Revitalize Your Mornings: Top 4 Must-Do Exercises for Women Over 55 to Boost Upper-Body Strength

Incorporate these morning exercises into your routine to enhance and preserve your upper-body fitness.

As women age past 55, they often face unavoidable challenges such as weight gain, loss of lean muscle, and hormonal changes. However, these issues can be actively addressed. Muscle loss is a key concern as it directly affects one’s ability to maintain independence. To tackle this, we consulted with an expert who recommends four morning exercises for women over 55 to bolster upper-body strength and muscle mass.

Felicia Hernandez, a NASM-certified personal trainer and community engagement lead at Eden Health Club, notes, “Women over 55 generally face a decline not in sheer strength, but in upper-body control, posture resilience, and the balance between pushing and pulling movements.” She explains that hormonal changes and muscle atrophy primarily affect shoulder stabilization, posture, and grip strength. The exercises she suggests are designed to restore crucial strength across the shoulders, upper back, triceps, and chest, focusing on joint-friendly techniques and requiring minimal equipment.

The exercises listed below are crafted to build practical strength for everyday tasks like opening doors, carrying groceries, and reaching overhead. Additionally, they help maintain lean muscle, thereby boosting metabolism. By incorporating this quick routine into your daily schedule, you can gradually rebuild strength and minimize the risk of bone density loss.

4 Morning Exercises for Women To Rebuild Upper-Body Strength

Each one of the exercises below helps establish solid real-world strength to conquer daily tasks like opening doors, carrying grocery bags, and reaching overhead. These moves also boost metabolism through lean muscle maintenance. When performed on a daily basis, this speedy session can gradually rebuild strength while reducing the risk of bone density decline.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

“These can be done at home with a pair of light dumbbells or just body weight,” Hernandez adds.

Wall Pushups

1. Begin standing tall, arms-length away from a wall.
2. Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the surface.
3. Engage your core and bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the wall.
4. Press back up to the starting position, keeping the movement slow and controlled.
5. Perform 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

Bent-Arm Wall Angels

1. Stand with your back against a wall, your elbows bent to 90 degrees, and the backs of your hands against the wall.
2. Slowly reach your arms overhead while pressing your arms into the wall.
3. Lower your arms.
4. Perform 2 sets of 8 to 10 slow and controlled reps.

Light Dumbbell Rows

1. Stand tall, feet hip-width apart and a lightweight dumbbell (or water bottle) in each hand in front of you.
2. Hinge at the hips until your torso is parallel to the ground.
3. Maintain a flat back and soft knees.
4. Allow the weights to lower with your arms completely extended.
5. Row the dumbbells up toward your torso.
6. Lower to the start position with control.
7. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.

Overhead Press

1. Begin standing tall with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder level, palms facing inward.
3. Press the weights overhead, extending your arms.
4. Use control as you lower the weights to shoulder height.
5. Perform 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.