Strength exercises at home: a simple circuit with no equipment

Why do strength exercises matter, and not just walking?

Walking and running train your heart and lungs. Strength exercises train your muscles, bones and joints. Your body needs both.

From your 30s and 40s, muscle mass slowly drops year by year if you don't use it. Weaker muscles mean harder stairs, more frequent back pain, poorer balance and, later on, a higher risk of falls. But muscles get stronger at any age once you put them to work.

The World Health Organization recommends that adults do muscle-strengthening activity for all major muscle groups at least twice a week. Over 65, add balance exercises too.

A strength circuit at home for beginners

1. Sit-to-stands

Sit on the edge of a sturdy chair with your feet hip-width apart. Stand up without using your hands, then sit back down slowly. This works your thighs and glutes, the same muscles you use to climb stairs.

2. Wall push-ups

Stand facing a wall, one step away, with your palms on the wall at shoulder height. Bend your elbows to bring your chest towards the wall, then push back. This works your chest, shoulders and arms. When it gets easy, move on to push-ups against a table.

3. Supported lunges

Hold the back of a chair. Take a big step forward and slowly lower your back knee towards the floor, then come back up. Do one leg, then the other.

4. Calf raises

With one hand on a wall or chair, rise up onto your toes and lower slowly. This works your calves and helps your balance.

5. Glute bridge

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Lift your hips until your body forms a line from shoulders to knees, then lower slowly. This works your glutes and lower back.

6. Plank on knees

Resting on your forearms and knees, hold your body straight from head to knees with your stomach tight for 20 to 30 seconds. When it gets easy, move on to a full plank on your toes.

How many reps, and how often?

Stage	Rounds	How often
Weeks 1–2	1 round, 8–10 reps per exercise	2 days a week
Weeks 3–4	2 rounds, 10–12 reps	2 days a week
From month two	2–3 rounds, 12–15 reps	2–3 days a week

Leave at least one rest day between two strength sessions for the same muscles. The last 2 or 3 reps of each exercise should feel a bit hard. If they're easy, add reps or move on to the harder version.

So you don't forget, your free MentorSano account puts movement on your daily to-do list, and the journal shows what you've done each week.

How do you make it harder without equipment?

• More reps or more rounds.
• Slower: take 3 seconds to go down and 1 to come up. The same exercise gets harder.
• A harder version: from wall push-ups to table push-ups, then knee push-ups; from sit-to-stands to squats without a chair.
• Weight in your hands: two water bottles, a backpack with books in it or a resistance band.

How do you exercise safely?

• Warm up for 3 to 5 minutes: march on the spot, roll your shoulders and ankles.
• Keep breathing during each move; don't hold your breath.
• Move slowly and with control, not with jerks.
• Stop if you feel sharp pain or dizziness. Mild muscle soreness over the next few days is normal at first.
• Use a sturdy chair that won't slide, and shoes or bare feet on a non-slip surface.

How do you fit strength exercises into your week?

The exercises themselves are easy. The hard part is doing them twice a week, month after month. A few things help:

• Set days. For example Mondays and Thursdays, when you get home or before dinner.
• A ready-made spot. A corner with the chair and a towel, so you don't waste time setting up.
• Pair it with something you already do. Sit-to-stands while the kettle boils, wall push-ups after you brush your teeth.
• One round beats none. On busy days, do a single 5-minute round and tick it off.

Daily walking and strength work twice a week go well together: one keeps your heart fit, the other your muscles and bones.