At menopause, muscle mass tends to melt away, particularly in the arms. But certain exercises to do from home can strengthen them. Word from a sports coach.
Menopause comes with its share of inconveniences. Among them, a loss of muscle mass that is sometimes difficult to counter, particularly in the arms. “It is a small excess of skin and fat that becomes lodged. To remedy this, we will focus on both muscle strengthening and an adequate diet while knowing that we cannot target a loss of fat mass.“, explains Jeson Lengudiana, sports coach for the Parisian Episod studios. Then come muscle strengthening exercises specially designed for the entire arm. The advantage? They can be done in the gym as well as at home, from the comfort of your living room. Zoom.
First of all, to ensure the effectiveness of strengthening movements for the arms, it is imperative to equip yourself with weights. If you are starting the sport, weighted bracelets or small dumbbells will be enough. The whole thing? Increase the load gradually. As for exercises, we opt for simple and basic: biceps curls, that is to say elbow flexions. To perform them effectively, stand with your back straight, gripping a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward. Contract your biceps to lift the weights towards your shoulders, keeping your elbows still and glued to your chest, then slowly lower the load until fully extended to maximize the work of the muscle. This movement not only tones the biceps but also the brachialis: located in the deep part of the arm it “pushes” the biceps outwards. This gives the arm a firmer, more shapely appearance, which helps combat the “droopy arm” look that many women seek to correct.
The second exercise? The skull crushers. “The idea is to look for elbow extensions. We lie on our back, we have our arms oriented towards the ceiling and there, we will only try to flex the elbow. The hand will go down towards the face and then we extend the arm“, specifies the professional. Finally, military presses (bringing the dumbbells horizontally above the head), and chest pulls with the torso leaning are also very effective. Repeat each movement between 6 to 15 times depending on the load, performing 2 to 3 sets. “For frequency, once a week is already good. Two to three times is even better. You have to go gradually“, continues Jeson Lengudiana. To not get discouraged, increase the sessions little by little but above all, allow yourself days of recovery.
The coach still insists on the importance of strengthening to avoid muscle wasting and loss of bone density which accompany menopause. “Studies show that this is really the activity that best allows you to limit all of this, but also to maintain a good metabolism and therefore potentially also gain a little less fat mass.“
