Short on time? Trinny Woodall stays strong at 60 with this quick 5-move resistance band workout

Trinny Woodall, 62, leads a very active life but she knows how you start the day makes all the difference, and often shares videos of her routines on Instagram. Recently, she picked up a set of resistance bands.

“As we get older, we sometimes have to work a bit harder to shake off that morning stiffness and tell our bodies it's time to move,” she says. As well as working her joints and muscles, Trinny also likes to make sure she taps out any tension and “gets the lymph moving” by gently rubbing her skin. Lymph is the fluid in our bodies which removes waste from our cells and delivers nutrients.

These light, cheap, and stretchy bands might not look like much, but studies say they can be just as effective as dumbbells for building strength, muscle, and mobility, provided you make the exercise continously harder. This is known as progressive overload. Luckily, resistance bands come in different tensions, making it easy to level up when you're ready.

Trinny calls this session her "favourite travel-friendly morning workout to do" when she's away from her usual strength training and Pilates routine. "All you need are a couple of bands and around 10 minutes," she says.

1. Arm pulses

Straight out of a Pilates home workout, arm pulses not only work the arms but also the shoulders and upper back.

Here's how to do it:

• Wrap the resistance band around your wrists and hold your arms straight out in front of you.
• Pulse your arms outwards so the band becomes loose, then taut, repeatedly.
• At the same time, raise your arms up and down as you might in a lateral raise.
• Repeat the movement 10 times.

2. Side steps with Y and T

Trinny says she curls up "like a ball" when she's asleep, so she does this exercise to open up her back in the morning and strengthen her muscles. It also helps to improve hand-eye coordination, she says.

How to do it:

• Wrap the resistance band around your calves and stand with a gentle bend in your knees, legs hip-width apart.
• Step to the side as you might in a crab walk, making sure to keep the steps small.
• As you move along, combine the steps with shoulder raises, raising your arms up together (as if forming the letter 'Y') and to the sides (as if forming the letter 'T').
• Keep the band taut as you move and alternate between the Y and T positions.

3. Leg raises

Leg raises are another classic Pilates quadriceps exercise that Trinny does "every morning", with a cup of lemon tea in hand.

Here's how to do it:

• Wrap your resistance band around the bottom of your calves.
• Sit down on a chair and position your legs so they are parallel to the ground.
• Lift one leg at a time, extending at the knee. Make sure to keep the other leg on the floor and your core braced.
• Complete the exercise 10 times on each leg, then swap over.

4. Shoulder opener

Switching to a long resistance band, Trinny demonstrates a move for improving posture “at any age”, but she admits that it's "not my favourite".

"It reminds us to take breaths because we’ve opened up our chests,” she adds. "When I first do it, I'm like, oh God, help me."

Here's how to do it:

• Hold a longer resistance band, with one end in each hand.
• Stretch the band out so it's taut, and bring it in front of you so your hands are resting on your thighs.
• Raise your arms up and over your head, pulling the band as far behind your back as you can.
• With control, repeat the movement, lifting the band up and over your head 10 times.

5. Around the world

This 'around the world move' opens up your back while also stretching your hamstrings and triceps. Use the same resistance band as above.

Here's how to do it:

• Keep hold of the long band. Stand with your arms and legs totally straight.
• With control, imagine you’re drawing a circle with the band as you take it down to the side, then to your toes and back up the other side.