Five Exercises for Muscle Power

Arnold Schwarzenegger is, by definition, a powerful human. 🏋 The former bodybuilding champion (turned actor, turned governor) has continued to focus on health and longevity, and recently discussed muscle power as an overlooked aspect of healthy aging.

Mounting research, including work from Mayo Clinic, suggests that muscle power may be a better predictor of longevity than strength alone. 

Unfortunately, we tend to lose power earlier and faster than strength.

That means if you’re only training for strength, you might be missing out on an important factor of healthy aging.

The Livelong Women’s Health Summit is this weekend. If you’re still deciding if you should go, here’s the deeper question to ask yourself:

Do you want to feel stronger, understand your body better, and connect with other women who care about aging well?

If yes, this is your time. Take back your power and get your ticket today.

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Muscle Power = strength + speed 

It describes the ability to quickly generate force and to move explosively. 💨 You need power “every time you need to react quickly, stabilize yourself, or move dynamically,” writes Schwartznegger.

That would mean we rely on power to move in daily life:

These are skills that fundamentally allow you to stay independent and do what you love for longer. In this way, power can support the quality of life and happiness.

But it’s also functional, and it can predict longevity.

In a 2025 prospective study, Mayo Clinic researchers found that muscle power predicted mortality more strongly than strength in middle-aged and older adults. 👴 People with the lowest muscle power had about a 6-7x higher risk of early death than those with the highest.

Strength is still very important for supporting muscle and metabolic health, bone density, and disease prevention. But power rounds out the functional fitness your body may need to live longer and healthier.

Squatting (nicknamed the ‘king of exercises' by some physiotherapists 👑) is practical for daily life because it trains the act of sitting to standing. Experts recommend starting with bodyweight squats, going slow when you lower yourself, then fast when you lift yourself back to standing. Complete 2–3 sets of 6–10 reps.

Power requires combining resistance with speed, writes Harvard Health. Medicine ball throws train upper-body explosiveness, with studies showing they increase shoulder press power and support healthy skeletal aging. 🩻 Complete 2–4 sets of 5–8 explosive reps.

Plyometrics target those fast-twitch muscle fibers we talked about earlier. And—when done consistently—some studies suggest that low-intensity jumps and impact training can build stronger bones 🦴 (especially in the hips) even in people with osteoporosis.

Wall push-ups are accessible and scalable for most adults. As you get stronger, go faster to build more power. Complete 2–3 sets of 8–12 reps.

In one recent study of older women 👵 with sarcopenia (clinical muscle loss) and obesity, power-focused training that included push-ups was deemed a ‘superior strategy’ for strength, muscle mass, and functional health compared to traditional aerobic + resistance training. 

While it doesn’t feel explosive, flexing your foot 🦶 against a resistance band builds ankle strength and mobility, which supports balance, stability, injury prevention, and healthier power. Repeat 2-3 sets for 10-15 reps per side (Follow along here)

And buckets of research suggest that resistance may support brain health. 🧠 In a clinical study, combining resistance and power training has been linked to improved brain structure and slower brain atrophy.

Muscle power might be one of the most effective predictors of how long and how well you live. 

Start by dialing up your everyday movements. Stand up, just FASTER. ⏫ Or, add a jump to a squatting workout, if it feels safe. Over time, adding power can preserve strong muscles and increase your body’s resilience against aging.

Power gives you the possibility to move more freely. What would you do if you had more power? Would you: dunk a basketball? 🏀 Lift your grandchild like an airplane? ✈ Learn a karate kick?

“GLP-1s beyond weight loss” with Katie Sorensen, NC-P Bio. Note: You must be part of the Livelong Circle to access this event. Join now.

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On the Livelong Podcast^TM: Why your workouts stopped working. A conversation with exercise physiologist Dr. Stacy Sims.

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Last Tuesday, we explored the Finnish concept of sisu — inner strength in the face of adversity. You told us what helps you push through:

Here’s a simple nugget from one reader: “Bad times, much like good times, won’t last forever if your mindset is determined to keep moving forward.”

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