Strength training isn’t just for bodybuilders. It’s for anyone who wants to be healthier and stronger and wants to feel more energetic and capable at any age.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a gym or special exercise equipment to begin building muscle and increasing your strength. You can do it at home or just about anywhere else, using your own body weight as resistance.
Whether it’s strength training, stretching or aerobic exercise, the key is to keep your body active.
“Movement is medicine,” says Paul Schroeder, a physical therapist and strength and conditioning specialist based in Chicago.
[READ 6 Expert-Approved Tips to Make Exercise a Habit]
Why Exercise Is Important for Older Adults
It’s especially important to engage in regular strength training as you get older because people naturally lose muscle mass, strength and function — through a condition called sarcopenia — with advancing age.
“Simply by growing older, you lose muscle mass at the rate of up to 5% per decade after age 30,” says Tami Peavy, a physical therapist and clinical director with La Mesa Rehab in La Mesa, California. “The good news is that with some simple strength training, you can reduce that loss and regain muscle mass.”
Benefits of strength training:
If you need more incentive to move in this direction, consider this: When performed regularly, strength training can:
— Help you manage your weight.
— Help you manage your blood sugar.
— Improve bone density.
— Boost brain health.
— Improve mobility.
— Reduce your risk of injury.
[READ: Tips to Spice Up Your Fitness Routine.]
Best Chair Exercises
Performing exercises in a chair can help you improve your strength and mobility while being supported or having support within reach.
These three moves are versatile and can be surprisingly challenging. Before you start doing chair-based exercises, find a stable, sturdy chair that’s wide enough to allow you to move freely.
1. Sit-to-stand exercise
This move challenges and strengthens the muscles in your legs, hips, abdomen and other parts of the core. It also can enhance your balance and help with activities of daily living, such as getting in or out of a car.
Instructions:
1. Sit toward the front of your chair with your feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
2. While keeping your spine straight and drawing your belly button toward your spine, hinge forward from the hips.
3. Place your arms out in front of you and stand up slowly, pressing your weight into your feet.
4. Pause for a breath when you’re standing upright.
5. Hinge from the hips again, and bend your knees to sit back down.
6. Do a total of 10 to 15 reps.
2. Triceps dips
This exercise looks deceptively simple, but it’s actually quite challenging. It helps strengthen the muscles in your upper arms and your shoulders, too.
Instructions:
1. Stand with your back to the seat of a sturdy chair, bend your knees as if you were going to sit down, and place the palms of your hands on the front edge of the seat about shoulder-width apart.
2. Move your feet forward on the floor so that most of your body weight is resting on your hands.
3. Keep your elbows close to your sides and bend your arms to slowly lower your body until your arms are bent as close to a 90-degree angle as possible.
4. Pause at the low point for a second then exhale and straighten your arms back to the starting position. (Caution: Don’t lower your body so far down or forward that you overstress your shoulders.)
5. Do a total of 10 to 12 reps.
3. Single leg lifts
Not only do these moves build strength in the quadriceps and hip flexors, this exercise also challenges the muscles in your lower abdomen.
Instructions:
1. Sit up tall toward the front edge of a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
2. Inhale, lift your right foot off the floor, and straighten your leg in front of you.
3. Hold it in the extended position for a few seconds.
4. Exhale and lower your foot to the floor.
5. Repeat on the left side.
6. Do a total of 5 to 10 reps with each leg.
[See: 9 Signs You Should Stop Exercising Immediately.]
Best Balance Exercises
Besides building strength, the following three exercises help improve balance and coordination, which can help protect older adults from falls and other injuries.
1. Bird dog
This exercise is an excellent way to build strength in the back and abdomen, as well as improving balance and core stability.
Instructions:
1. Get down on all fours on the floor, with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees directly under your hips.
2. Keep your back flat and your head in line with your spine, as you lift your right arm forward and your left leg straight behind you until they are both parallel to the floor.
3. Pause, then return to the starting position.
4. Repeat with the left arm and the right leg.
5. Do 10 reps on each side.
2. Standing marches
Because you are briefly standing on one foot at a time as you march, this move promotes balance and coordination, as well as core strength.
Instructions:
1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Lift your right foot and bend your right knee until your thigh is parallel to the floor, while keeping your torso straight. (If you need to, place your fingertips against a wall or chair back for balance but try to do it without holding onto anything.)
3. Pause at the top then return your right foot to the floor.
4. Switch to the left leg.
5. Do 10 reps with each leg.
3. Standing balance
This leg-strengthening exercise promotes better balance and stability.
Instructions:
1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
2. Lift your right foot an inch or two off the floor, while keeping your torso straight, and hold it there for 15 seconds. (If you need to, you can hold onto a countertop or wall for balance but the goal is to be hands-free.)
3. Return your right foot to the floor.
4. Repeat with the left foot.
5. Do a total of five reps with each leg.
6. Eventually, work up to standing on each foot for longer.
Best Stretching Exercises
Part of the reason people feel stiffer as they get older is because their muscle fibers become shorter, which can impact their ability to perform everyday activities and sports, according to research. These exercises can help you combat those effects and stay flexible.
1. Wall angels
This move can help you ease back pain and stiffness by stretching your chest and shoulders.
Instructions:
1. Stand with your back flat against a wall and your feet three to six inches away from the wall.
2. Start with your arms by your sides then tuck your chin to your chest.
3. Turn your palms so they’re facing forward and slowly raise your arms along the wall as far as you can comfortably, while bending your elbows into a goal post position. Keep your shoulders down and relaxed and your lower back in contact with the wall.
4. Pause when you reach your high point then slowly lower your arms to the starting position.
5. Do a total of ten reps.
2. Seated figure-four stretch
This exercise stretches the muscles in your hips and butt, which can promote better hip mobility and stability, among other benefits. It can also ease sciatica discomfort, Schroeder notes.
Instructions:
1. Sit toward the front edge on a steady chair with both feet flat on the floor.
2. Keep your right foot flat on the floor and bend your left knee, bringing your left ankle across your right thigh just above the knee.
3. Hinge forward at the hips, moving your chest toward your legs while keeping your spine in a neutral position. (You can place your hands on the raised leg for support, if you’d like.)
4. Hold the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds.
5. Repeat the stretch on the other side.
3. Pec stretches
This move will relieve tightness in the pectoral muscles that connect the front of the chest with the bones in the shoulders and upper arms.
Instructions:
1. Stand in the center of a doorway.
2. Place both forearms on either side of the doorjamb.
3. Gently step through the doorway with your right foot to stretch your pectoral muscles. (Your arms will get pulled behind you and you’ll feel a stretch in the front of your shoulders.)
4. Hold this position for 20 seconds.
5. Repeat by bringing your left foot forward.
Bottom Line
You don’t need to perform these exercises all at once if that doesn’t suit you. Instead, you can incorporate mini-workouts into your daily routine and still reap the benefits.
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Best At-Home Chair Exercises and Balance Exercises for Older Adults originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 01/11/24: This piece was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
