Q. I run 3 to 4 times a week about 3 miles each time. I have really good strength from the waist down. I am 53 years old and have noticed a very visible atrophy of my upper chest and shoulder muscles. My back is weak, and lifting strength is almost nil. I have a bench and free weights at home, but do not belong to a gym. I want to build definition back into my arms, chest and shoulders, and I want to increase my back strength. Could you give me some pointers about what exercises to do?

Glad to hear you are taking an interest in building up your upper body to match your lower body! Balance is extremely important in physical fitness and you're definitely on the right track!

There are many exercises you can do in your own home to start building yourself up. Some exercises I would suggest for you to do would be as follows:

Chest: push-ups, dumbell bench press, barbell bench press (if you have a barbell)
Arms: dumbell curls, bench dips
Shoulders: dumbell laterals, dumbell presses
Back: one arm dumbell rows, standing rows

I would recommend you do 2 sets of one of the exercises for back, chest, shoulders and arms three times a week.

Back - 2 sets of rows
Chest - 2 sets of push-ups
Shoulders - 2 sets of presses
Arms - 2 sets of bench dips (do curls the next time)

A good way to arrange this would be to do this Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

 

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