Full-body strength routine for women 50+
This comprehensive routine from Yco employs a heavy weight and low repetition method for strength training. It utilizes supersets, where two exercises are performed back-to-back, helping to maximize efficiency and reduce workout time, according to Yco.
You’ll complete a total of three rounds—two rounds focusing on major upper and lower body movements, plus an additional round targeting the arms. The aim is to achieve 4-6 repetitions for each exercise. Yco suggests, “Concentrate on slow and controlled movements. The idea is to lift heavier weights without reaching your max; stay about two reps shy of failure.” This technique fosters strength building in a safe and effective manner.
Warmup
Complete 10 repetitions for each exercise.
Squats
Begin with your feet hip-width apart and your toes angled slightly outward. Sit back as if you’re lowering into a chair, ensuring your knees remain aligned with your toes. Push through your heels to return to standing. Repeat this movement.
Squat to stand
With your feet hip-width apart and toes turned out slightly, squat down as if sitting in a chair while grasping your toes. Keep your knees aligned with your toes. As you rise, pull your buttocks toward the sky while straightening your legs, allowing your head to hang down. You’ll feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Return to the squat position and repeat.
Good mornings
Stand with feet hip-width apart, hands behind your head, and elbows wide. Maintain a slight knee bend as you hinge at the hips, pushing your glutes back and lowering your chest toward the ground while keeping your core engaged. Stop when your chest is parallel to the floor, feeling a stretch in the hamstrings. Use your hamstrings and glutes to return to standing. Repeat.
Child’s pose to up dog
Start on all fours, then shift your hips back onto your heels, extending your arms forward with your forehead on the mat in child’s pose. Transition to up dog by reaching your chest forward, lifting your head, straightening your legs, and pressing your palms into the ground. Keep your thighs resting gently on the floor and elevate your pelvis and torso. Flow back to child’s pose and repeat.
Bridge
Lying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat, rest your arms at your sides. Engage your glutes and drive through your heels to lift your pelvis towards the ceiling, forming a straight line from your knees to your neck. Hold briefly at the top, squeezing your glutes, then lower back down. Repeat.
Superset 1
Perform 4-6 reps for each exercise consecutively. Rest for 60 seconds, then go through a second round.
Heels-elevated squat
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and place a dumbbell behind each heel, holding one dumbbell at shoulder height in each hand. Step your heels onto the dumbbells while keeping your toes grounded. Lower into a squat, ideally reaching a 90-degree bend at your knees. Then, squeeze your glutes and push through your heels to return to standing. Repeat.
Single arm dumbbell row
Grasp a dumbbell in your right hand and assume a staggered stance with your left leg forward. Hinge at the hips while keeping your back straight and slightly bending both knees. Rest your left hand on your knee. Let your right arm dangle and pull your elbow upward towards the ceiling, bringing the dumbbell to your ribcage, then lower it back down. Do 4-6 reps and switch sides.
Superset 2
Perform 4-6 reps for each exercise back-to-back. Rest for 60 seconds, then complete a second round.
Romanian deadlift
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand, and let them rest in front of your thighs. Hinge at your hips, pushing your glutes behind you while allowing your chest to fall toward the ground, sliding the dumbbells down your legs. Stop once you feel a stretch in your hamstrings or when your chest is parallel to the ground. Use your glutes and hamstrings to pull yourself back to standing. Repeat.
Supine chest press
Sitting on the floor, place a dumbbell next to each side of your body. Lie back with your knees bent and feet flat. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and bring your arms into a goal-post position with your biceps parallel to the ground. This is your starting point. Keep your core engaged as you push both dumbbells straight up above your chest, then lower them back to the starting position and repeat.
Superset 3
Perform 4-6 reps of each exercise consecutively. Rest for 60 seconds and repeat for a second round.
Overhead tricep extension
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Grasp each dumbbell by one end and lift them overhead, bringing them together gently. Keep your biceps stationary as you bend your elbows to lower the weights behind your head, engaging the triceps to lift them back up. Repeat.
Standing bicep curl
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, dumbbells in each hand. Keeping your biceps close to your ribcage, bend at the elbows to pull the dumbbells toward your shoulders. Squeeze at the top before lowering them back down to your sides. Repeat.
