Work Out With Denise Austin: Upper-Body Firmers

Quick Win

Upper-body firmers can help strengthen your arms, shoulders, chest and upper back muscles.

Try This Today

1. Grab a pair of 3- to 5-pound dumbbells. Stand with feet hip-width apart and knees slightly bent.
2. Hold the weights in front of your body, elbows bent, upper arms parallel to the floor. Keeping elbows bent, raise arms up, out to the sides, down and slightly back, then reverse.
3. Do 20 repetitions.
4. To build your strength routine, add Bicycle exercises.

Why

Along with helping to maintain physical fitness, strengthening your upper body can be valuable if you fall. Among 40 women ages 60 and older, those who added 12 weeks of exercises to improve upper-body strength and mobility — on top of a standard fall prevention program focused on balance and lower-body mobility — had faster upper-body response times compared to women who participated only in the standard program. The upperbody work may help improve speed of protective arm positions during a fall, potentially limiting head injuries, according to the study published in 2022 in the journal Clinical Rehabilitation.