Four Core Exercises for Seniors with Limited Mobility
It may seem counter-intuitive, but when you’re struggling from any mobility-inhibiting condition, it’s actually extra important to spend time being physically active. Breaking a sweat and working those underused muscles is important to overall senior health — it will help prevent overcompensation in other areas, which in turn will help to prevent injuries, and will loosen up tight muscles to alleviate pain.
Core exercises — those that help strengthen the back, abdomen and pelvis — are especially important to helping prevent injuries because they help you maintain balance and strength, which keeps you strong and sure-footed to prevent falls. According to the AARP, there are four important exercise categories for older adults: endurance, strength, balance and flexibility. Core exercises can fall into all four categories.
Let’s take a look at some core exercises that are safe and appropriate for seniors with limited mobility. Consider adding an emergency response system to your home so that you always have access to emergency services when exercising.
Core Strength: Water Leg Lifts
Swimming is one of the best ways you can boost your performance in the strength department without putting undue stress on the muscles and joints. The key here is to use the safety net of the water, and the fact that you’re safe from fall-related injuries in the pool, to push yourself to the next level. We recommend hitting the pool for your leg lifts for a solid way to boost your core without the anxiety of working out on hard floors in accident-prone environments.
How to Do It: In chest-deep water, hold onto the edge of the pool and lift your legs as high as you can for between 10 and 15 reps.
Core Endurance: Chair Workouts
While endurance may not seem like the most important category for seniors, it’s not one you should forget about when you become an older adult. Endurance exercises help strengthen the lungs, heart and circulatory system, and will help you walk farther and increase the amount of time you’re able to perform certain exercises. Using a chair with wheels or casters in an open space will help you build your endurance while minimizing risk of injury. Chair exercises are ideal for seniors who can’t stand or walk.
How to do It: Sit on a chair with wheels in an open space. Use your legs to propel yourself throughout the area for as long as you can. Try to increase your time with every session.
Core Balance: Seated Knee Lifts
Maintaining good balance gets more important as we age. When you have good balance and core strength, you’re less likely to suffer from slips and falls while you’re getting up, walking or doing your day-to-day activities, and you’ll feel more confident while moving. In fact, exercises for stability and balance have been shown to improve overall body strength for older adults by 30 percent! To improve your balance, you have to start at the core. One of the best ways to do this if you have limited mobility is to use your chair as a stabilizer.
How to Do It: Sit with your knees pointed forward on a stable chair. Use your abs to lift one knee for about five seconds at a time, repeating for between 10 and 15 reps. Do the same thing with the other knee.
Core Flexibility: Gentle Backbend
While you may not think of the core as a major contributor to overall flexibility, it is an important factor to consider when designing your workout regimen, especially if you want to improve mobility. That’s because the core encompasses the lower back. When the lower back muscles are tight or limited in range of motion, it can be hard to do simple tasks like sweeping, doing laundry or even getting out of bed. The secret to keeping your lower back nimble, of course, is to stretch, stretch, stretch!
How to Do It: Sitting with your back straightened, gently arch the back and press the tummy forward until you feel a stretch in the middle and lower back. Hold the stretch for five seconds at a time and repeat for 10 reps.
Why You Should Give it a Go
Even though it’s not as easy as it once was to hit the gym or perform exercises that get your heart pumping, you should still make sure you’re moving your muscles as much as possible while you age. When you perform these exercises three or four times a week, you’ll notice that you feel less pain, enjoy more flexibility and have more confidence as you move.
Description: Prevent injury, boost flexibility and keep pain at bay with these four core exercises for seniors from Superior Senior Health. Learn how to improve your quality of life with simple exercises that don’t require extensive mobility.