Lillian Haynes reaches overhead and wraps her knuckles around a chalky metal pull-up bar. She takes a deep breath, sets herself, then contracts her back muscles, pulling her body skywards with surprising ease. She is 76 years old.

Later, she cranks out 15 perfect press-ups with technique that would put most twentysomething gym-goers to shame. Yet, at 59, she lacked the strength to hold a bodyweight plank.

Lillian, mother of experienced strength coach and Coastal Fitness founder Ed Haynes, is a prime example of the fact that it is never too late to start training, having started working out with her son shortly before turning 60.

“When I started training my mum, all she had done was jogging,” Haynes says. “I’ve been coaching her for 16 years now, and now she does strength training four days a week, plays golf three times a week and is more knowledgeable than most coaches when it comes to nutrition. At 76, she’s more active than most people half her age.”

Prioritise quick wins

“If you walk 10km into the woods, you have to walk 10km to get out of it,” says Haynes. In other words: the impact of 20 years of unhealthy habits is going to take time and effort to undo.

“For most people, the rate of adaptation from exercise is quite slow, especially if they are a little bit older,” he adds. This is why he prioritises quick wins with his clients – lifestyle changes that have a near-immediate positive impact.

“I think a lot about the pain points that people are dealing with,” he continues. “One is physical pain – sore joints, or difficulty walking down the stairs. So what are the quick wins we can use that are going to reduce pain tomorrow?

For most people, it’s all about nutrition and lifestyle. “For example, most people don’t drink enough. But we know that if we can drink adequate amounts of water relative to our body weight and activity levels, inflammation reduces. And when inflammation reduces, pain reduces.”

Read more: I specialise in coaching people aged 40-plus – do these six things for immediate results

Make gradual changes

Breaking old habits and creating new ones is hard. For this reason, Haynes recommends making gradual changes and building on them over time. For example, if you currently sleep for five hours each night, start aiming for five-and-a-half hours. When that feels manageable, look to hit six.

The same applies with exercise. Don’t jump from zero workouts to five gym sessions per week – rather, start with one short weekly workout, then when this feels like second nature, you can add more.

Read more: Do these five things daily for 90 days to see a ‘profound difference’ in your health, fitness and energy levels

“Changes are happening in our bodies all the time, and each time they do, it can be like dealing with a whole person.”

For this reason, you can’t bullishly push forward with your pre-existing plans and habits. Instead, as Haynes puts it, “the protocols need to evolve”. Find ways to build healthy, sustainable habits that work alongside your lifestyle, and change them as needed to suit your ever-updating circumstances.

Read more: Why the perfect workout doesn’t exist – and why that’s good news

Choose full-body workouts

“Generally speaking, full-body resistance training works really well for this demographic,” Haynes says. “Most people don’t really need to be doing strength training more than three days a week, but if you’re at zero weekly workouts right now, you should start with one. If you’re at one and comfortable with that, we will look to get you to two.”

If you can commit to this, you will see increased muscle mass, which Haynes likens to “armour” – capable of preventing injury and protecting you from falls. It also improves physical capacity and aids blood sugar regulation, combatting diabetes.

“It’s also the best way to increase bone density,” Haynes adds. “Running, yoga and pilates are not going to do it because there’s not enough tension on the muscle tissue and bone structures to make them adapt and fight things like osteopenia and osteoarthritis.”

Read more: The uncomfortable truth about building muscle and eight golden rules for strength training in midlife

Choose your exercise wisely

Strength training sessions for people aged 50 and above can generally look quite similar to those used by people of any age. But there are some extra elements to consider.

“My stance on exercise is that nothing is off the table – why put limits on yourself because you’re 70?” says Haynes. “Most exercises are useful, but every exercise can be bad if performed incorrectly.

“There are plenty of beautiful things that might come from learning more complex exercises if you can nail it, but there’s also a potential risk of injury. It’s about working out if you are OK with that, or if you would rather stick with safer dumbbell or machine exercises.”

For example, if you want to strengthen your legs, you can choose between a barbell squat and a leg press, among other movements.

“Both exercises are training the knees and hips in a flexed position – they’re flexing, then extending,” says Haynes. “But with a barbell squat, we have a high stability component, and you have to keep your joints in alignment and learn to brace effectively.”

The leg press, on the other hand, has a shallower learning curve and can be safer as a result.

“Because time is precious and the risk of injury is higher when you are older, we’re often going to choose lower-risk movements,” Haynes concludes.

Read more: The science-backed exercise method that can help fight the effects of ageing

Choose your rep scheme carefully

If you are new to an exercise, start by using lighter weights and performing more repetitions – Haynes suggests 15 to 20 reps per set. This, he says, is generally safer than performing a five-rep set with a heavier weight, while still allowing you to challenge your muscles.

“You’re going to start light and do lots of reps,” says Haynes. “As time passes and your body learns to handle this, you can gradually reduce the target number of repetitions and increase the load.

“Maybe, in a few years’ time, you will be able to work to a five-rep max [the most weight you can lift for five repetitions] of an exercise.”

Read more: Doctor of strength training shares a 40-minute weekly dumbbell workout plan for building strength and mobility

Avoid comparison syndrome

“I have a lot of conversations with people comparing themselves to their younger self, which can be a massive roadblock for some people,” says Haynes. “Another thing that comes up a lot is biological age – people think they’ve missed the bandwagon and there’s no point in training.”

But if you only start strength training in your thirties or forties, or you change your routine to live a healthier life than your younger self, chances are you can trump your former abilities, Haynes says.

“You can still have your highest level of muscle mass in your sixties and be hitting strength PRs in your seventies because you’re so new in your training journey,” he explains. “The best time to start is now.”

Read more: Expert warns why this daily habit is shortening your life – even if you exercise

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Editor’s note:  Before beginning any new exercise program, consult your doctor. Stop immediately if you experience pain.

Interested in boosting your longevity? All you may have to do is vary your exercise. Switching between activities such as walking, swimming, yoga, gardening and pickleball could result in a whopping 19% decrease in your chance of death from all causes, according to recent research.

“A 19% decrease is a big deal,” said Dr. James Voos, chief of orthopedics at University Hospitals in Westlake, Ohio, who was not involved in the study. “When you look at the literature, anything that has that significant of a response should encourage us to take a look at our habits.”

An international team of scientists pored over data from two large cohort studies involving more than 110,000 people whose physical activity was assessed over 30 years. The findings, published in the journal BMJ Medicine in January, showed that those who had the largest variety in their physical activity lived the longest.

Engaging in many different forms of movement could also be more beneficial than doing the same activity for a longer amount of time, the researchers found.

“That was the most surprising part of the study,” said Dr. Han Han, one of the study’s two first authors and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. “We’re usually thinking more about the quantity of exercise. These results add a new dimension to the existing evidence in this field.”

Adults should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, published by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The guidelines also advise adults to do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity at least twice per week, and note that varying your exercises can prevent overuse injuries.

“Engaging in a variety of exercises is definitely beneficial,” Voos said. “Your body needs different ranges of motion, strength and stability, and cross-training lets your body see all of those different movements each week.”

This is especially true for children. Sports medicine experts have long encouraged kids to play multiple sports and not to specialize in one at a young age. A raft of data on the topic shows children who specialize in a sport when young have an increased risk of injury, while those who don’t specialize tend to be healthier, are less bored with exercise and enjoy greater sports achievements when they are older.

But adults and even professional athletes need to vary their routines, too. Voos, who is also head team physician for the Cleveland Browns, said NFL football players at training camp might do a lot of conditioning one day, then work on flexibility and balance the next, then move onto strength training, all of which is intermixed with playing football.

“So even at the highest levels, our athletes are exposing their bodies to different motions,” Voos said.

Another plus to shaking things up with your exercise routine, especially if you prefer one activity, is that it helps prevent the plateau effect. The plateau effect is a period of time when progress in your favored sport stops, because your body has become very efficient at the movements. To overcome such pauses, you need to change your movement routine and stimulate your body in different ways.

While changing up your exercise is important for many reasons, experts don’t have specific recommendations for how many different exercises you need to do each week or month to achieve the most benefit. But it’s important to work all of your muscle groups each week, if possible, to strengthen them all.

This doesn’t mean you have to run to the gym every day so you can alternate between the treadmill, rowing machine and weights. If you like walking, for example, use trekking poles every other day to give your arms some exercise. Or alternate cycling with digging in the garden.

Keep in mind even simple exercises done at work or home are beneficial, too.

“Do squats at your desk or push-ups on the wall,” Voos said. “Take a break and walk around the parking lot. Contract your abs while sitting to improve your core strength, which is important for balance. It doesn’t have to be the most sophisticated thing. Anything you can sneak in is great.”

Pumped up about creating a new exercise regimen that might help extend your longevity? Remember it’s also crucial to your health to incorporate rest days into your program. Much as varying your workouts can help prevent overuse injuries and boredom, regular rest days will enhance your overall health. It’s during these rest days, experts say, that your body repairs tissues and refills energy stores, among other crucial functions.

But rest days don’t mean laying on the couch all day. It’s best to be active, perhaps by incorporating some gentle stretching throughout the day.

“Just keep your body moving,” Voos said.

Melanie Radzicki McManus is a freelance writer who specializes in hiking, travel and fitness.

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