This exercise goes beyond just looking good.
A set of well-defined biceps isn’t just a trend for those looking to enhance their appearance—your upper-body strength can actually offer insights into how you might age.
Fortunately, you don’t have to perform in front of an audience at a gym or an upscale wellness center to gauge your strength. Bruno Pontes, a certified personal trainer at the online fitness app Muscle Booster, suggests a straightforward 30-second curl test to measure your upper-body strength and endurance.
“One of the great things about this 30-second arm curl test is that you can do it anywhere without needing gym access,” Pontes mentioned. “It’s a solid way to assess how effectively your muscles can exert force repeatedly over a brief time.”
He further noted, “Muscular strength and endurance are vital for longevity because they enable us to stay functional and independent as we age, allowing us to carry out daily tasks without assistance for longer periods.”
This means being able to lift and move things, standing up from a chair, and completing everyday activities necessitates a certain level of muscular capability.
To conduct the test, you just need a sturdy chair and a dumbbell—an 8-pound weight for men and a 5-pound weight for women.
How to do the curl test
Begin by sitting on the chair with a straight posture, keeping your feet flat on the ground. Hold the dumbbell in your dominant hand with an underhand grip, and make sure your arm is fully extended.
Perform a bicep curl by bending your elbow to bring the weight toward your shoulder, and then lower it back to the starting position. Your aim is to perform as many curls as you can, with control, within 30 seconds.
“It’s crucial that your movement should mainly come from just your elbow and not involve swinging your arm or using your body for momentum,” Pontes explained. “If maintaining proper form becomes a challenge, it’s better to stop than to sacrifice technique for higher counts.”
What’s a good number of curls?
There isn’t a fixed number that defines a good score; results will differ according to age, sex, and fitness levels.
For men, Pontes suggests:
- Age 60 to 64: 22
- Age 65 to 69: 21 or more
- Age 70 to 74: 19 or more
- Age 75 to 79: 18 or more
- Age 80 to 84: 16 or more
For women, Pontes recommends:
- Age 60 to 64: 19
- Age 65 to 69: 18 or more
- Age 70 to 74: 16 or more
- Age 75 to 79: 15 or more
- Age 80 to 84: 14 or more
Pontes also points out that keeping a record of your progress can help “track how your muscular strength improves over the weeks or months.”
Having strong, enduring muscles helps maintain your mobility and independence in later years, and resistance training is a fantastic method to build and sustain muscle at any age.
If you want to boost your curl result, Pontes recommends incorporating bicep curls into your routine to enhance arm and grip strength.
Start with a load that allows for proper technique, and gradually increase the weight as your strength builds.
Exercises like inverted rows can enhance the upper back, lats, and biceps, as well as bodyweight exercises such as wall or traditional pushups.
Yet, while upper-body strength matters as we grow older, a single test targeting just one muscle isn’t sufficient to evaluate overall fitness or predict longevity.
It’s essential to keep in mind that “cardiovascular fitness, lower-body strength, balance, mobility, and body composition all play crucial roles in physical function and healthy aging,” Pontes mentioned.
