Dancing jellies: how do I strengthen my arms and back to do overhead lifts?

You need to build your muscles by lifting weights. You could also do bench pressing.

@marinelife Thank you. I already do some weight lifting (not serious lifting, though). I was wondering which exercises would be especially helpful for what I want. I don’t see how bench pressing would help with lifts.

@2davidc8 I think bench pressing is exactly what you need for strengthening your arms to lift a partner over your head. Check out the photo on this page.

Perhaps some military press and/or inverted push-ups. Tricep exercises and wrist isolation exercises for sustaining the weight overhead. It is surprising how much stress is placed on the wrists in an overhead lift. Make sure you don’t forget them.

I think a lot of overhead lifting depends on stability as well. I would try doing workout on a stability ball. If you can also do inclined sit-ups as someone throw a weight ball at you as you drop back down. This will force you to quickly adjust and reach for the ball without falling off and losing your balance. It will also teach your muscles to quickly adjust for the weight difference on either side as the ball is being tossed slightly to your left or right and overhead. I imaging lifting someone requires you to adjust to the uneven weight of the person.
I’m sure some chin ups will also help improve your lifting.
Make sure to do lots of stretches to maintain your flexibility.
There was an exercise I did use to enjoy and I felt it added a lot of strength and balance to my back, and stomach.

You lay on your back and have your toes facing the ceiling. Have someone stand over you and push both your legs in different directions. You then try to stop your legs before they hit the ground and you quickly bring them up. You can do this with weight but again it won’t teach you to adjust quickly and weights will only add bulk.

Go to a gym and have someone make a program for you to follow. The YMCA, for example, can set up a series of exercises for you to strengthen your torso (which supports your arms) as well as your arms.

@Sunny2 I belong to a gym and have asked the trainers, but unfortunately, they’re not dancers, at least not the type of dancing I’m talking about. That’s why I asked my question here, in case there are dancing folks who’ve had some training doing this sort of thing. But thank you for taking the time for your reply.

@Pandora Thank you for those great suggestions. I’ll try those and do some more research along those lines on the internet. I’ll also ask the trainers at the gym for further help and clarification of the exercises that you recommended. Those are the things I was looking for when I asked the question. Thank you so much!
Do you know what sort of things my partner could do to assist and making things a bit easier for me (besides losing weight)?

The same muscles involved in lifting and being lifted relies on a lot of muscle memory and strength, in the arms, legs and core. You could try taking some gymnastic courses. I took a year in high school and it was great in teaching you muscle control to gain balance. I think if a guy can do the rings he can lift anything. The girls and the guys had to do the rings in our class and the best the girls could ever do was just hang. LOL, Your partner would probably do best in trying to learn and do the horse. It will teach her how to manipulate her weight to get balance. Gymnastics is very similar to dancing when it comes to needing physical strength and muscle control, balance and flexibility.

What also will help is a ton of practice and trust in each other. If either one of you has doubt in the other persons abilities, you will hesitate at the wrong time during the lift. You have to dance like the other person is an extension of your body. I never danced professionally but I use to enjoy dancing with my husband a lot. There were a lot of moves I could do with my eyes shut because I trusted my partner to never let me go. There were so many times I would not look at him because there was no need. It would be like looking at my arm to see where it is going.
People enjoyed watching us dance in clubs because they said we seemed so united.