If there’s one person you can trust to help you build muscle, it’s Caroline Idiens. The 54-year-old PT, better known by the name of her wildly successful fitness platform, Caroline’s Circuits, coaches around 6,500 women in midlife to get fitter and stronger every month with daily 30-minute home strength workouts. And when she wants to dial up the challenge, she turns to finishers: short, punchy bursts of exercise designed to push your strength and stamina.
Below, she shares her go-to five-minute arm finisher using 1.5kg dumbbells. ‘Keep your elbows up,’ she says. ‘This is harder than it looks, especially after an upper-body session. Do 10 reps of each exercise back-to-back and repeat for two-three sets depending on your time.’
Here’s exactly how to do each exercise with proper form, with demos from Caroline.
5-minute arm finisher1.Single-arm shoulder press
Hold a dumbbell at shoulder height with one hand, palm facing forward and elbow bent. Press the weight straight overhead until your arm is fully extended without locking the elbow, keeping your core tight to avoid leaning. Lower slowly back to shoulder height, then repeat on the other side, alternating or completing all reps on one arm before switching.
2. High dumbbell curl (front raise) 
Start with dumbbells by your thighs. Curl them up toward your shoulders as if performing a bicep curl, then continue the movement by extending the arms straight out in front at shoulder height. Reverse the motion with control, bringing the weights back to your shoulders, and continue extending and curling.
3. Lateral arm circles
Stand tall with arms extended out to the sides at shoulder height, palms facing down. Make small controlled forward circles, keeping the shoulders down and avoiding shrugging. Keep the movement tight and steady to maintain shoulder engagement throughout.
4. High dumbbell curl (lateral raise)
Begin with dumbbells by your thighs. Curl the weights up toward your shoulders, then transition into a lateral raise by opening the arms out to the sides until they reach shoulder height. Bring them back in under control to the shoulders, then extend back out. Continue extending and curling.
5. Elbow pulses
Bring your elbows together in front of your chest at shoulder height, forearms angled forward and palms facing each other. From this position, make small upward pulses by lifting the elbows slightly while keeping them pressed together and at shoulder height.
6. Alternating punches
Hold dumbbells at shoulder height with elbows bent. Engage your core and punch one arm straight forward, rotating slightly through the torso, then bring it back to start while the other arm punches forward. Keep the movements controlled and continuous, like a steady boxing rhythm.
7. Shoulder press
Hold dumbbells at shoulder height with palms facing forward and elbows under wrists. Press both weights straight overhead until arms are extended, then lower them back down with control, keeping your core braced and avoiding arching through the lower back. Continue repeating.
8. Steering wheel rotations
Hold both dumbbells with both hands at chest or shoulder height, arms extended forward. Rotate the weight from side to side in a controlled arc as if turning a steering wheel, keeping your torso stable and movement driven from the shoulders and core rather than momentum.
One of our most frequently asked questions here at Women’s Health? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer Oyinda Okunowo exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan – created exclusively for Women’s Health COLLECTIVE members – you’ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.
As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.
After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!
Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.
She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.