Dumbbell fitness program for seniors

Tip: Elderly people should choose lighter dumbbells for fitness.

Dumbbells are one of the important equipment for bodybuilding training. It is like a hammer and chisel that can sculpt every muscle in the body. As long as you have a pair of dumbbells and a bench, you can do all kinds of bodybuilding training as you like, so for the elderly, dumbbells are very suitable for strength exercises. The training methods for each part are as follows.

1. Stand with your lower back, hold a dumbbell and bend over to do a straight-arm upward movement (same as the snatch movement in weightlifting) (Figure 1). Lifting dumbbells puts less stress on your spine than a barbell. Furthermore, it’s more comfortable to do the exercises with dumbbells.

2. Calf Standing, holding a dumbbell and performing single-leg heel raise exercises (Figure 2) is more effective than using a calf machine. You can also step on a wooden board with the balls of your feet and place dumbbells on your knees (hands required) to perform single-leg or double-leg sitting heel raises.

3. Back Use one or two dumbbells to perform bent-over rowing exercises (Figure 3) (one-arm rowing is safer for the lower part of the back). Compared with barbells, the back muscles can grow faster.

4. Chest: Using dumbbells to do flat bench presses, incline presses, and decline presses on a supine bench (Figure 4) is more conducive to muscle growth than using barbells because it can stimulate the muscles more extensively and deeply. You can also do multi-angle fly exercises with dumbbells while lying prone to develop various parts of the chest muscles.

A good way to practice is to do a set of dumbbell bench presses immediately after doing a set of dumbbell flyes. This kind of exercise is not only effective, but also can reduce the burden on the shoulders and avoid sports injuries.

5. Shoulders Various forms of dumbbell exercises can develop shoulder muscles. For example, use dumbbells to do lateral raises, front raises and bent over fly exercises (Figure 5) to develop the middle, front and rear beams of the shoulder deltoid muscles. You can develop your trapezius muscles by shrugging with dumbbells or doing straight-arm circle exercises.

6. Biceps Curl with dumbbells in hand (elbow flexion) (Figure 6) is one of the best exercises used by many bodybuilding champions to train the "peak" of the biceps muscle. Dumbbell curls in different ways (with different flexion or abduction angles of the shoulder joint) can make the upper arms thicker, and the muscles are separated and clearly highlighted when viewed from behind.

7. Triceps brachii Use dumbbells to do elbow flexion and extension exercises behind the neck with one arm or both arms (elbow facing forward) (Figure 7), which can develop the triceps brachii. When practicing, you can lower the dumbbells as low as possible to enhance the training effect.

8. Forearm: Wrist curls with an overhand grip of the dumbbell (palms facing up) can develop the inner forearm muscles (Figure 8); curls with an underhand grip can develop the outer forearm muscles.

9. Do dumbbell weight-bearing squats with a small board on the thigh and heel pad (Figure 9), which can develop the quadriceps muscles. If you lie prone on a bench with dumbbells on your feet and do curling (knee bending) exercises, you can develop the biceps femoris.

10. Lie on your back, hold a dumbbell behind your head, and do sit-ups with your abdomen in (Figure 10). You can train your upper abdominal muscles. You can train your lower abdominal muscles by tightening your abdomen and raising your legs (without moving your upper body). exercise intensity increases).

For the above content, you can choose 4 to 5 parts each time, and practice each part 8 to 10 times, 3 to 4 times a week is appropriate, and you should do it according to your ability.

Waist extension trainer

Equipment function: It mainly exercises the abdominal muscles and thigh muscles. It can also exercise the strength of the upper limbs, the flexibility of the limbs and the jumping ability of the lower limbs.

1. Right angle support exercises

Practice method: The practitioner sits on the waist extension training device, grasps the railing with both hands, and supports it with both arms, forming a right-angle posture in the air.

Exercise effect tips: 2 to 5 times for the elderly group and 3 to 8 times for the middle-aged group.

 2. Rear axle exercises (can be done with straight legs or bent legs)

Practice method: Sit on the slope in front of the training device with your legs straight, grab the railing with both hands, and then stretch backwaist.

Exercise effect tips: 2 to 5 times for the elderly group and 3 to 8 times for the middle-aged group.

3. Support jumping exercises

Practice method: The practitioner faces the waist extension training device, grabs the railing with both hands, bends his legs to jump over, and when his feet land, quickly bend his legs and jump back to the original place.

Tips on exercise effect: 3 to 8 times for the middle-aged group, the elderly group should do it within their ability, and those with poor upper limb strength should not do it.

4. High push-up exercises

Practice method: The practitioner faces the waist extension training device, grasps the railing with both hands, and does push-ups.

Exercise effect tips: 6 to 12 times for the elderly group and 8 to 16 times for the middle-aged group.