- If you're in your mid 50s or early 60s, you may have noticed some certain changes that make your everyday tasks
a little more challenging or uncomfortable. - That's right Mike, and you're lucky that you have not experienced it yet, but there is good news because there... We've narrowed it down to six exercises that can help keep you
moving active pain free, and moving the way you would like to, so that's what we're gonna get to today. We've got a nice little
story I want to tell about putting this all
together and you can relate to. (upbeat music) All right, gather around, gather around, this story will take not much time, it happened a few years ago, I was 57, my brother was 60, we grew up canoeing. We had a family canoe,
very good at canoeing and then we decided to go canoeing at the ages I just mentioned, and it had been about 10 years before we stepped in a canoe prior. We stepped into the canoe and we both had this altering event. Whoa, the canoe was wobbly, sit down, and we both thought we
were going in the drink into the lake, you know? And we both looked at each
other without saying a word, we were thinking exactly the same thing, "What happened to us, this
was so easy 10 years ago and now, we feel like fumbling fools," which we probably look like, but the whole thing is
it's gonna happen to you. It's like getting gray hair, et cetera, I mentioned it before, but Mike has some
interesting news about this. - I kind of find it
funny 'cause my dad is 69 and he does fine in a canoe yet, but-
- Come on (laughs). - Anyway, studies have recently shown that there's often a decline
in muscle mass as we age. Our vision and our balance, so it's important to work on
all those things as you age, so you can go canoeing like Brad wants to. - But there are also a number of studies that consistently show if
you work on these things as you age, you can combat that decline and stay moving and healthy. - So in this video, we're
gonna show you six exercises you can do. You don't need to do 'em at the gym, you can do 'em at home or go outside, no extra money needed. - So these six exercises we've looked at and studied which ones are
the best ones over our years of experience working with elderly people, as well as people... I'm not elderly yet, I think-
- Are you sure? - Be 80, I'm not sure.
- Oh. - But anyways, these exercises, really, seriously, they're good
exercises and the key is, is that you do 'em consistently
at least three times a week and they're going to show
benefits on your daily life. All right, now these exercises do address a broad range of activities. So if you are just working on trying to improve your walking, improve your ability to do housework, or get dressed or you want
advance to playing golf, pickle ball, maybe even
tennis, some of those people at our age are still going that far, they're all gonna fit into this. We have some options
that you can work with. - We do wanna note a word of caution that if you've had a joint replacement or have some concerns about your health, maybe not do all these exercises
or pick which ones pertain to you specifically and don't overdo it. - Right, if any of these
exercises create any pain while you're doing it or after, that's a red check mark,
do not do that exercise and you'll know what I'm talking about. Good judgment again is always important. All right, the first exercise
is, this is a big one for pretty much everyone,
is the sit to stand. It's gonna help your balance, your strength going up and down steps, getting off the floor if you've gardening on the ground, et cetera. Now, Mike is gonna show different options. Everyone has a different
level to start with, he's gonna start with the beginner people and as you get advanced, you'll
show more difficult ones, figure out where you are
and then work with that. 10 repetitions is probably gonna be enough when you get your level of
intensity, go ahead, Mike. - So to begin, I'm gonna use some type of raised seat cushion
here so it's gonna make it a little bit easier starting
from a higher surface. You're gonna wanna scoot
towards the edge of the chair to start and then push up with both hands, go up slow, sit back down,
use the hands to control it, make sure you feel good and controlled. This is basic beginner. If this is easy, then
you can take out the pad, same progression, use both arms. If you're like, "This is
a piece of cake, Brad," (Brad laughs) try one arm.
- There you go. - Just go up with one
arm, push and control, try to make the legs do more
of the work than the arm, they're here for support and balance. If you need 'em to push, you
can, but try to avoid it. - I did wanna just say if you
don't happen to have a cushion like that, we often use
pillows with people, a throw pillow, anything to elevate you. One inch of elevation makes
a tremendous difference on the ease for the people who need that. - Now, if you don't need arm support, the next progression
would be to fold your arms across your chest like this
and then you're gonna stand up and then sit down, make sure
not to lean forward like this and round your back and then come up, try to keep a nice, straight
posture as you're doing it, sitting at the edge of the
chair really helps with this. Now, say you feel unbalanced getting down, but you're strong, you
can certainly reach back to make sure the chair's there or you can simply touch your calves against the chair and then sit down. - So the the word is, and we've said this over the years in the
therapy clinic, no popping. In other words, don't let
yourself plop down into the chair, it's not gonna do
anything good for anybody. - Yes, muscle strengthened
going up and down, and the last progression,
if you can lift your arms above your head, you can have
your arms above your head and do 10 repetitions of this as well. Make sure you have your
feet flat on the ground, don't just push through your
heels 'cause then you start to chip backwards like this
and do 10 repetitions total like Brad said, and solely
progress that exercise each day. - Nice work, Mike, let's
go on to number two. All right, this second exercise, some people will think we're
gonna give two options, but you're gonna think this
is really a weird exercise. It's extremely functional,
it's good for range of motion, and it's good for
strength, and it's simply, get down to the floor and get back up. So here we go, I'm gonna simply... If you have something to
hold onto if you need to, if you feel it all
uncomfortable with this, we have the other option coming up. So this is for the more mobile
people that can do this, but we wanna maintain
our mobility as we age. So down to the floor,
everything is controlled, down to our butt, and you
can actually sit there for a while and do some stretching. I like this one really
good for the hips, okay? And then you simply roll over to one side, hand here, hand here to
the quad repeat position. Bring one foot up, if
you have a chair handy and you need it, we're
gonna walk up the chair. If you don't need it, just go
down, that's one repetition. Down slowly, take your time, do that, maybe do a different stretch
this time and then go back up. I'm starting... My breath is starting to
race already, I like it. Get back up. So the repetitions that
you do is gonna depend on how stable you are. If you're not stable, you stop, if you're getting tired, you stop, if you have joints that are hurting, then you're gonna stop as well. Thank you, I was looking at
the wrong camera, my fault. Okay, Michael, what about
for the people who do not... They're not appropriate for this, we've got an excellent exercise for that. - So you can just do a lunge variation if you're uncomfortable
going down to the floor. So make sure to hold onto
something for support. Countertop, cane stick, whatever you have. - We could put a chair here
and you could hold onto that, but we're gonna eliminate
that because you can't see. - You're gonna go in a staggered stance and I have something soft here because this knee is gonna get down and it feels a lot better
than the hard floor. So maybe if you have a pillow at home, make sure you're wearing shoes, you don't want your feet to
slide out from underneath you, but you're gonna hold on with your arms and try to lunge down and touch this. If you cannot touch it, it's okay, just go down to where you feel comfortable and then come back up. You're still getting
some good strengthening in your leg muscles and this
is a very functional activity, an important exercise for
getting off of the floor. - And I do wanna mention,
actually, when you start... If you haven't done this before, don't even try to touch your knee to the cushion or the floor. Just go down a little
ways, do five of 'em. If it's real easy, then progress down, but if you go down and you can't get up because you've never done it
before, it's a bad situation. So work with that cautiously
and progressively. - Again, try to keep an
upright posture with your back, you don't wanna be rounded over like this the whole time doing it. - That's right and, of course, do both legs.
- Yes. - Okay, the third one
specifically addresses standing balance. So what we're gonna do is, the
first thing is stand simply on one foot, the goal is 30 seconds. If you can stand for 30
seconds, then you're probably quite balanced and doing very well. Most people or a lot of
people may need something to hold onto. If your balance is really off,
you're gonna have to go up to a countertop or a solid
chair with both hands and attempt and make
sure you have a timer, it really helps to actually time this go for that 30 seconds. The progression, if your
balance is really poor, both hands for here, then one hand, and then fingertips on both hands and then fingertips on
one down to one fingertip, and you're gonna do that with each leg, that's just a quick way to progress. That may or may not be necessary. Mike, if you're using the stick, go ahead. - Again, you can just hold it on one side or the other or both,
just put it right directly in front of you. The higher this leg is, the
more it's gonna make you focus on your balance. This is easier than it is up here. Make sure to switch and do both sides and try to keep as much of an
upright posture as you can, try not to be swaying too much. - And I think we can segue right into our number three actually. If this is working out
fairly easy for you, you're pretty balanced, you
want a bigger challenge, take your... When you're brushing your teeth, see if you can brush your teeth, we got the finger tooth
brush here, on one foot and that's a really functional way. You're working on something
else while you're balancing, that's advanced, so a lot
of people may not be able to do that. If you're ready, it's
a nice way to work it. You got the countertop, the sink to lean into if you need to. - It's a good reminder every
time you brush your teeth, work on your balance. - It makes brushing your teeth fun. - Do you wanna show the last option here? - Yes, I do. This is something you
probably will not see except for by a therapist. This is a functional way
to work on your balance. Get a corner like this
and when you get dressed in the morning, you're
putting your pants on, see if you can do this with one... Yep, step through like that
and if you're in the corner and you lose your balance,
you're safe, okay? Having a chair in front of you. If you are so to the point where you have a hard time doing this
because things get caught, and (groans) if you're
doing that, stop this. It's only for certain people and you may start leaning into the wall, it's probably the best way,
and then as you get better, you can try it away from
the wall and you know, if you're finding yourself doing this and you get your toe caught, your pinky toe is the only
thing not in, very frustrating, work on that, it's a nice way
to work functional balance. So, again, start leaning into the corner, do it progress cautiously. This is something you don't have to do. You can always sit
down, get your pants on, but it is a nice way to progress balance. All right, let's go to number four. Okay, number four, this
one is interesting, very basic to start out with, but we show some walking options. So get out and walk at
least five days a week. Don't go too far, make sure
you're on appropriate surfaces and make sure that you're being safe. We've got an interesting
thing for your heart rate, Mike is gonna talk about. - Now, you can try some
type of interval training with walking per se. So you can do one block,
walk your normal pace, and the next block, walk
a little bit quicker pace, getting that heart rate slightly elevated. You'll notice this if you're
just breathing a little heavier then the following block, slow down again. You may need to walk slow for two blocks and fast for one block,
depending upon how functional you are and how far you can
walk, but just go slowly. Go one block fast, one block slow, take your time and build into it easily. - And if you're tech savvy,
you got your cell phone, you can set a timer, maybe
walk fast for 30 seconds, then walk slow for a minute, make sure... And then you can make it beep. I learned to do that, I
feel pretty good about that. - Oh congratulations.
(Brad laughs) Now, when you come back from your walk, it is also good to work
on walking sideways 'cause this strengthens the
different muscle groups, helps with turning in small
rooms and all sorts of benefits. So to do this, you're just
gonna simply step sideways, you can take small steps to begin with, you can progress to larger steps. You also wanna focus on keeping
your feet pointed forward the whole time and make sure
to use support as needed. This can be done under
railing, a countertop, or using a cane. - Right, five to 10 steps each direction is more than adequate
and I want you to think about actually lifting
your feet up higher, so you've got a few inches of gap between your feet and the
floor, just a reminder so you eliminate shuffling
habits that can happen with aging process. Nice work, Mike, have you danced recently? - No.
- Do polka or do any, you know, ballroom dancing? - I do the foxtrot.
- Good. All right, number five, this
is another great big one, Bob and I have been after
this for years, is posture. Get the shoulders back, head up, breathe, get the shoulders moving
so that you can breathe in, your shoulders become pain free. If they have a little pain,
we like to use the wall and it's their famous... These two exercises, Mike's
gonna show on sitting. I think we have the patent on
this, don't we, Bob? (laughs) Okay, butt to the wall,
shoulders to the wall, bring the shoulders back, and
we're gonna do snow angels. You know, if you live in the
north where you got snow, you're exactly what we're talking about. If you're lying on the ground and you're making an angel in the snow. So go up with your hands touching as far as you feel
comfortable, get the stretch, come back down, do five
of these, at least, you can work up to 10. Now, you might find my left
shoulder used to be tight where it would come away from the wall 'cause I couldn't get it back, but after working with these for... It took a few weeks. Now, I can get my hands to
touch all the way up to here, but don't worry, if you only
get up whatever distance, just get a stretch, do your five to 10, and the option is if you
don't want to do the standing, seated is another
excellent postural exercise Mike will show. - I should say, with Brad's exercise, if you don't have wall space
and you can easily get on and off the floor, you can
also do that on the floor. - [Brad] Good point, good point. - But this is the hallelujah stretch. So you're gonna sit upright
in a chair, have good posture, and you're just gonna bring your arms up like you're saying hallelujah,
hold there for a few seconds and then you can come back down. If this is feeling good,
you enjoy the stretch and you maybe want to get a
little more back extension with this, you can simply
place a deflated ball, possibly a small pillow,
something behind your back here, and you can do the same stretch and you get a little more arch in there and oh, that feels so nice. - Ooh, yes, and may I mention, Mike, you can adjust the ball up or down, whatever feels the best for your back. - Yes, and this is nice and
soft and you can just... You don't want a firm ball,
you want a nice, squishy one. - Basketball would not work.
(Mike laughs) You need something soft. Go over and get the
neighbor kids kickball. Now, what you can also do
is, show 'em that option where if their shoulders
are tight, do the W, the Wisconsin W stretch. - So instead of lifting
your arms up like this, you're simply kind of retracting
your shoulders like this, and if my head, my red head
is the middle of the W, this is a W shape, so you
can also do it like that, Just kind of go back like this
way, work on that posture, help prevent all that
flex forward posture, you're probably doing most of the day. - All right, let's go to the last one. Okay, the last one is
a real important one, it addresses all those tasks
we do throughout the day where you're either pushing
something or pulling on it, like opening a door, those types of thing. Now, for this, the only way we can do this is if you actually use a band. I hate to have you buy something, but it's the only thing I could come up with to do both of these tasks, and they're not that expensive. Now, what we have is a band, usually you get a set of
these with five of 'em. They'll come with a door
anchor that's like that, Mike's gonna demonstrate on
how it works into a door, go ahead, Mike. - So you take the round
end here, open the door, make sure to fit it in there. Now, this is the part, you
want it closed tight like this, make sure it's not gonna come open. If you have a lock, I
would suggest locking it, get in the right position for you, that's gonna depend upon
how tall or short you are. You roughly want it about chest level. So the first one is just some
scapular rowing exercise. You just put your arm straight out, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and then come back forward. The focus should be in
your shoulder blade region where Brad is pointing out. My biceps are working a
little bit to do this, but you wanna focus on
using your shoulder blades, not your arm muscles when doing this. You can perform 10 repetitions
and then we're gonna switch and go in the opposite direction, so we're gonna work the chest muscles. So same concept, just kind of push like you're doing a pushup. Am I pulling the door over? - No, you're doing fine.
- No, it's okay? So I'll just do 10 repetitions
going this way as well and it gets your peck
muscles going and yeah. - Good job, Mike. Now, there's one thing, if
you don't have the bands, you can get the push part
by just using a wall. Can we come over here? Simply do wall pushups
that does get the muscles for pushing on those pushing
task throughout the day as far as pulling. I worked in my head a
long time to figure out how to pull and get some
resistance without a band, but I really couldn't. You can use the door. There are wall anchors
that actually we have and we sell 'em because
they work really well. If you've used the door
anchor for a long time and you're sick and tired
of putting the door, using the door and the anchor there, we've got one, two, three, if you buy 'em on bobandbrad.com,
you get four of those, you need to put 'em into a wooden stud and they work really well. I've got about 12 of 'em in my wall. I do, I use 'em on a regular basis. Again, so you're pulling
exact same mechanics as that Mike talked about. All right, and this also
works the core as well as those arms. All right, now, those six exercises are absolutely essential,
we've decided that, and I guarantee you, if
you can do all of these, do 'em three days a week, for four weeks, and then after that, bump it up to four or
maybe five days a week. You're gonna notice your
mobility, your strength, your balance will
increase, I guarantee you. How about you, Mike? - Let us know down below what we've forgot in the comment section because
I'm not in my 50s or 60s, so I may not know. - Right, but you're gonna get there, Mike. I can guarantee you're gonna experience the same things that Bob
and I have and my brother, getting in and out of that canoe. - Yeah, he has faith in me,
I'm gonna live that long. - That's right. - That's a wrap.
(shutter clicks) (upbeat music)
