Angel Blue, 42, says strength training helped her reverse her type 2 diabetes – here are 7 moves she swears by

Angel Blue has shared how starting strength training has positively impacted her health.

‘I’ve been lifting weights here for almost the last two years,’ she said on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour.

The two-time Grammy winner and opera soprano was inspired in part by watching her mother take movement seriously in her mid-40s.

‘I’m probably just around the 10-year mark before menopause and I saw my mum really start to take care of her health when she was around my age,’ she recalled. ‘She started going to jazzercise and she was doing all these Jane Fonda videos.’

She continued: ‘I also have three older sisters, and they were like: “Just take care of yourself now so that as we age, we can do better”.’

That focus on her health became even more important after Angel was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. In recent years, she has made significant lifestyle changes and says she has put the condition into remission.

‘This is a journey that has been happening for over 18 months and will continue for the rest of my life. My dad and grandma both died from complications of Type 2 diabetes,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘Needless to say, I took it very seriously when I was diagnosed with it last year.’

Alongside strength training, Blue made changes to her nutrition, sleep, blood sugar management and stress management, which she says helped to put her type 2 diabetes into remission.

Angel has incorporated a range of exercises into her routine. Here are some of the moves she does, as shared on her Instagram.

• Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, with your back upright and your dumbbells by your sides in a neutral grip, with palms facing each other.
• With your arms fully extended, curl the dumbbells towards your shoulders, keeping your palms facing each other.
• Keep your upper arms still and perpendicular to the floor. Squeeze your biceps at the top of the movement.
• Pause briefly, then slowly lower your arms down.

• Place your right hand and right knee on a bench, keeping your back flat and spine neutral. Brace your core and avoid rotating your torso.
• Step your left foot out to the side and hold a dumbbell in your left hand.
• Pull the dumbbell towards your hip, driving your elbow up and back while keeping it close to your body.
• Pause briefly and squeeze your upper-back and lat muscles at the top.
• Lower the weight slowly and with control until your arm is fully extended.

• Set up a barbell on a squat rack, so that it is just below your shoulders when standing up straight.
• Step underneath the bar, resting it lightly on your upper traps and shoulders.
• With your hands around the bar in an overhand grip, hold the bar just outside of your shoulders.
• With your feet just wider than your hips and your toes turned outwards slightly, unrack the bar and step back, keeping it resting across your upper traps, keeping your chest up and back straight.
• Slowly begin to squat down, pushing your hips back and down as if sitting into a chair, without letting your knees roll inwards and keeping your chest up, but allowing your torso to lean forward as needed.
• Lower until your hips drop just below your knees, and your knees track in line with your toes, then push through the floor to return to standing.

4. Landmine row

• Secure one end of the barbell in a landmine attachment and load the free end with your weight plates.
• Stand with the free end of the barbell between your legs, facing away from the landmine attachment, with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Hinge at your hips and slightly bend your knees until your torso is roughly parallel to the floor, keeping your back neutral.
• Grip the bar just below the weight plates with both hands using an overhand grip. Brace your core and keep your spine stable.
• Pull the bar toward your lower chest by driving your elbows back. Keep the bar close to your body and squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top. Don’t jerk the bar or use momentum. Keep your torso and hips stationary throughout the movement.
• Pause briefly, then slowly lower the bar until your arms are fully extended.

5. Pull-up

• Hang from the neutral-grip handles with your arms fully extended and your palms facing each other.
• Brace your core, keep your ribs down, and pull your shoulders away from your ears. Drive your elbows down and back to pull your chest toward the handles until your chin clears them.
• Pause briefly at the top, then lower yourself with control until your arms are fully extended again.

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
• Step your right foot back about one-and-a-half times your normal stride length, landing on the ball of your foot with your heel lifted.
• Lower your back knee until it gently taps the floor, creating a 90º angle in your front leg.
• Push through the heel and midfoot of your front foot to return to standing, bringing your right foot back in line with your left. Repeat on the oppohttps://gymforcestore.com/ side.

7. Shoulder press machine

• Set the seat so the handles start around shoulder height.
• Keep your feet firmly planted on the floor and grip the handles with an overhand grip.
• Brace your core and press the handles upward until your arms are nearly straight, without forcefully locking out your elbows or shrugging your shoulders.
• Lower the handles slowly back to around shoulder level, maintaining control throughout the movement.

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