If a magic bullet for healthy ageing existed, strength training would be it. But, as Kate Upton’s trainer Ben Bruno affirms, modifications are essential for protecting your bones and joints, and ‘to get and stay strong’.

Bruno shared a video of his 75-year-old mum performing a workout programmed by himself on Instagram. The workout included five exercises, but as Bruno references in the comments section, each of these have been adapted for his mother’s age, as he does for all of his ‘older clients’. Here are the exercises involved, their modifications, and the benefits of taking these modifications.

• Modification: Position yourself against a wall with a foam roller inbetween the wall and your back, to lean on as you lower into the squat.
• Benefit: ‘The roller helps to take strain off your lower back and knees,’ Bruno says.

2. Single arm/single leg press

• Modification: Position your head, neck and upper back against a bench.
• Benefit: Avoid straining your neck and shoulders.

3. Prone T raise

• Modification: Use these as a substitute for prone overhead presses.
• Benefit: ‘Prone T raises are a great modification for people who struggle to lift overhead,’ Bruno advises. Studies show that flexibility in your shoulder and hip joints decreases by approximately 6 degrees per decade between the ages of 55 to 86, for both men and women, which could make it difficult to perform overhead presses.

4. Hamstring bridge march

• Modification: Perform each march slowly, with control.
• Benefit: Avoid straining your lower back.

• Modification: Position your body in a supine position, lying on your back, to allow your neck and head to rest while tapping the weights by your ears.
• Benefit: ‘This will take the strain off your neck,’ Bruno advises.

Taking a tailored approach like this is clearly paying off for Bruno’s mother, as he shares in the caption: ‘Here’s a full-body workout that I did with the my mom, who’s 75 years old but still KILLING IT.

‘I truly believe that STRENGTH TRAINING IS THE REAL FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH; and thankfully, she does too. She’s had serious lower back issues her whole life, and she broke her arm badly four years ago and still struggles to raise her arm overhead. Many people use injuries as a reason to NOT train, but it should really be even more motivation TO train.

‘She’s worked so hard to get and stay strong, and as a result, she’s back to playing golf and tennis and doing stuff that most people her age can’t do anymore.

‘Women often think of strength training just in terms of how it changes your body outwardly, but there’s a lot more to it than that: bone density, metabolism, blood sugar regulation, mood improvement… the list goes on and on. We only get one body in this life, so it’s important to keep taking care of it as we get older.

‘I’ll touch on some training modifications that I take into account for older clients in the comments below, but I want to keep this caption about Momma Bruno because I’m really proud of the work she puts in and the fact that she keeps a positive attitude and always focuses on the things she CAN do instead of the things she can’t do.’

Here’s to futureproofing our bodies.

As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director (and a qualified yoga teacher), Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism. She secured her first role at Look Magazine, where her obsession with fitness began and she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!. Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red.

Now, she oversees all fitness content across womenshealthmag.com.uk and the print magazine, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, where we showcase the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise. She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how.

Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.