I teach women how to build strength at 40 to prepare for life at 80 - here's my favourite exercise to do in a lower-body workout
If you only have time for a short workout, it's a good idea to focus on compound movements like these ones
A compound movement uses multiple muscles at once, like a squat or a lunge. If you want to get stronger, focusing on these while you're strength training is the most practical and time-efficient way to do it.
Jill Brown is a 59-year-old board-certified health and wellness coach who works primarily with women in their 40s to improve functional strength.
Her "favourite" exercise is the stiff-leg deadlift, followed by a single-leg stiff-leg deadlift, otherwise known as the Romanian deadlift. This pair of dumbbell or barbell exercises boosts lower-body strength, stability, and mobility, and teaches useful movement patterns for other exercises.
How to do Jill's deadlift duo
How to do a stiff-leg deadlift
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding your dumbbells or barbell over the middle of your feet, shoulder-width apart.
- Keep a very soft bend in your knee, but make sure not to bend them further as you move through the lift, and keep your shins vertical.
- Push your hips towards the back of the room until you feel a deep stretch through your hamstrings (behind your thighs).
- Make sure to keep your back straight.
- Push through your heels and bring your hips forward to return to the starting position.
How to do a single-leg Romanian deadlift
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding the dumbbell in the hand opposite to the leg going first. A kettlebell is also suitable for this exercise.
- Move your weight onto one leg, keeping a soft bend in your knee.
- Push your hips towards the back of the room while extending your non-working leg straight behind you.
- Make sure your pelvis stays facing the floor to avoid rotating and that your back stays straight.
- Lower until your chest is close to parallel with the floor as possible, keeping the weight close to your body.
- Push through the front foot and bring your hips forward to return to the start position.
A barbell is a good option for deadlifts. The rigid bar keeps the weight moving in a straight line and makes it easier to lift heavy weights compared to dumbbells.
That said, an adjustable set of dumbbells is a must-have in any home gym for me. You can simply click in and out of various resistances, making them suitable for full-body workouts without the storage issues classic dumbbells bring.
Taking your deadlifts to the gym? If you continue to get stronger, there will come a point where your grip may struggle and it could stop you lifting heavier weights. A set of lifting straps can help with this.
Benefits of the duo
1. Reduces risk of bone and muscle loss
Resistance training is key for women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, more so than in any other period of life. "Age-related muscle loss (sarcopenia) begins by our mid-30s, and the only way to slow it down or reverse it is by lifting weights," she says.
Exercises like the stiff-leg and Romanian deadlift put physical stress on the bones, triggering the production of new, bone-forming cells and increasing bone density. The same goes for muscle. Lifting weights creates tiny tears in the muscle. When these tears repair and grow, muscle grows with it.
2. Superset exercise
Doing exercises back-to-back without rest between them is known as a superset. This is a time-efficient and more intense way to lift weights. With fewer sets and more high-intensity work, your heart rate stays higher for longer, which has cardiovascular benefits.
A superset increases the time the muscle works, which means it also boosts muscle growth and endurance.
3. Great for beginners
These deadlifts teach the hinge movement. As well as being an essential one for everyday life - when you have to pick something off the floor, for example - this is used in other strength training exercises.
"It teaches you how to hinge back at the hips properly rather than bend at the spine, which protects the lower back and strengthens the glutes," she says. "It's also the first part of a squat and how we sit and stand up."
4. Helps improve balance and posture
The spinal erectors are muscles on either side of the spine. They run from the hips to the neck and are vital for maintaining good posture and full-body stability.
In this deadlift duo, you have to keep your spine level and work against gravity, which engages these muscles and forces them to get stronger.
In the single-leg Romanian deadlift, you have to balance on one leg, requiring good balance and core engagement.
5. Improves mobility and flexibility
This deadlift duo requires you to keep your legs straight as you lower the weight. Moving through this deep hinge movement stretches the muscles on the back of the body, making it a great lower-body and back exercise.
It stretches the muscles, improving mobility for other exercises and daily life, as well as flexibility.
