I help women over 50 exercise to prevent unnecessary bone loss, prevent falls that fracture, and stay fearlessly active with their friends and families for years to come.
A simple upper-body move to try this week
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Reader, I’m heading out to get in some mileage on the beach here in South Carolina today as I prepare for the Bataan Memorial Death March in a few weeks. I’m testing what socks, sneakers, shorts, and hats work best in sand and wind — but mostly, I’m just getting my body ready for the distance. No time goals, just steady miles. When I’m out walking or jogging, I often think about the simplest ways to share helpful exercises with you. Yesterday, I kept coming back to upper-body strength. Have you ever done Arnolds? Yes — they’re named after Arnold Schwarzenegger, and they’re one of my favorite exercises for building strong shoulders and improving grip strength too. The best part: Focus on the motion first. Then gradually add light weights (even 1–2 lbs is perfect) as your strength improves. If you tend to get headaches after workouts, start without any weight. Your neck range of motion is likely limited and adding weight will not help it - we need to work on your mobility first! Repeated overhead movement helps build shoulder and neck strength, which can be especially helpful if you tend to carry tension there. Over time (at least 12 weeks), strength can replace that tight, achy feeling. But again, you may need to do neck mobiltiy work at the same time. If you try them this week, remember: That’s it — just popping into your inbox to say hello and give you one simple thing to work on this week. Andrea Trombley PT, DPT PS - If you’ve been thinking about getting more structured guidance and support, the next Strong Women, Strong Bones Jumpstart begins at the end of March. It’s where we take exercises like this and build them into a clear, progressive plan so you know exactly what to do — and why. All the details and interest list →can be found here. |
Hi! I'm a Andrea Trombley PT, DPT
I help women over 50 exercise to prevent unnecessary bone loss, prevent falls that fracture, and stay fearlessly active with their friends and families for years to come.
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