Building and maintaining upper-body strength is crucial for healthy ageing. As well as allowing us to perform functional, everyday movements such as lifting, reaching, pushing and pulling with ease, having a strong upper body also means we give ourselves the best possible chance of getting up again if we were to fall.
Sarcopenia – the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength with age – typically begins around the age of 30, with the body losing around 3-5% of its muscle mass per decade from this point. Those who are less physically active tend to be at a higher risk, and the rate of decline often speeds up after 60.
As well as affecting muscle mass, sarcopenia is also linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis; a health condition that affects women significantly more than men and weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to break. That’s partly because when muscle mass declines, your bones undergo less mechanical load – and the lack of stimulation can lead to bones losing density. This can cause all sorts of issues for how we move and function in everyday life.
Luckily, there’s a lot that we can do to strengthen our muscles and bones. And don’t go thinking it’s too late or that it’ll take too long – fitness trainer and content creator Jen Edwards challenges both of those misconceptions.
Edwards, whose online training platform focuses on home strength training for women over 40, recently revealed the five-minute dumbbell-only workout that she does at 51 to build strong arms.
‘This quick 5-minute workout targets your shoulders, chest, biceps, back, and triceps using just light dumbbells,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘These are the same types of exercises I use regularly to help build strength, improve muscle tone, and support healthy ageing.’
The workout
‘Complete each exercise for 30 seconds, move from one exercise to the next with no rest, and repeat the circuit 2-3 times if you have time,’ says Edwards.
How to do the movesUpward delt pulse
- Standing with your feet together and holding two dumbbells in your hands, raise your arms in front of you until your upper arms reach chest height, keeping your elbows bent.
- Move your shoulders up and down to pulse your arms.
Goalpost arm sweep
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Raise your upper arms until they’re level with your shoulders and bend your elbows to 90 degrees, creating a ‘goalpost’ shape.
- Keeping your core engaged, bring your forearms together in front of your chest while maintaining the 90-degree bend in your elbows. Return to the original position to complete one full rep.
High dumbbell curl
- Start with your dumbbells by your thighs. Curl them up towards your shoulders as if performing a bicep curl, then continue the movement by extending the arms straight out in front at shoulder height.
- Reverse the motion with control, bringing the weights back to your shoulders, and continue extending and curling.
- Holding a dumbbell in each hand, take a big step back with your right leg. Bend both knees and lift your right heel, keeping your toe planted for balance.
- Keeping your back straight and your chin tucked, lean forwards and draw your dumbbells towards your waist, keeping your elbows tucked into your side.
- To complete the rep, extend the arms back to the starting position.
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding one dumbbell in each hand.
- Bring the weights overhead, extending your arms straight so the dumbbells are above your head.
- Keeping everything from your shoulders to elbows still, slowly bend your elbows, lowering the weights behind your head until your arms are just lower than 90 degrees. Your elbows should point forward, not out to the side.
- Pause, and raise back to straight. That’s one rep.
One of our most frequently asked questions here at Women’s Health? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer Oyinda Okunowo exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan – created exclusively for Women’s Health COLLECTIVE members – you’ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.
Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis. She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity. A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.