[For Seniors] Leg and lower-back training: Fall prevention
As we age, the muscles in our legs and lower back can weaken, making us more prone to stumbling or falling.
However, by continuing with simple training, you can better support your lower body and aim for a body that’s less likely to fall.
Incorporating easy, low-impact exercises into your daily routine will also help you gain confidence in walking.
This time, we’ll introduce leg and lower-back strengthening exercises that are safe for older adults.
You can start them easily at home, so why not enjoy moving your body while you do them? Keep at it a little each day, and let’s keep walking energetically for years to come!
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- For Seniors: How to Strengthen Your Inner Muscles. Fall Prevention
- For seniors: Leg-strengthening exercises you can do without overexertion.
- [For Seniors] Fun and Easy! Fall-Prevention Exercises for Older Adults
- [For Seniors] Exercises to Walk Again. Fall Prevention
- [For Seniors] Strengthen Your Legs! Recommended Training Items
- [With Video] Lower-limb strength training for seniors that can be done in bed
- [For Seniors] Recommended Easy Strength Training
- [For Seniors] Balance-Training Exercises: Preventing Falls
- Summary of exercises for seniors: introducing preventative care movements by body part.
- [For Seniors] Core Training: Recommended Simple Rehabilitation
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun Core Training
- [For Seniors] Improve Your Body Concerns! A Summary of Exercises for Urinary Leakage
[For Seniors] Leg and hip training. Fall prevention (21–30)
Rehabilitation for standing up from the floor using a chairNEW!
This rehabilitation uses a chair and progresses through three stages.
In Stage 1, you sit in the chair and then stand up.
In Stage 2, you use the chair seat as a platform to stand up.
In Stage 3, you stand up from the floor.
Be sure to follow the key points for each movement: include a kneeling position, dorsiflex your toes, and firmly support your body with your hands placed on the floor or your knees.
Since Stage 3 builds on Stages 1 and 2, take your time and complete each step one by one without rushing.
Sit-to-stand exercise using a chairNEW!
This is a training exercise using chairs that strengthens your legs and glutes.
It directly helps you perform the standing motion with less strain, so give it a try.
First, sit on a chair.
Place another chair facing the same direction in front of you, at a distance where you can touch its backrest with your arms extended.
Grab the front chair with your hands and lean your upper body firmly forward.
Then slowly lift your hips and stand up.
If you stand up with your torso upright, it puts strain on your legs and lower back, so be sure to lean forward well.
Quadriceps training that makes standing up smootherNEW!
The quadriceps are the muscles at the front of the thighs.
When these muscles weaken, it becomes difficult to stand up or sit down slowly, so it’s important to strengthen them.
Here are some training methods.
First, sit in a chair and straighten your back.
Next, extend your right leg to knee height and hold that position for 10 seconds.
Do the same with your left leg.
Next, lie on your back, raise your extended leg to a height of 30–40 degrees, and hold for 10 seconds.
If 10 seconds feels too long, do it within a comfortable range.
Inner thigh exercises needed for standing upNEW!
When you learn to properly engage your inner thigh muscles, everyday movements become smoother and your whole body feels more stable.
First, sit on a chair with your back straight and consciously bring your knees together.
While sensing the inside of your thighs, slowly repeat the motion of opening and closing your knees to activate the inner thigh muscles.
Do about 10 repetitions.
As you continue, the supporting strength of your legs will increase, making it easier to build the power used when standing up.
Since this helps daily movements become smoother and contributes to overall stability, try incorporating it gradually at your own pace.
starting relayNEW!
It’s a rehab-oriented game where participants repeatedly perform the action of standing up from a chair and pass it along to the next person like a relay.
By dividing into teams and competing to be faster than the other side, participants become more aware of their standing-up speed.
However, if they focus too much on speed, they might try to stand up with too much momentum, which could put strain on the body, so care is needed in that regard.
Let’s aim not only to make it a fun game, but also to improve the body by maintaining proper posture and paying attention to how force is applied.
Exercises to improve standing up movementsNEW!
This exercise focuses on becoming aware of which parts of your body move when you stand up, and gradually improving each movement.
Start by improving ankle mobility: while seated in a chair, alternately lift your toes and heels to engage the area from your ankles to your calves.
As you thoroughly loosen your ankles and increase the range of motion of your toes and heels, your movements when standing up will also become larger and safer.
It’s important to amplify each movement, and when doing the exercises, use a chair for support to help maintain balance.
50 sit-to-stand practice repsNEW!
This exercise involves repeatedly standing up from and sitting down on a chair to learn posture and how to apply force, aiming to improve your everyday posture.
It’s a simple routine of just repeating the act of standing and sitting, but through this repetition, try to find smoother movement on your own.
If your posture is incorrect, it can cause bodily strain, so we’ll constantly offer advice and work toward improvement.
The key point is to move slowly without using momentum, while focusing on how you engage your muscles.