Trinny Woodall knows that making fitness accessible is crucial to making a routine stick and seeing results. That’s why she only chooses exercises she can do at home, using minimal kit – like those in this arm strength workout.
‘You don’t need an expensive gym membership or an intimidating set of weights to get your blood pumping. Two water bottles (or even cans of chopped tomatoes) are all you need. You will feel infinitely better for having moved your body and taken a few minutes to reset,’ she says on Instagram.
She demonstrates the exercises in a video alongside her coach Nathalie Hayward, who has trained Woodall since 2020. ‘Today we’re going to do arms,’ says Hayward. They begin with four upper-body mobility moves, before moving into the strength section of the workout. ‘Gently start, and it’s amazing how quickly you’ll see it work,’ says Woodall. Here’s how to do each exercise with proper form and which part of the arm each targets, according to Hayward.
Trinny Woodall’s 9 at-home arm exercisesMobility1.Cat-cow stretch
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‘We’re going to fire up the upper body. Deep breath in, round the spine, and then exhale to extend. So this is mobilising the spine; we’re also expanding the backs of the ribs which actually helps with your shoulder mobility.’
2. Quadruped arm circles 
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‘Going to bring your right arm forwards with your thumb turned up to the sky. Take a deep breath in and start to lift the arm. As you exhale, you’re going to bring that arm back in a semicircle. When you can’t bring it back any more, you need to turn the arm, bending the arm, shoulder and elbows pull back. Then you’re going to bring that arm forward and down.’
3. Plank to downward dog 
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‘We’re now going to lengthen out our legs so we end up in a high plank. You’re then going to bend your knees, push the hips back so you end up in a modified downward dog. Of course, if you can do this with your legs straight then do so. Then we’re going to come forward into a high plank. We’re just doing three of these. If you cannot do this, I want you to just push back into a child’s pose, and then come back into that quadruped position.’
4. Quadruped thoracic rotation
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‘So your left arm is reaching forwards. Your right hand goes behind your head. Inhale, right elbow comes down to the mat. Then as you exhale, you’re going to rotate. Now this is a true thoracic rotation.’
Strength 
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‘We’ve got a set of dumbbells each. You can use water bottles if you don’t have weights and you’re just getting started. Exercise number one are bicep curls with a classic and neutral grip. You’re going to set the shoulders back and down, going to alternate side to side, going slowly as you lengthen and lower the arm. It’s really important that we don’t swing the weights too much, so we’re not relying on momentum. We’re really working the front of the arm here.’
6. Bent-over reverse fly 
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‘Next, tuck your chin, take a deep breath in, then as you exhale you’re going to open your arms to the side so you’re not lifting them up towards your head. We’re keeping them back a little bit. If you find this very difficult, you can sit on a chair or sit on a bench and just use your bodyweight to get into the movement pattern.’
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‘You’re going to lie on your back with your feet flat on the ground. The hands are just a little further back than the shoulders. You inhale, bend the arms, keeping the top of the arm still. Exhale, extend. Squeeze the backs of those arms.’
8. Forearm plank 
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‘Now we’re working the shoulders and the core. So start just by holding for say ten seconds and then have a little rest. Or if you can do this, you’re going to hold for 45 seconds.’
9. Dumbbell upright row
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‘Now we’re going to work on our shoulders, so the centre of the shoulders. The wrists stay straight. You’re going to lift the weights up towards your collarbone and the shoulders come back a little bit as you lift so this takes pressure away from the neck. 10-12 reps. That’s it.’
‘We’re going to do the whole thing twice,’ Hayward adds.
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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.