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I recently came across a Men’s Fitness article on five strength tests every man over 40 should pass, and I liked the bigger conversation it started. The main point is one I agree with: once you are past 40, training should not be only about looking strong or chasing numbers in the gym. It should help you keep doing real-life things well and certain fitness benchmarks can help you do just that. You should be able to get off the floor, carry groceries, climb stairs, play with your kids, handle yard work, and still have enough energy left to live your life.
Where I would broaden the conversation is that strength is only one piece of fitness. It is a critical piece, but it is not the whole puzzle. A man can have a solid deadlift, a decent bench press, and enough grip strength to hang from a bar, but if he is winded walking uphill, exhausted after a flight of stairs, or unable to recover between hard efforts, his fitness is still limiting his life and his ability to meet important fitness benchmarks.
That is especially true after 40. We do need to protect muscle, power, mobility, and joint integrity as we age. Age-related loss of muscle and strength is real, and cardiorespiratory fitness is also one of the strongest predictors of long-term health outcomes. The best approach is not to choose between strength and cardio. The goal is to build a body that is strong, mobile, stable, and conditioned enough to support the life you actually want to live.
The Missing Fitness Benchmark
The Men’s Fitness list includes the dead hang as a test of grip strength and shoulder health. I understand the logic. Grip strength is frequently associated with longevity and health outcomes, and hanging can be useful for some people. But I do not think a dead hang belongs in the top five practical benchmarks for most men over 40.
Here is why: grip strength is often a proxy, not the main thing. Men with strong grips often have stronger bodies because they lift, carry, pull, work with their hands, or live generally active lives. That matters. But the practical value of hanging from a bar for 30 to 60 seconds is limited compared with the value of being able to move through your day without your cardiovascular fitness becoming the bottleneck.
If I am choosing the five benchmarks that matter most for men over 40, I am keeping the movement patterns that preserve independence and injury resilience, but I am replacing the dead hang with cardiovascular capacity. You can be as strong as you want, but if your engine is undertrained, it will eventually limit your longevity, your energy, and your quality of life.
Benchmark | What It Tells You | Why It Matters After 40 |
|---|---|---|
Sit-to-stand or floor-to-stand | Lower-body strength, mobility, coordination | Independence, fall resilience, and daily function |
Push-up | Upper-body strength and trunk control | Getting up from the floor, shoulder control, and general work capacity |
Hip hinge | Posterior-chain strength | Back protection, glute strength, and safe lifting mechanics |
Split squat or single-leg hold | Balance and single-leg stability | Knee, hip, ankle, and fall-resilience capacity |
Cardiovascular capacity | Aerobic base, recovery, and high-output ability | Energy, longevity, blood-pressure support, and real-world stamina |
Benchmark 1: Can You Get Down and Back Up?
The ability to sit down and stand back up without relying heavily on your hands says a lot about how well your body is aging. It requires hip and ankle mobility, leg strength, balance, coordination, and confidence. That combination is exactly why I like this benchmark. It is not a gym trick. It is life.
Start with a chair sit-to-stand test. Sit on a sturdy chair, cross your arms or keep your hands off your thighs, and stand up and sit down under control for 30 seconds. If that feels too easy, progress toward getting down to the floor and back up with as little assistance as possible. The goal is not to turn this into a circus act. The goal is to make sure you are not losing one of the most basic forms of independence.
For a practical movement reference, this Kelly Starrett sit-to-stand reel is a useful example of how simple positions can reveal a lot about mobility, control, and real-world capacity. I would not treat any single demonstration as the only correct version, but it is a good reminder that the ability to get down and back up is a skill worth keeping.
If this benchmark is difficult, do not panic. Train it. Like Kelly suggests in the above reel, spending time in the positions that challenge you most is the best way to improve. For the sit-to-stand test most people will be challenged at the sitting part, so spend time sitting…on the ground. Do it till it feels uncomfortable, stop, take a break, then do it again. Break it up throughout your day and accumulate as many minutes as you can. Soon you will notice huge gains!
Benchmark 2: Can You Push Your Body Away From the Ground?
The push-up is still one of the most useful upper-body benchmarks because it tests more than chest and triceps strength. A good push-up requires trunk control, shoulder stability, breathing control, and enough relative strength to move your own body. That makes it much more useful than simply asking how much you can bench press.
For men over 40, I care less about a perfect number and more about the quality of the reps. Can you keep a straight line from head to heel? Can you lower under control? Can you press without your shoulders shrugging toward your ears or your lower back sagging? Those details matter because poor movement quality is often where nagging pain begins.
If full push-ups are not there yet, elevate your hands on a bench, counter, or rack. Build the pattern first, then lower the height over time. You can use this push-up demonstration reference as a visual cue for what I mean by controlled body position and intentional reps. This is also where small, practical training sessions can help. If you are busy, sprinkling in short sets throughout the day can build capacity without requiring a full workout. I discussed that approach in Real Results With Exercise Snacks, and it fits perfectly here.
Benchmark 3: Can You Hinge Without Your Back Taking Over?
The hip hinge is one of the most important movement patterns men over 40 can train. It teaches you to load the hips instead of dumping stress into the lower back. That matters every time you pick up a box, move furniture, shovel snow, carry a cooler, or lift a kid.
A good hinge uses the glutes, hamstrings, and trunk together. You should be able to push your hips back, keep your ribs and pelvis organized, maintain a neutral spine, and feel the work in the posterior chain rather than your low back. Romanian deadlifts, kettlebell deadlifts, hip thrusts, and cable pull-throughs can all build this pattern. For readers who want a longer technical reference, this hinge and deadlift video can be used as a supporting demonstration.
Benchmark 4: Can You Control One Leg at a Time?
Most of life happens one leg at a time. Walking, running, climbing stairs, stepping over obstacles, changing direction, and catching yourself when you trip are all single-leg problems. That is why I like the split squat or split-squat hold as a benchmark.
The point is not just to make your quads burn. The point is to expose asymmetries and build control through the foot, ankle, knee, hip, and trunk. Can you hold the bottom of a split squat for 20 to 30 seconds per side without wobbling all over the place? Can you keep the front foot grounded and the knee tracking well? Can you breathe while you hold the position?
If not, start with support. Hold onto a rack, wall, or suspension trainer. Reduce the range of motion. Use reverse lunges before deeper split squats. This split-squat video reference gives readers a place to see the movement in context. The goal is not to force depth. The goal is to build control.
Benchmark 5: Is Your Cardiovascular Fitness Supporting Your Life?
This is the benchmark I would add to the list. After 40, your cardiovascular fitness is not optional. It affects your energy, recovery, metabolic health, blood pressure, and long-term resilience. The American Heart Association recommends adults accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week, along with muscle-strengthening work at least two days per week.
But I would make this even more practical. First, get your daily movement up. A strong target for many men is 7,000-10,000 steps per day, but the bigger principle is to know your baseline and build from there. If you are currently averaging 4,000 steps, jumping straight to 10,000 may not be necessary or sustainable. In The Case for 7,000 Steps: Move More, Live Better, I covered why a meaningful amount of the benefit appears as you move from very low step counts toward roughly 7,000 steps per day, with additional but smaller gains beyond that.
Second, add some higher-intensity work. That does not mean destroying yourself every day. In fact, that is a great way to burn out or get injured. It means including one to three sessions per week where your heart rate gets high and you are genuinely challenged. Hill sprints, bike intervals, rowing intervals, sled pushes, kettlebell circuits, or short bodyweight intervals can all work. This cardio training video can serve as a useful reference for the broader conversation around conditioning, and I wrote more about the balance between effort and sustainability in Why Your Workout Intensity Matters More Than You Think.
The key is that walking and HIIT are not interchangeable. They serve different purposes. Walking builds the base, supports recovery, and keeps you from being sedentary outside your workout window. HIIT pushes the ceiling by challenging your cardiovascular system in a way easy movement cannot. Men over 40 need both.
A Simple Weekly Template for Men Over 40
You do not need to overcomplicate this. A practical week should include strength, steps, some intensity, and enough recovery to repeat it. The best plan is the one you can keep doing when work is busy, family life is demanding, and motivation is not perfect.
Training Priority | Practical Target | Example |
|---|---|---|
Daily movement | Build toward 7,000–10,000 steps per day | Walk after meals, take calls while walking, park farther away |
Strength training | 2–3 sessions per week | Squat or sit-to-stand, push, hinge, row, carry, single-leg work |
Higher-intensity cardio | 1–2 sessions per week | 6–10 hard intervals on a bike, rower, hill, sled, or bodyweight circuit |
Mobility and control | 5–10 minutes most days | Hip mobility, ankle mobility, controlled floor transitions, split-squat holds |
Recovery | Non-negotiable | Sleep, hydration, protein, easy movement, and sensible progression |
The Bottom Line
The Men’s Fitness article is right that men over 40 should be thinking about practical benchmarks. But I would not stop at strength tests. The real goal is complete fitness: the ability to move well, produce force, stabilize your body, recover from effort, and carry your fitness into daily life.
So yes, train the sit-to-stand. Train the push-up. Train the hinge. Train single-leg control. But do not ignore your engine. Get your steps in. Add smart HIIT. Build a body that is not just strong in the gym, but capable everywhere else.
That is the standard I want for myself, and it is the standard I want for the men I coach: not perfect, not flashy, but strong, conditioned, consistent, and built for the long game.