The Lynwood Village Living Room Workout for over 65s (part 2)

Maintaining a good level of fitness in later life doesn’t have to mean donning your lycra and working up a sweat in the gym.  There’s a lot you can do from the the comfort of your own home to sustain your functional fitness, which can help you carry out daily tasks easily and without pain. These simple exercises, designed by Lynwood Village’s Head of Physiotherapy, Rosaria Toohey, will help raise your heart rate, which improves fitness, and keep joints ‘oiled’ and pain free. If you missed part one of the Lynwood Living Room Workout you can read it here.

   

Workout using sturdy furniture, worktops or walls to help you balance.

Before embarking on any new exercise regime you should check with your GP that it is safe to do so.

The Living Room Workout – Part 2

  1. The Warm Up

    Spend 3 – 5 minutes gently marching on the spot. If you have a balance issue, make sure you have a wall to support yourself if needed.  Increase the range of leg lift as the minutes tick by. Marching can be done standing or sitting, so you choose where you feel safest depending on how good your balance is. Once you have marched in the chair or standing for a few minutes, then slow it right down and march slowly, raising your knees a high as comfortable. (If you have a hip replacement do not raise them very high).
  2. Toe Tapping

    Sitting in a chair, even in front of the telly, tap your toes as hard as you can on the floor. Make sure you keep your heels on the ground. Alternatively you can do heel/toe rocking. Another great ankle exercise is to pretend you have a pen taped to your big toe and to write out the alphabet with one foot and then the other.
  3. Leg Extensions

    Please be careful if you have a hip replacement and do not raise your leg too high. You may also find if you have had a hip replacement that it is difficult to stand on the hip replacement leg and may choose to do this exercise only on one side.

    Stand facing the kitchen counter and hold on with both hands. With a straight knee, alternately extend your leg backwards, one leg at a time. Repeat 10-20 times. Then do the same exercise but lift your leg out sideways, one leg at a time. Repeat 10-20 times.
  4. Rocking from toes to heels in standing

    Again stand in front of the kitchen counter or behind a heavy chair and push up onto your toes, then carefuly rock back onto your heels. Repeat 10 times.
  5. Shoulder circles backwards

    Sitting or standing, circle your shoulders backwards while your arms hang by your sides. Never circle them forwards as gravity pulls us into forward flexion all the time. Repeat this movement 10 times.
  6. Shoulder internal and external rotation

    This is a wonderful first aid shoulder exercise. Sit or stand with your arms crossed across your body. Keeping your elbows tucked into your sides, open your hands out away from the body. Then cross your arms again. Continue opening and closing your arms across your body, but make sure your elbows are tucked snuggly into your sides. This is a very good exercise for your rotator cuff muscles and is wonderful if you have sore shoulders at all. Repeat this movement 10-20 times.
  7. Nose Circles

    Imagine you have a small pen taped to your nose. Draw a small circle with your nose the size of a 50p piece, no bigger. First clockwise 5 time, then anti clockwise 5 times. Not big circles as these can flare up necks.
  8. Neck retraction stretches

    Sit or stand tall, and draw your chin in and backwards as much as you can so your neck grows tall, and the crown of your head reaches up to the roof. This is also a very good first aid neck exercise for any stiff or sore necks.
  9. Forward/Backward trunk stretches

    Sitting in a chair, lean forward and slide your hands down your shins. Then slowly sit upright and then stretch back in the chair to extend your back. Keep your head level, you don’t need to look up to the ceiling. Repeat x 5.

    It is a good idea to try and spend 30 mins every day doing this short regime of exercises. If you find it only takes you 15 mins to these then just repeat them all. You could even do 30 mins twice a day of these exercise if you find you love these exercises!. These exercises just help you to push your heart rate up a bit which is good for developing a bit of fitness training, and keep your joints oiled and feeling pain free.

    Job done! Time for a well deserved cup of tea.  Next time we’ll look at a workout you can do in bed to loosen up for the day ahead.