Exercise for Longevity
Arvid is 83 years old. He trains at CrossFit Aerial four to five days a week. He’s not the exception. He’s the example.
83 and Still Showing Up
Arvid walks into the gym most mornings, grabs a barbell, and gets to work. He squats. He presses. He does the same workout as the 30-year-olds in the class, scaled to his body. After class, he goes Nordic skiing. On the weekends, he does more skiing.
He’s part of our Legends group — the 55-and-older crew at CrossFit Aerial. Some of them are retired. Some still work. All of them decided at some point that they weren’t going to let age be the reason they stopped moving.
People hear “83-year-old doing CrossFit” and picture something reckless. It’s not. It’s an old guy doing goblet squats with a kettlebell, getting coached on his form, and leaving the gym feeling better than when he walked in. That’s it. That’s what keeps him independent, mobile, and out of a care facility.
Arvid didn’t start at 83. But the fact that he’s still going at 83 tells you something about what consistent strength training does for a body over decades.
What Actually Happens to Your Body After 30
Starting around age 30, you lose 3-8% of your muscle mass per decade. After 60, that rate accelerates. The medical term is sarcopenia, and it’s the reason people end up unable to get off the toilet, carry their own groceries, or catch themselves when they trip on the stairs.
Bone density drops too. For women especially, the decade after menopause is when osteoporosis risk spikes. A fall that a 30-year-old walks away from can put a 70-year-old in the hospital — and for a lot of older adults, a broken hip is the beginning of a steep decline.
Then there’s balance. Your proprioception — your body’s sense of where it is in space — gets worse with age unless you train it. Standing on one foot, changing direction, recovering from a stumble. These are trainable skills, and they’re the difference between catching yourself and falling.
None of this is inevitable. Muscle responds to training at any age. Bones get denser under load. Balance improves with practice. But you have to actually do the work.
Strength Training Beats Cardio for Longevity
For years, the advice was “do more cardio.” Walk. Jog. Get on the elliptical. And cardio does matter — your heart needs to work. But the research over the last decade has shifted hard toward strength training as the bigger factor in how long and how well you live.
A 2022 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that 30-60 minutes of strength training per week was associated with a 10-20% lower risk of all-cause mortality. Adding cardio on top of that helped, but the strength training alone moved the needle more than cardio alone.
Why? Because muscle is metabolically active tissue. It regulates blood sugar. It protects joints. It keeps you upright. Cardio fitness matters, but you can be a great runner and still be too weak to get up from a fall. The opposite — strong but slightly out of breath on a jog — is a much better position to be in at 70.
This is why we program the way we do at CrossFit Aerial. Every class includes strength work. Every class. The conditioning piece is there too, but the barbell comes first.
Your Future Self Will Thank You
Whether you’re 35 or 65, the best time to start building strength was ten years ago. The second best time is now. Book a free call and we’ll figure out where to start.
The Legends: Our 55+ Crew
We didn’t create a separate “senior fitness” program with chair exercises and resistance bands. The Legends do CrossFit. Real CrossFit. They squat, they deadlift, they press overhead, they row. The movements are the same ones the 25-year-olds do. The weights and scaling are different.
That distinction matters. A lot of “fitness over 50” programs treat older adults like they’re fragile. Light dumbbells, slow movements, nothing too challenging. The problem with that approach is it doesn’t build anything. You need progressive overload — gradually increasing the demand on your body — to actually get stronger at any age.
Our Legends members deadlift. They do pull-up progressions. Some of them are stronger than members half their age, because they’ve been at it for years and they never stopped pushing.
The coach scales everything in real time. Bad knee? We modify. Shoulder issue? We work around it. The goal is always the same: get stronger today than you were yesterday, without getting hurt.
This Is About Independence
Forget six-pack abs and Instagram transformations. For people over 50, exercise is about one thing: staying independent. Can you get off the floor without help? Can you carry your own luggage? Can you shovel the driveway in a Duluth winter without worrying about your back?
The number one reason older adults lose their independence is falls. And the number one way to prevent falls is strength and balance training. Not walking on a treadmill. Not stretching. Loading your bones and muscles under controlled conditions so they’re ready when life throws you a curveball — or an icy sidewalk.
Every squat you do in class is practice for getting out of a chair. Every deadlift is practice for picking something up off the ground. Every overhead press is practice for putting a suitcase in the overhead bin. The gym is a rehearsal for real life. That’s what functional fitness actually means.
It’s Never Too Late (But Don’t Wait)
Studies on adults in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s show measurable strength gains from resistance training. Your muscles don’t stop responding just because you hit a certain birthday. They respond slower, sure. Recovery takes longer. But the adaptation still happens.
That said, earlier is better. If you’re 40 and reading this, you have a 20-year head start on building the muscle and bone density that will carry you through your 60s and 70s. If you’re 60, you still have time to make a real difference. If you’re 75, Arvid started younger than you and he’s still going. Come join him.
The worst option is waiting. Every year you spend on the couch is a year of muscle loss, bone loss, and declining balance that you’ll have to fight to get back. The math only gets harder. Start now.
Where to Start
If you’re new to CrossFit or haven’t worked out in a while, check out our guide on CrossFit for beginners. It covers what to expect in your first class, how scaling works, and why nobody is going to judge you for starting light.
Want to know more about our programming? Visit the CrossFit program page to see how we structure classes and what a typical week looks like.
Frequently Asked Questions
Am I too old for CrossFit?
No. We have members in their 80s. Every workout gets scaled to your ability — different weights, different movements, same class. Your coach handles the adjustments. If you can get yourself through the door, we can work with you.
Is CrossFit safe for people over 50?
Safer than not exercising. Every class has a coach watching your movement and correcting form in real time. We scale loads and movements to what your body can handle today, not what it could handle 20 years ago. The biggest risk for people over 50 is doing nothing.
What is the Legends program?
Legends is our 55+ group at CrossFit Aerial. They follow the same programming as every other class, scaled to their abilities. Some of them are the fittest people in the gym. It's a crew of people who decided that getting older doesn't mean slowing down.
What kind of exercise is best for longevity?
Strength training. The research is clear on this. Muscle mass, bone density, and the ability to catch yourself when you trip — these are what keep you out of a nursing home. Cardio matters too, but if you had to pick one, pick the barbell.
I haven't exercised in years. Can I start CrossFit?
Yes, and you're not alone. A lot of our members hadn't worked out in a decade before they walked in. We start you where you are. Some people begin with a PVC pipe instead of a barbell. That's fine. The point is you started.
How often should seniors strength train?
Two to four times per week is the sweet spot for most people. Arvid, our 83-year-old member, trains four to five days a week. But he built up to that over time. Start with two or three sessions and see how your body responds.
Start Building the Body That Lasts
A free discovery call is all it takes. We’ll talk about where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there safely. No pressure.