# Three Moves for Over 40s: Five Minutes a Day

By Carlyle Jenkins. Published 4 November 2026. Page: https://www.carlylejenkins.com/guides/three-moves-over-40

If you are over 40 and want your body feeling strong again, not fragile, these three moves take five minutes a day. No gym and no equipment. A door frame and some floor.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KLUSwuqa04s

## 1. The dead hang

You don't need rings. A door frame will do. If you have never done it before, keep your feet in contact with the ground, so you might have 60 per cent of your weight in your feet and only 40 per cent in your arms.

Let your breath drop down. Breathe deep into your diaphragm rather than up into your chest. I find this deeply relaxing.

## 2. The 90-90 hip stretch

On the floor, set both legs at 90 degrees: front leg bent at 90 in front of you, back leg bent at 90 out to the side.

The goal to start with is chest to knee. Don't collapse through your spine. Come forward from your hips. You should feel a deep stretch across the glute and the hip extensors.

Once you reach a gentle stretch, stay there for a good minute. Hold it, breathe, and focus on the exhale. Then move your chest towards the mid shin and hold for another minute. If you can get to your foot, great.

## 3. The shin box roll

This is how you get to the other side for the 90-90. Take your hands back behind you, then roll through your hips. Your heels stay on the ground as you turn both knees across to the other side.

As you get better at it you don't need to lean back as much. You bring yourself more upright. Then repeat the 90-90 stretch on the second side.

## The five minutes

If you have any doubts about whether exercise is safe for you, check with your doctor before you start.

1. Dead hang from a door frame, feet on the ground if you are new to it, breathing low.
2. 90-90 stretch, chest towards the front knee, one minute.
3. Same side, chest towards the mid shin, one minute.
4. Shin box roll across to the other side.
5. 90-90 on the second side, knee then mid shin, a minute each.

## Video transcript

So your first exercise is going to be a dead hang. You don't need rings. You can have a door frame. If you've never done it before, keep your feet in contact with the ground. You might have 60% of your weight in your feet and only 40% in your arms.

I like to feel my breath drop down as well. So I'm breathing deep in my diaphragm as opposed to trying to breathe in my upper chest. And I find this deeply relaxing.

Next I'm gonna be on the floor and you're gonna get into what I call a 90-90. So I've got a 90 degree angle here, here and here and then same with this leg.

My goal is to get my chest to my knee to start with. I'm not collapsing through my spine, I'm coming from my hips. So I'm trying to get forward and what I get is a lovely deep stretch across that glute and across all those hip extenders.

So once you get to a position where you've got like a gentle stretch happening, I would stay there for a good minute, just holding it, breathing, focusing on the exhale.

Our goal is to move to the mid shin then and get some movement into that one, and again hold for a minute, and if you can get to your foot, great. And you want to do the same on the other side.

The way we get to the other side is actually the third move.

What I want you to do is take your hands back and then roll through your hips like a shin box roll, so your heels are staying on the ground and you're trying to get across to the other side.

As you get better at it you don't have to lean back as much. You're bringing yourself more vertical.

If you're over 40 and you want your body feeling strong again and moving away from feeling fragile, five minutes every day. Over to you.

## Keep in mind

Five minutes, every day. Over to you. Want to know where to start beyond these three? The mobility check gives you five things to notice at home and what to do next.

## Sources