- Denise Austin, 69, shared a three-minute weight training workout on her Instagram.
- ”Strength training is SO important as we age,” she says.
- Here’s how to do each move at home.
When it comes to the simple exercises for women over 50, there’s no better source than Denise Austin. We can always count on the 69-year-old for fun and accessible fitness tips, whether she’s demonstrating an ab workout with her daughter, Katie Austin, sharing her secrets to staying young, fit, and strong, or anything in between. Most recently, the fitness pro took to Instagram to share a series of three simple weight training moves that can be done in just three minutes.
“Strength training is SO important as we age… it helps support bone density, build muscle, and keep you feeling strong, stable, and confident in your body,” Austin captioned her Instagram post. “These firmers are a must for us women over 50!” All you need for the exercises is a pair of weights.
Want to try the workout yourself? We’ve got the details on all three moves below. Austin suggests grabbing heavier weights for this series (hers are 8 lbs!) and doing each exercise for one minute.
1. Single arm lift
Austin begins by standing with her feet hip-width distance apart and a slight bend in her knees. “What you want to do is strengthen your shoulders, but stand up nice and tall, keeping your abs nice and strong and your back straight,” she explains.
With one weight in each hand and palms facing down, she lifts one straight arm at a time from down by her side to in front of her chest, alternating arms. “This is now working the beautiful shoulder muscles and the arms,” she says.
2. Bicep curl
Austin’s next move in the series is a classic bicep curl. Maintaining the same stance as in the first exercise, she flips her palms to face up instead of down. “Go all the way down and pull up,” she demonstrates, bending her elbows toward her face.
“This is a beautiful way to strengthen the arm muscles,” Austin explains. “If you don’t use them, we lose them, and we need our muscles!”
3. Deep row down
For the final move in the series, Austin mimics a rowing motion with her arms. “For the upper back, I love a deep row down and lift back up,” she says, maintaining the same stance as the last two exercises, but this time leaning slightly forward with a flat back.
With her palms facing inward toward her body, she drops the weights down toward the floor before bending both elbows to lift them back up. “Squeeze the shoulder blades behind you and release,” she demonstrates. “And there you have a fabulous upper body workout!”
Next time you need to strengthen your upper body in a time crunch, try any of these moves, or do the whole three-minute series for a quick and effective workout.
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