Surprising Parts of the Body You Need to Exercise Regularly

A few years ago, I had a pain in my right thigh. I assumed I'd just pulled a muscle and soldiered on. Until, that is, the pain started to interfere with my playing drums. That’s when I finally saw a physical therapist.

Turns out, the pain wasn’t coming from my thigh. It was originating in my hip area — more specifically, my glutes. Only after many sessions with my physical therapist, and exercising at home, was I back to pounding away on the drums pain-free. People age 50 and older who work out their arms, legs and back during training could still be ignoring critical strength exercises for older adults like those targeting the hips, ankles and even the neck. You might be, too. 

Hip exercises keep you mobile

“As we age, we may think we’re active and doing the things to keep us that way,” says Joe Palmer, a doctor of physical therapy and co-owner of Active Life & Sports Physical Therapy in Maryland. Oftentimes, he says, when patients come to his clinics with pain in their lower extremities, it’s because they aren’t working on hip-strengthening exercises. 

“Hip strengthening is where you get the most bang for your buck,” Palmer says. “People who walk slower typically have weaker hips, and that impacts their balance.” Weak hip muscles are also the likely cause for anyone who has trouble getting up out of a chair without using their arms.

When Palmer says “hips,” he’s talking about the gluteal muscles: the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus. “When people have weakness, it’s really in those, the primary hip stabilizers,” he says.

Knee exercises are important, too

You need to maintain strength, but also flexibility and muscular balance, in your knees to stay active, says Dr. Fred Cushner, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.  

“The two main muscle groups to the knee are the quads and the hamstrings," Cushner says. "So when your quads get weak, you might have pain getting from a sitting to a standing position. You may have discomfort with stairs and problems kneeling.”

But you have to do the right knee exercises to keep these muscles strong. “While lunges and squats might be great for your 18-year-old grandson, they’re not great when you have some arthritis, because that puts a lot of force across the knee,” Cushner says. “So it’s not only strengthening but appropriate strengthening.”

Cushner adds that with knees and other joints, staying flexible is important because it helps prevent injury and maintains the balance of the joint.

Foot- and ankle-strengthening exercises 

Now let’s move a little lower on the body and talk about your feet and ankles.

Strengthening your ankles is also important. Strong ankles will help stabilize your hips and knees, which impacts your balance, says Bruce M. Duchemin, a retired New Hampshire physical therapist with 50 years' experience. “An unstable ankle can result in loss of balance, twisting the ankle and causing injuries and/or falls,” Duchemin says. It’s also crucial to strengthen the muscles in your feet. “Keeping your feet strong can prevent pain and improve your balance,” says Jasmine Marcus, a doctor of physical therapy at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, New York.  

Exercises for neck pain

Proper neck exercises may help keep your neck stay pain-free, strong and flexible. Neck-strengthening exercises may also prevent “common aging issues such as a forward head posture, reversal of the cervical spine curve causing neck pain, and development of a kyphosis,” also known as hunchback, says Duchemin. “These alterations in the cervical spine will change the center of gravity of the upper body, causing the patient to develop balance impairments associated with posture,” which may result in falls. 

Wrist exercises

And don’t overlook your wrists. “It’s important to keep your wrists and your fingers moving, as a way to manage some arthritic symptoms,” Palmer says. 

This type of exercise is key to keeping your independence. For example, strong wrists can make it easier for you reach an overhead cabinet, and they also support your arms when you push down to get out of a chair.

“As people age from the 50s to the 60s and beyond into the 80s, the wrist is an important joint to strengthen, as it relates to the overall function of the arm,” Duchemin says. “It helps take stress off the shoulder and elbow in the execution of overhead activities.”