This exercise is about more than just arm candy.
A good pair of biceps isn’t just a must-have for a maxxer look: Upper body strength can also tell you how well you’ll age.
And you don’t need to put in a big performance at your local gym or high-end longevity center to test yours: Bruno Pontes, an ACSM and AFAA-certified personal trainer on the online fitness app Muscle Booster, says all it takes is a simple 30-second loop test to assess upper-body muscular strength and endurance.
“The great thing about the 30-second arm curl test is that you don’t need access to a gym to do it,” Pontes told the Post. “This is a useful indicator of your muscles’ ability to produce force repeatedly over a short period of time.”
“What makes muscular strength and endurance relevant to longevity is that they both help us remain functional and independent later in life, meaning we can perform daily activities on our own for longer,” he continued.
“Being able to lift, carry, push and pull objects, get out of a chair and perform everyday tasks requires a certain level of muscle function.”
To complete the test, all you need is a sturdy chair and a dumbbell, either 8 pounds for men or 5 pounds for women.
How to do the loop test
Sit on the chair with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor, holding the dumbbell in your dominant hand with an underhand grip and your arm fully extended.
Perform a biceps curl by bending your elbow and rolling the weight toward your shoulder, then lowering it until your arm is straight again.
The goal is to correctly perform a maximum of repetitions, with a controlled pace, in 30 seconds.
“It’s important that the movement comes primarily from your elbow rather than swinging your entire arm or using your body to generate momentum,” Pontes explained.
“If you can’t maintain good form, stop testing rather than sacrificing technique to get a higher number.”
How many loops should you make?
There is no single number of loops that determines a good score, as performance varies depending on age, gender and fitness level.
For men, Pontes recommends:
- 60 to 64 years: 22
- 65 to 69 years: 21 years or older
- 70 to 74 years: 19 years or older
- 75 to 79 years: 18 years or older
- 80 to 84 years: 16 years or older
For women, Pontes recommends:
- 60 to 64 years: 19
- 65 to 69 years: 18 years or older
- 70 to 74 years: 16 years or older
- 75 to 79 years: 15 or more
- 80 to 84 years: 14 years or older
However, Pontes adds that documenting your own progress is also beneficial for “tracking your improvement in muscle strength over weeks or months.”
Muscular strength and endurance help us stay mobile and independent later in life, with resistance training being a great way to build and maintain muscle throughout adulthood, whatever your age.
To improve your curl score, Pontes recommends biceps curls to increase arm and grip strength.
Start with a weight that allows you to perform the movement with good technique, gradually increasing as you get stronger.
Inverted rows can help strengthen your upper back, lats, and biceps, as well as bodyweight exercises like traditional wall or floor push-ups.
Although upper body strength is important as we age, a single test focusing primarily on one muscle is not enough to draw conclusions about a person’s fitness level or lifespan.
Instead, it’s important to remember that “cardiovascular fitness, lower body strength, balance, mobility and body composition all contribute to physical function and healthy aging,” Pontes said.
Gn Health
