4 Chair Exercises That Restore Core Faster Than Floor Exercises After 60

After 60, floor-based ab exercises like leg raises, crunches, and traditional planks can feel uncomfortable, aggravate your lower back, or strain your wrists and shoulders. As a result, many older adults either avoid core work altogether or don’t do it enough. Fortunately, restoring core strength after 60 doesn’t require lying on the floor. Instead, incorporating chair exercises for building core strength can be a gamechanger for older adults.

Research suggests the deep stabilizing muscles in your abdomen respond best to controlled and gentle activation performed consistently. A 2025 meta-analysis examining older adults found that low-intensity, repeated core engagement can help support spinal stability, reduce back pain, and improve balance.

But with the abundance of information online, determining which chair exercises are best after 60 can be challenging. That’s why we spoke with James Bickerstaf...