Exercise Routine DVD 1
As this is aimed at people who are concerned about their ability to stand while exercising, we do the whole routine sitting down. You’ll be surprised at how much you can work your whole body from a chair and it means you don’t need any special equipment – this can be done in the comfort of your own home. Sitting down exercises really do work.
Warm Up
After checking our posture, (and it’s important that we maintain good posture throughout), we start the music and begin with a warm up to prepare our minds, muscles and joints for action! We gradually stretch and bend our limbs, loosen up our joints and get our circulation going. These are great for wheelchair exercises too.
Fingers, Hands and Wrists
Then we work the fingers, hands and wrists to help maintain dexterity for functional use so we can continue to do things like open jars, do up buttons or write.
Feet and Ankles
Next we get our toes tapping when we concentrate on our feet and ankles – this helps with circulation especially for those who spend a long time sitting still and also improves our ankle mobility to make sure we use a good heel-to-toe walking technique.
Arms and Shoulders
We follow on with slightly larger movements to mobilise the arms and shoulders. Gradually these exercises help to increase our range of movement and combat stiffness which makes it easier to reach up into cupboards or carry the shopping.
Legs and Hips
Next we concentrate on our legs and hips, especially our ‘independence muscles’ (the quadriceps) which are quick to waste when we don’t use them regularly; this really helps our walking ability and can lead onto weight bearing activities again once our legs are strong enough.
Whole Body
Now it’s time to work the whole body to get the circulation going and test our coordination! This activity creates warmth and promotes blood flow to all our muscles even though we are still sitting down. As you get stronger and your balance improves, you can progress to doing this standing up, using the chair for support.
Now our muscles are receptive to gentle stretching which is vital for mobility and flexibility and helps us with our everyday activities like putting socks and shoes on, getting washed and dressed or picking things up off the floor.
Resistance
Resistance work has been proven to be the most effective way to improve strength and can still be done sitting down with exercise bands. The bands come in different strengths and as you progress you can move onto a different coloured band – contact us for more information.
Sit to Stand
Seated exercise does involve a little bit of standing which you can choose to do or not. Getting up out of a chair is one of the most important things we can do to maintain our independence so we make this part of the seated exercise routine – gradually build up to do ten sit-to-stands in a row and you’ll soon notice how this improves your leg strength.
Pelvic Floor
As part of an overall exercise routine we need to include the pelvic floor muscles and can do these, sitting or standing, on a daily basis. Once you’ve mastered the technique it will have a positive effect on your continence and confidence!
Cool Down
Lastly we cool down by tensing and relaxing all the muscle groups to help prevent strains and injury and to revitalise the mind and body.
