models in resistance training for healthy adults (MSSE)
  4. Plotkin 2022 · Progressive overload without progressing load? Load vs repetition progression (RCT, PeerJ)
  5. Refalo 2023 · Proximity to failure and muscle hypertrophy (meta-analysis, Sports Medicine)
  6. Singer 2024 · Inter-set rest and muscle hypertrophy (Bayesian meta-analysis, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living)
  7. Grgic 2018 · Rest interval duration and muscular strength (systematic review, Sports Medicine)
  8. Iversen 2021 · No time to lift? Designing time-efficient training programmes (narrative review, Sports Medicine)
  9. Montero-Odasso 2022 · World guidelines for falls prevention and management for older adults (Age and Ageing)
  10. Bull 2020 · World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (BJSM)
  11. UK Chief Medical Officers 2019, reissued 2026 · UK physical activity guidelines (Department of Health and Social Care)
  12. NHS · Physical activity guidelines for older adults
  13. Sherrington 2019 · Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community (Cochrane review)
  14. Sherrington 2020 · Physical activity and falls prevention in people aged 65 and over: review for the WHO guidelines (International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity)
  15. Sherrington 2017 · Exercise to prevent falls in older adults (meta-analysis, BJSM)
  16. Brooke-Wavell 2022 · Strong, steady and straight: UK consensus statement on physical activity and exercise for osteoporosis (BJSM)
  17. Robertson 2002 · Preventing injuries by preventing falls: four Otago trials (meta-analysis of individual data, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society)
  18. Campbell 1997 · Home exercise to prevent falls in women aged 80 and over: the first Otago trial (RCT, BMJ)
  19. Later Life Training 2018 · Otago strength and balance home exercise programme: beginners (booklet)
  20. NHS · Balance exercises
  21. NHS · Strength exercises
  22. Skelton 2019 · FaME falls exercise in older women who fall often: strength, power, function and bone (RCT secondary analysis, Journal of Frailty, Sarcopenia and Falls)
  23. Gawler 2016 · Reducing falls among older people in general practice: the ProAct65+ exercise trial (cluster RCT, Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics)
  24. Iliffe 2015 · Promoting physical activity in older people in general practice: the ProAct65+ trial (cluster RCT, British Journal of General Practice)
  25. Liu 2009 · Progressive resistance strength training for physical function in older adults (Cochrane review)
  26. Fiatarone 1990 · High-intensity strength training in people in their 90s (trial, JAMA)
  27. Fiatarone 1994 · Exercise training and nutritional supplements for frailty in very elderly people (RCT, NEJM)
  28. Pahor 2014 · Structured physical activity and major mobility disability: the LIFE study (RCT, JAMA)
  29. Izquierdo 2021 · International exercise recommendations in older adults: ICFSR expert consensus (Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging)
  30. Balachandran 2022 · Power training vs traditional strength training on physical function in older adults (meta-analysis, JAMA Network Open)
  31. Dent 2019 · Physical frailty: ICFSR international clinical practice guidelines (Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging)
  32. Sexton 2019 · To sit or not to sit? Seated exercise for older adults (meta-analysis, Australasian Journal on Ageing)
  33. NICE NG249 · Falls: assessment and prevention in older people and in people 50 and over at higher risk
  34. NHS · Falls
  35. Royal Osteoporosis Society · How to exercise safely for bones
  36. Paluch 2022 · Daily steps and all-cause mortality in 15 cohorts (meta-analysis, Lancet Public Health)
  37. Thomas 2010 · Does the Otago exercise programme reduce mortality and falls in older adults? (meta-analysis, Age and Ageing)
  38. Orton 2021 · Real-world effectiveness of the Falls Management Exercise programme (implementation study, Age and Ageing)
  39. NHS · Symptoms of a stroke

A general plan for adults without symptoms or restrictions, not a prescription. Start lighter than you think, stop for sharp or increasing pain, numbness, chest pain, faintness or unusual breathlessness, and get individual advice if you are pregnant, after an injury or surgery, or managing a health condition. Health disclaimer.