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By Alyce Collins
Senior Reporter
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Aging inevitably brings physical changes, but experts say your forties can be one of the most important decades for protecting long-term mobility and independence.
Caroline Packard, a doctor of physical therapy and board-certified pelvic floor specialist, told Newsweek that simple daily habits can help preserve strength, movement and function for years to come.
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Strength Training to Protect Joints
Muscle mass naturally declines with age, making strength training increasingly important.
But Packard says strength should be practical, supporting everyday movement rather than simply increasing the amount of weight you can lift.
"Strength training builds and maintains bone density, which matters enormously for women because bone loss accelerates around menopause," Packard said.
"Real strength includes breath, core, hips, and pelvic floor working together. That's why I don't separate pelvic-floor function from longevity."
Building strength in your forties should center around the patterns that keep you independent.
Packard’s advice is to do regular squats, hinges, and exercises that involve balancing or getting off the floor, such as sit-to-stand movements.
Keep Moving Daily, Not Just Exercising
Mobility also tends to decline with age, but regular movement can help counteract that process.
Packard, founder of Connect Pelvic Floor Fitness, says that prolonged inactivity encourages the body to compensate in ways that can lead to stiffness and discomfort.
"Mobility work gives your body new directions to move in, and that variability is what keeps you resilient," she said.
"If you can't access range of motion in a hip or a rib cage, your body compensates elsewhere, and that's where the nagging aches start.
"Your body is built to move all day, so when you sit for long stretches, the rib cage tends to collapse forward, your breathing gets shallow, and the pressure system of the core stops coordinating.
"The fix is almost embarrassingly simple: move more often, in smaller doses."
Get up, change positions, walk around and treat movement "like punctuation" throughout the day, rather than "one big sentence" at the start.
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Don’t Overlook The Significance of Posture
Poor posture is common among people who spend long periods sitting, but Packard says posture is about more than appearance—it affects breathing, stability and movement.
Rather than simply pulling the shoulders back, she encourages people to focus on breathing through the entire rib cage to improve alignment naturally.
"Feel your weight evenly through the tripod of your foot (heel, big toe, little toe), keep your knees soft instead of locked, and imagine a line running from your ear to your shoulder to your hip," Packard said.
"When the rib cage and pelvis are stacked, the diaphragm and pelvic floor can work together like two bowls moving with your breath."
Physio for Injury Prevention
Physiotherapy is not only for treating injuries. Periodic check-ins can identify movement issues before they develop into bigger problems.
Packard describes it as a "tuneup" that can help maintain mobility and address compensations before they lead to pain.
Packard’s Multistep Routine:
Packard recommends a simple routine built around one key principle: exhale during the effort phase of each exercise to engage the core and pelvic floor.
1. 360-degree breathing for 1 minute: sit or stand tall, hands on your ribs, and breathe so the rib cage expands front, sides, and back. This is the reset that makes everything else work.
2. Squats, 10 reps: this is the most fundamental lower-body pattern, and doing it well means your hips, core, and breath are all working together.
3. Hinge, 10 reps: a dead lift or Romanian dead lift with body weight or light load. Exhale at the top. This trains the posterior chain in a way that carries over to everything you lift in real life.
4. Overhead press, 10 reps: use dumbbells or a resistance band. Exhale as you press. This builds shoulder and upper body strength while challenging your core to stay stable under load.
5. Step-ups, 8 per side: use a stair or low step. Single-leg strength is how the body actually works: every step, every stair, every time you catch yourself from losing balance.
6. Bird dog, 8 per side: move slowly and with control. Bird dog builds deep core stability that supports the rib cage and pelvis, which helps your body manage pressure and stay steady.
Packard says breathing is the foundation that ties strength, mobility and stability together.
"Most people in their forties assume the answer is to work harder, when what they really need is to move better, and that starts with how they breathe," she said.
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