Standing Exercises for Older Adults

you the first exercise is called a sit to stand exercise and it's to strengthen your quadriceps or thigh muscles and you want to start by sitting in a sturdy chair or another surface that won't slide out from underneath you in which that when you cross your arms you can come up to a standing position okay so now we're going to start the exercise I'm going to have you scoot to the edge of the chair and then we're going to do ten repetitions coming to stand while continuing to keep your arms crossed one two three four five six seven eight nine ten the next exercise is called hip abduction exercise and it's to strengthen the outer hip muscle and what you want to do is to hold on to a sturdy chair or counter for balance and the important things to remember with this exercise is to keep your toes pointing straight ahead as you lift your leg out to the side okay we'll begin one two three four five six seven eight nine ten and then we'll switch to the other leg one two three four five six seven eight nine ten the next exercise is called hip extension and this is to strengthen the muscles on the back of your hip and here we're using a thera-band for resistance you'd like you would need to tie the band to something sturdy that's not going to move in this video there are wheels on the table but they're locked down so at home you want to have a sturdy table or couch something that will stay in place when you pull against it so you hold on to the counter for support loop the thera-band around your ankle and and tie it to the to the leg if it's too difficult to pull against the thera-band you can do this without any resistance as well okay so we'll begin this exercise you're going to pull straight back while standing up straight one two three four five six seven eight nine ten that completes the exercise for the right leg okay well now do a set of ten for the left leg one two three four five six seven eight nine ten next we'll do toe raises and this is an exercise to strengthen the muscles on the front of your lower leg so you're going to hang on to a chair for for balance and then you're going to raise your toes up in the air standing nice and straight so we'll begin one two three four five six seven eight nine ten next we'll do heel raises and this is to strengthen the muscle on the back of your lower leg or your calf muscle and so you're going to stand up straight hanging on to a chair for balance and raise up as high as you can onto your toes and we'll begin one two three four five six seven eight nine and ten the next exercise is to strengthen the upper back muscles and what you want to feel when you do this exercise is the muscles in between your shoulder blades working so you're going to hold the thera-band about chest level with a little bit of totnes between your hands to begin and then bring your elbows back squeezing your shoulder blades together okay so we'll begin one two three four five six seven eight nine and ten so now we're going to work on balance and as you work this you want to make sure that you're safe so you want to position yourself where you have something on either side of you so that if you need to use your hands you can you can do it like this with two chairs or in a narrow hallway or standing in a corner with your back to the corner so that you have walls on either side of you the first exercise we're going to do is standing on one leg and what you want to do is to pick up one leg and stand in that position without letting that leg hip hit the stationary leg for as long as you can up to thirty Seconds okay so we'll begin having you lift your right leg without touching your left leg and try to stand as long as you can on that left leg if you should need to touch the wall for balance just do that and then try to take your hand off the chair or wall if you need to set your foot down to regain your balance you can do that and then lift try again to lift your foot up as long as you can okay okay now we're going to practice standing on the right leg so you're going to lift your left leg up in the air without touching the right leg and try to hold up to thirty seconds or as long as you can again if you should need to touch the wall or the chair to regain your balance you can do so and then try to let go of it holding your balance on one leg without your arm supporting the important thing with this is to challenge your balance but to be safe the more you practice the longer you'll be able to stand on one leg okay good okay the next balance exercise is called tandem stance and you want to start in the same position as you were with single leg stance between two chairs or in a corner so that you have something on either side of you in case you need help for balance and what you'll do with this one is to bring your right foot directly in front of your left foot so the heel of your right foot is touching the toes of your left foot and you want to try to hold this position up to thirty Seconds now if it's too difficult to maintain this position if you're unable to hold your balance in this position what you can do is slide your right foot back so that it's halfway in front of your left this is called partial or modified tandem and then you can work on holding this position for 30 seconds okay now we're going to switch feet so you're going to slide your left foot directly in front of your right foot so the heel of your left foot is against the toes of your right foot and you want to try to hold this position for 30 seconds and again if this is too difficult if you're unable to hold your balance at all in this position you can slide your left foot back so that it's halfway in front of your right foot and then continue to hold this position as long as you can up to 30 seconds okay good next we're going to do some flexibility exercises and the first exercise is to stretch your calf muscle and what you want to do is hold on to a chair or a counter something that's sturdy and we'll begin with the right leg and we're going to have you bring the right leg back you want to make sure your toes are pointing straight ahead and your back leg or your right leg stays straight and your heel stays on the floor and while you're keeping your right leg in this position you're going to bend your left knee and come forward onto your left put your weight forward onto your left foot you should feel a stretch in your ryf right calf muscle the stretch should be comfortable it shouldn't be painful but you should be able to feel it stretching you want to make sure you don't bounce just hold it steady we're going to hold this for 30 seconds you okay and we'll come back to standing and now we're going to stretch the left calf muscle so you'll bring your left leg back toes pointing straight ahead and knee is straight and you're going to keep your heel on the floor then you'll bend your right knee and bring your weight forward over to your right foot and then you should be feeling a stretch in the back of your calf on the left leg again it should be a comfortable stretch without pain we're going to hold this for 30 seconds this exercise is a stretch for the hamstring muscle which is the back of your thigh so what you'll do is hang on to a chair or a counter for support for your balance and we'll have you bring your right foot forward taking a step and place your foot on the floor you're going to keep your right knee straight slightly bend your back knee or your left knee and then bend forward at the waist until you feel a stretch in the back of your right thigh and once you're feeling this stretch you want to hold the stretch no bouncing and should be a comfortable stretch we'll hold it for 30 seconds okay and now we'll stretch the left leg so you're going to bring your left leg ahead place your foot on the floor keep your left knee straight and then slightly bend your right knee or the back leg and then bend it the waist forward until you feel a stretch in the back of the left leg we're going to hold that stretch for thirty Seconds

Channel: Dartmouth-Hitchcock

Views: 1,899,946

Keywords: aging, exercise, strength, training, falls, hip, fracture, arthritis, memory, geriatrics, elderly, seniors, stretching, mobility

Id: mQLzNf8VOIc

Length: 16min 16sec (976 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 13 2012