It can’t be seen in the blackened, silhouetted series of arm and shoulder warm-ups that are being shown with this article, but I have developed very strong arm muscles, and owe that strength to the isometric controlled push-pull exercise of the arms.
It’s been proved that muscle strength can be restored at any age – even after sedentary living – so weight training is very “in” now. But I’ve never done it, and really prefer working it into my daily morning routine, where the motivation comes from the inside of the body as I listen to music and move in the more natural grace of the dance.
Following our previous head/neck warm-up, add the following routine – slowly, so that it flows from the centre of the body as you push out as far as you can toward the walls; then reverse, and pull back. Do this four times, then push down toward the floor as far as you can; pull up, and repeat four times. You’ll notice between each push and pull there’s a natural opportunity to tighten across the shoulders in a contraction. Take advantage of that pass through tightening to gain more strength development.
Feel free to embellish in your own style. If I was giving a live class I would probably improvise with an upper body arm sweep down to the floor and up so you could enjoy the exhilaration of what you just learned.
