[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)
Standing-up exercises that don’t strain the knees or lower backNEW!
When you have pain in your knees or lower back, it can be hard to stand up.
Here’s a way to stand with less strain.
First, sit in a chair and place both hands on your thighs.
Then lean your upper body forward as if you’re bowing and lift your hips slightly off the seat.
Finally, press down firmly on your thighs with your hands to raise your upper body.
In addition to this standing technique, we also introduce exercises you can do while seated.
By continuing these, you can strengthen your legs, balance, and core, which should make standing up easier.
A 15-minute routine to loosen up with a stretch pole
Are you familiar with the popular stretch pole used for stretching and exercise? Using a stretch pole can help ease tightness and stiffness in your back by stretching muscles that are hard to reach in everyday life, and it may also help align your spine.
Here, we introduce movements such as sliding your upper body side to side while lying on the pole, making large circular motions from the shoulder joints, and loosening the hip joints.
With a stretch pole, it’s important to focus on deep breathing and relaxation.
Let go of tension and enjoy lengthening your spine comfortably!
[For Seniors] Leg and lower-back training. Fall prevention (31–40)
Toe exercises
Let’s try training your toes! Here are some ideas for toe exercises.
Have you ever focused on training your toes? Strengthening your toes can make it easier to maintain balance, which may help prevent falls and improve stability when walking.
This time, let’s take on some training with a focus on the toes.
Start with stretches—extend your ankles and slowly flex and extend your toes—so you can relax as you try.
Give it a go and incorporate it into your routine!
Balance training
As we get older, our core tends to weaken, which makes us more likely to trip or fall even over small steps.
If a fall leads to a fracture, there’s a risk of becoming bedridden, so it’s important to keep training the core regularly.
Here, we introduce exercises you can do while seated in a chair, allowing you to train your core safely and easily.
Even simply lifting one leg or both legs while sitting can strengthen your core.
Please use this as a reference.
Core training that targets the lower abdomen
Do you know the iliopsoas muscle? It’s a muscle located from the lower back to the front of the thigh, and it’s an important deep core muscle for walking and maintaining posture.
If you don’t train this iliopsoas, your body may become hunched forward and it may become difficult to lift your legs, so please try these iliopsoas exercises.
For example, even in leg-raising exercises, if you focus on lifting your legs by engaging your abdomen rather than using your leg muscles, you can effectively train the iliopsoas.
Full-body cold prevention exercises
When blood circulation worsens, your body tends to get cold more easily.
So this time, we’ll introduce a “whole-body cold-prevention exercise” using a ball that you can do while sitting in a chair.
First, keep marching your feet to a rhythm and add the motion of lifting a ball held with both hands up and diagonally up.
Next, while marching, extend one foot forward and simultaneously thrust the ball forward.
By coordinating the ball-thrusting with your leg movements, you promote hand–foot coordination, which helps activate the brain.
It’s a simple exercise you can do without strain that not only improves whole-body chilliness but also helps prevent dementia and maintain muscle strength.
Highly recommended.
365-Step March: Singing Exercise
This is about moving your body energetically to the tune of Kiyoko Suizenji’s classic song “365-Step March.” The lyrics, which give the impression of walking forward with vigor, are striking, so let’s proceed with a special focus on marching-in-place movements.
Overall, the routine emphasizes clear rhythm, so feel the beat of the music and make large, dynamic movements.
Whether you’re standing or sitting in a chair, maintaining proper posture is important for loosening up your body.
