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If everyday movements, such as lifting your grandchildren or carrying shopping in from the car, feel more challenging than they once were, you’re certainly not alone. And the good news is that targeted exercises can help you rebuild strength, balance, and stability to make daily life easier.
This is where functional fitness comes in, an exercise philosophy that’s gained popularity in recent years. It’s been described as “the most practical type of exercise you can do,” while being versatile and adaptable – making it a great choice for over-50s wanting to feel more confident and capable in everyday life.
Read on to explore what functional fitness is, as well as the benefits and how to get started. This includes expert tips and knowledge from Shane O’Connell, a personal trainer who specialises in helping older adults maintain independence and happiness through movement.
You can join Shane’s functional fitness class over on Rest Less Events every Tuesday at 1 pm.
What is functional fitness?
“Functional fitness involves exercises that help you perform better in everyday life, whether it’s walking with friends, lifting and carrying objects, or playing with children and family. It’s about living strong and living well,” says Shane.
What’s more, functional fitness can involve nearly all types of exercise, and you can get started at home with little or no equipment, making it accessible and versatile.
Why is functional fitness a good choice for over-50s?
We naturally lose muscle mass, strength, and function with age, which can lead to a loss of independence and increased risk of falls and injury. But thankfully, strength training can reverse these effects, making it one of the best things we can do for our longevity and quality of life.
While there are various types of strength training, some are more effective than others at helping us age better and live independently for longer.
For example, bodybuilding-type workouts are great for increasing muscle size and definition because they isolate individual muscles and muscle groups. However, they aren’t necessarily best for boosting ‘real-world strength’ because they’re often optimised for reaching aesthetic goals.
Functional fitness, on the other hand, mimics the movements we perform in daily life, such as carrying shopping bags or squatting to pick something up off the floor. It helps build mobility, stability, strength, endurance, and balance, targeting the whole body, rather than just one muscle or muscle group at a time.
As a result, functional fitness helps our bodies handle day-to-day activities, reducing our risk of injury and helping us live independently for longer.
“Bending from the hips, squatting with the knees, pushing and pulling with the arms, and twisting through the core – maintaining strength in these core movements can help us have a fulfilling later life,” Shane explains.
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What are some other benefits of functional fitness for over-50s?
- Functional fitness saves time – because functional workouts prioritise exercises that work multiple muscle groups and joints at once, they’re a time-saving alternative to workouts involving lots of isolation exercises.
- Functional fitness is versatile – ‘functional fitness’ is a broad term that includes many different ways to move. From yoga and Pilates to CrossFit and Hyrox, anything can be adapted to build functional fitness. So, no matter how you prefer to exercise, you can find a functional workout to suit you.
- It’s adaptable – the versatility of functional fitness means that you can easily modify exercises to suit your ability and needs.
For example, in his weekly functional fitness class, Shane includes seated exercises to help participants build strength without putting unnecessary stress on joints.
- You don’t need equipment to get started – because functional fitness incorporates everyday movements into workouts, it doesn’t rely on complex machinery and other complicated exercise gear. This means you don’t need to invest in any equipment (or a pricey gym membership).
- You can integrate functional fitness into your everyday life – functional fitness doesn’t have to mimic everyday movements in a workout setting. Instead, you can find ways to move more in daily life – for example, by taking the stairs when you’d ordinarily catch the lift.
Shane says, “Climbing the stairs is a great way to incorporate functional movement. Often, people opt for convenience and ease (taking an elevator or driving short distances), but it’s important not to sacrifice independence for convenience.”
5 important functional fitness exercises for over-50s
If you’re interested in getting started with functional fitness, Shane’s advice is to begin with simple movements, adding any new exercises slowly. “Start with 5-10 repetitions a few times a day,” he says. “Consistency is the most important factor if you want to see results.”
One of the best ways to begin your functional fitness journey is to take a class with a qualified instructor like Shane. There are a few reasons for this, but mainly, it’ll ensure that you’re performing each exercise with proper form and help prevent injury.
However, if you want to get started by yourself, there are plenty of free tutorials out there that demonstrate how to perform certain movements – YouTube is a great source. Below, we’ve also pulled together a round-up of five of the most important exercises for over-50s.
Note: If you have health concerns, health and fitness experts recommend speaking to your healthcare provider before starting any new exercise regimen.
1. Squats
Squatting is a staple of both gym and home workouts. It takes your lower-body joints through a wide range of motion, engages muscles throughout the body, and helps build core stability, better posture, and leg strength.
What’s more, squatting is a fundamental movement pattern – one of the building blocks of all human movement that we use regularly. For example, whenever you pick something up off the floor, kneel down to garden, or get in and out of chairs, you’re using a squatting motion – so squat-based exercises are ideal for functional fitness workouts.
Aside from the basic squat, there are plenty of variations that can help you make things more or less challenging, target different muscle groups, and keep your workouts interesting. These include chair squats, wall squats, side squats, plié squats, and stationary split squats. You can just use your bodyweight or add extra resistance with weights or resistance bands.
Watch the video below to learn how to perform a basic bodyweight squat, or check out this article from Healthline, which shows you how to do 45 squat variations.
2. Hip hinge exercises
Hip hinging is another fundamental movement pattern. It involves bending forward from the hips while keeping the spine in a neutral position. Like squatting, we might use it when we sit in a chair or bend down to pick something off the floor.
Hip hinge exercises are especially important later in life because they can reduce our risk of back injury, while strengthening glutes and hamstrings and improving posture.
There are many hip hinge exercise variations – from basic bodyweight hip hinges to more complicated exercises like deadlifts and glute bridges. However, it’s important to start with bodyweight hip hinges to master the technique before adding any weight.
The video below will show you how to do a bodyweight hip hinge. This guide from PureGym also has useful information on proper technique and common mistakes.
3. Push exercises
We use pushing motions all the time in daily life – including when we open/close doors, put things on high shelves, and navigate trollies around supermarkets. So it’s wise to incorporate some exercises into your functional fitness routine that mimic these movements.
When it comes to functional push exercises for over 50s, Shane recommends press-ups. They’re a go-to upper-body exercise for many and for good reason – working the triceps, chest, and shoulders while strengthening the lower back and core.
Again, Shane cautions us to take it easy at first. Try gentler press-up variations like wall press-ups or kneeling press-ups before moving on to standard ones if you feel capable. And remember to keep repetitions low to begin with and build up slowly from there.
To learn how to do standard, kneeling, and wall press-ups, check out the video below. If you have access to light weights or resistance bands, you could also try other push exercises, such as chest presses, overhead presses, lateral raises, and tricep extensions.
4. Pull exercises
To complement your push exercises, you may also like to add pull exercises to your functional fitness routine. These will help you with movements like opening/closing doors, lifting groceries, and taking things down off shelves.
Pull exercises typically work the back, shoulder, and biceps muscles. They’re generally split into horizontal and vertical pulls (the same is true for pushes). The first exercise targets the muscles between your shoulder blades, while the second works the large muscles along the sides of your back. Using both in your workouts can help ensure that you’re covering all the major back muscles.
When it comes to pull exercises, resistance bands are a handy investment. These will help you perform a range of seated pull exercises, including pull-aparts, lat pull-downs, dumb waiters, bicep curls, and more.
This article from the British Heart Foundation will show you how to do a range of basic resistance band exercises, including the four mentioned above.
Worried about accessing the NHS care you need?
83% of Rest Less members are worried about accessing the healthcare they need on the NHS#, making fast access to treatment more important than ever.
HMCA private medical cover offers affordable, flexible plans, with 90% of members saving money when they switch. Enjoy peace of mind. Join today and get £150 off your subscription.
#Data from over 1,000 Rest Less members surveyed in 2025
^Data from HMCA members who joined between 01/01/25 and 30/06/25
5. Loaded carries
Whether hauling a suitcase down some stairs, lifting your grandchildren, or ferrying groceries in from the car, there are many times in life when we need to carry weighty things from one place to another. So it’s a good idea to prepare your body by adding loaded carries to your functional fitness workouts.
Loaded carries involve holding a weight and carrying it from one place to another. They engage the whole body – improving posture, stability, and grip strength – while being gentle on joints.
There are various loaded carries that you can work into your functional fitness regimen. For example, suitcase carries involve holding one kettlebell or dumbbell at your side and striding forward, while bear hug carries mean walking while hugging a sandbag or weighted ball to your chest. For functional fitness, Harvard Health recommend farmer’s carries (i.e. holding a weight at either side).
You don’t need proper gym weights to get started with loaded carries, either – try to get creative and find substitutes. For farmers’ carries, why not load up tote bags with household items like canned goods or water bottles? Filled rucksacks also make great substitutes for sandbags or weighted balls when doing bear hug carries.
Check out the video below to learn how to do a farmer’s carry.
Final thoughts…
As a final piece of advice, we asked Shane what single change over-50s can make to most effectively improve their strength and mobility.
“Walk, and walk often,” Shane says. “Walking has numerous health benefits, and walking outside is great for your mental well-being.”
Or, to start your functional fitness journey at home, why not tune into Shane’s weekly exercise class, which runs every Tuesday at 1:00pm on Rest Less Events?
For more wellbeing content, head over to our health section, where you’ll find fitness and exercise advice and ideas, as well as nutrition tips and much more. Or, if it’s inspiration you’re after, we have plenty of personal stories from over-50s smashing fitness goals.
Are you interested in improving your functional fitness in 2026? Or have you already started? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
* Links with an * by them are affiliate links which help Rest Less stay free to use as they can result in a payment or benefit to us. You can read more on how we make money here.
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