Cardio exercise is well-known for helping to maintain your heart in good health. On the other hand, weekly strength exercise offers its advantages, which improve with age.

Resistance training advantages include greater strength, energy, mobility, and a lower risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Based on a September 2019 study published in the MSSE, weight training might also lower the risk of some types of cancer.

Resistance exercise can also help prevent falls by keeping you steady on your feet and strengthening your bones.

Picking up a pair of dumbbells is one of the fastest and simplest methods for older adults to gain muscle. They are available in gyms, but they are also affordable to purchase and small enough to keep in your house. Dumbbells with adjustable weights are ideal for many workouts.

With these top five exercises for seniors and professional advice on starting safely and with confidence, you’ll be ready to begin right away.

Here are the top dumbbell workouts for seniors:

1. Squat with a Dumbbell

The squat is a typical exercise. (Think about getting up from a chair or sitting on the toilet.) That is why, according to Araujo, it is essential to improve your squats.

This exercise stimulates your leg muscles, including quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings (NASM). However, it also trains your core, which helps to improve your general stability.

How to do it:

1. Hold a heavy dumbbell at chest height by one end.
2. Begin with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. (Toes can be pointed forward or turned out slightly.)
3. Bend your hips and knees to squat with your upper legs parallel to the floor, maintaining your chest up and core firm (or as low as you can comfortably go with good form).
4. Return to standing by pressing through all four corners of your feet.

2. Dumbbell Chest Press

The chest press, like the squat, is a complex exercise that works for many joints and muscle groups simultaneously. According to the American Council on Exercise, upper-body exercise improves your chest, shoulders, and triceps (ACE).

When you execute the strength exercise with dumbbells, you load and train each side of your body separately. As a result, you exercise all of the major supporting muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms – and you can reduce your risks of shoulder and elbow discomfort.

How to do it:

1. Lay back on a bench or other flat surface with a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Straighten your arms over your chest and hold the weights. 
3. Tighten your abs and put your feet firmly on the floor.
4. Lower the weights by bending your shoulders and elbows until they align with your chest.
5.  At all times, your forearms should be perfectly vertical.
6. Return the weights to your chest.

3. Dumbbell Deadlift

When you bend your knees down to pick up a pen, you’re doing a deadlift.

Dumbbell deadlifts help develop your glutes, hamstrings, core, and lats. It will also assist you in mastering good form for daily strength feats. Picking up a pen could seem simple, but good form is essential to injury prevention, particularly in your lower back when it comes to lifting a big box off the floor.

According to Araujo, the deadlift is one of the most helpful dumbbell workouts for seniors.

How to do it:

1. Hold the dumbbells in your hands in front of your thighs, palms towards your body, standing with feet hip-width apart. Tighten up your core.
2. Lower the weights to the center of your shins by pushing your hips back and lowering your knees.
3. Double-check your posture: Your back should be upright and long, your chest open and high, and your shoulders back.
4. Place your feet on the floor and tighten your glutes to stand up. Assume you’re attempting to push the floor away from you.
5. Reverse the action to lower the weights controllably, then repeat.

4. Scaption with Dumbbells

It is common for the shoulders to lose strength and mobility over time. Dumbbell scaption is an excellent workout for changing that without disturbing your delicate joints. It feels more comfortable if you raise your shoulder from the side instead of the front.

How to do it:

1. First, try to stand with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms at your sides, palms facing in.
2. Brace your core and raise the dumbbells to around a 45-degree angle in front of your body.
3. Raise the weights till they’re just over your shoulders.
4. Return the weights to their original positions with control.

5. Dumbbell Row

According to NASM, forward actions like driving a vehicle or working on a computer can affect posture. According to Araujo, this can lead to lower back discomfort or a bent upper back in the long run.

However, strengthening your back muscles might be helpful. Dumbbell row helps enhance posture by strengthening the muscles that run up and down your back and around your shoulders. It also exercises your deepest core muscles, which can help ease back discomfort.

How to do it:

1. Grab a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs and stand with your feet hip-width apart. While maintaining your back flat, rock your hips back and forth at least 45 degrees (up to 90 degrees).
2. Begin by extending your arms toward the ground, palms facing each other.
3. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and down, then bend your elbows to draw the weights toward your lower abdomen.
4. Pause for a moment, then slowly drop the weights.

Please remember: Listening to your body is critical to preventing injuries. Stop exercising and see your doctor if you experience sudden pain, especially around your joints. You are likely to experience some muscle and joint discomfort when you first begin. It is pretty standard. Most of the pains should go away after a day or two and grow better with each session.

These five dumbbell exercises for seniors play an important role in maintaining their physical health. So as a senior, we recommend you add them to your workout routine, of course, after consulting your doctor.

Final Thought

Remember to gradually ease into a dumbbell exercise, allowing your body time to recover between weight workouts. Once you’ve established a routine, you can increase the length and intensity of your workouts to continue to improve muscular strength and endurance.