Smart Training for Healthier Shoulders

Why Upper Body Strength Matters

Unfortunately, most women don’t think about their upper body until it becomes a BIG problem.

Neglecting your upper body strength doesn’t just lead to feeling weak and frail—it can result in pain, reduced mobility, and even surgery. Yikes!

Weakness in your shoulders and arms increases your risk for injuries like frozen shoulder, impingement syndrome, or rotator cuff tears.

These issues are often preventable.

By prioritizing safe and effective upper body strength training, you can keep your shoulders strong and mobile.💪

Why This Matters

Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, is much more common in women during midlife and menopause. It happens when the connective tissues around your shoulder joint (called the joint capsule) become thick, stiff, and inflamed.

FITNESS SIMPLIFIED

No equipment? No problem!

Fitness Tip To Strengthen Your Upper Body

Focus on BOTH shoulder strength and mobility

To help prevent frozen shoulder, nagging injuries, or shoulder pain, focus on shoulder strengthening exercises and mobility training.

The stronger your shoulder and posture muscles are, the less likely you are to experience overuse injuries like tendinitis.

And the more mobile your shoulder joint is, the less likely you’ll have pain or stiffness.

Remember, you don’t need fancy equipment to get started.

Try these two simple bodyweight moves to build your upper body strength and improve your mobility all at the same time!

Quick Low-Impact Full-Body Workout

  1. Elevated Push-ups to Thoracic Extension Stretch - Adding the stretch in between each push-up lengthens your shoulders and even upper back muscles.
  2. Bent-over Thoracic Rotation - Fire up your posture muscles to pull your arm back and rotate as far as possible with each reach.
  3. Aim for 5-8 reps per exercise and repeat for 2-3 sets.

Extra tip: You only need a chair for these exercises! If you prefer, you can do the push-ups on your countertop if they’re too difficult to do on the chair.

Did You Know...

  • To create balance and prevent injuries, always make sure to combine an upper body “pushing” exercise with an upper body “pulling” exercise.
  • Keep your neck muscles relaxed while your shoulders are working to reduce neck tension. It may help to take a long exhale before you begin to feel your neck relax.

NUTRITION SIMPLIFIED

When it comes to your nutrition… it’s not WHAT you eat that matters the most.

Believe it or not, HOW you eat is most important.

Nutrition Tip To Strengthen Your Upper Body

Improve your eating mindfulness

What you eat becomes so much easier to manage when you first address how you eat.

Ask yourself:

- Do you eat quickly, barely tasting your food?

- Are you constantly grabbing bites on the go?

- Do you eat standing at the counter, juggling other tasks?

These habits often lead to overeating, undereating, or emotionally eating foods that don’t support your health goals.

To break these patterns, try practicing mindfulness and intuitive eating. Slow down, enjoy your meals, and ask yourself:

1. What do I like about this meal?

2. What don’t I like?

3. Does this food align with the goals I have for my body?

4. Am I feeling satisfied? (Stop when you’re about 80% full.)

Write these questions on a sticky note or save them in your phone as a reminder to stay intentional and present during meals.

This breakfast recipe has a variety of delicious flavors that are particularly noticeable when you slow down and pay attention.

A great way to begin a day of “mindful” eating!

Citrus Baked Oatmeal

More More Mindful Eating Ideas:

  • Adding herbs & spices to normal meals (like an omelet) can make them much more interesting!
  • Add nuts & seeds to your salads or yogurt to enhance the texture.
  • Try a warm salad or a cold soup - temperature variations can change how we experience a meal.

MINDSET SIMPLIFIED

Speaking of Mindfulness…

Work on becoming more mindful of your body throughout the day.(Don’t worry, this isn’t about anything woo-woo.😉)

It’s about becoming more “aware” of how your body feels and how certain things impact it.

For example:

How does your body feel after focusing only on upper body pushing exercises without balancing them with pulling movements?How does your body feel if you eat a meal without any produce?

Not great, most likely.

An excellent goal for 2025 is to tune in to your body more intentionally.

Your health is about so much more than just checking boxes.

Strength, mobility, and confidence become easier when you pay attention to how your body responds to certain exercises and foods……and you begin gravitating towards the habits that feel best for you.

Mindset Tip To Strengthen Your Upper Body

Practice body awareness

THE TAKEAWAY

Building upper body strength is essential for women in midlife. With simple, consistent steps, you can protect your shoulders and improve your overall health.

  1. Focus on BOTH shoulder strength and mobility
  2. Improve your eating “mindfulness”
  3. Practice body awareness

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Self Care Simplified podcast

Ep 396: Frozen Shoulder - Every Woman Needs to Know This!

Ep 368: 4 Common Mistakes to Avoid that Cause Shoulder Pain

EP 252:  Posture & Pain Relief Tips to Enjoy Your Favorite Activities Forever!

SPECIAL RESOURCE

Speaking of your upper body - if bad posture is making you feel achy all over your body, and you’re getting knots in your shoulder blades and feel like you just need a massage every day - here are 5 simple movements that you can easily do at home to fix your posture.

How To Correct Your Posture.

Until next week... Be strong