During the pandemic I hosted free Happy Monday Get Strong half hour Zoom sessions for anyone who wanted to participate.
Our purpose was to ward off sarcopenia – the loss of muscle mass – which is associated with inactive aging.
Sarcopenia eventually leads to frailty, which includes five criteria: weight loss, exhaustion, low physical activity, slowness and weakness.
As Autumn’s cooler days and indoor-bound weather begin to approach, here is a review of some of the strength-building exercises we did during our Happy Monday Get Strong sessions. These movements can be done at home as a quick morning, or any time of day, pick-me-up. They help prevent, delay and minimize the loss of muscle tissue.
Underlined Numbers at the start of each sentence indicate desired number of Repetitions or times you will repeat the exercise in sequence.
1. 10 Up-Down Chair Squats. Stand-up, Sit Down on a sturdy arm-chair (placing your hands on knees for extra leverage if need be.)
2. 5 Split Squats each Leg. Stand with one foot planted in front, other leg about 15 inches behind, back leg balanced on ball of foot. From vertical height do slight knee dips with both legs. Squeeze your butt muscles at top of exercise when fully standing. Hold onto back of chair for balance if needed.
3. 8 Upright rows. Holding light dumbbells, slightly bend knees and stick your butt back a few inches to lean forward – this is called a hip hinge. Brace your core and bring your arms, elbows bent, backwards so your shoulder blades feel like they want to touch each other.
4. 8 Wall push-ups. Place your hands against a wall with feet two to three feet away from wall. Press your body back and forth against the wall, pushing against the wall with arms. Hold your body stiff as though it is a surf board.
5. 5 Overhead shoulder presses. Using light dumbbells in each hand, lift your arms over your shoulder. (Similar to lady in pink top in the picture above.) Keep the dumbbells slightly forward of top of shoulders.
6. 8 Biceps-Triceps Arm curls/extensions. Hold moderate weight dumbbells in each hand. Keep inside of your upper arms next to your ribcage. Slightly bend knees, keep core tight. Curl -bend elbows – and lift the dumbbells up toward shoulders, then lower the dumbbells so your arms are fully lengthened and tense in back of the arm. For greater effect do not move upper arm away from rib cage.
There we have it…a quick Morning Pick-Me-Up and Body Strengthener. Now on with our Day! WF!
