For Seniors: Make Standing Up Easier! Training from a Chair and from the Floor
Standing up is an essential movement in many aspects of daily life.
Whether it’s standing from a chair, getting up from the floor, using the toilet, or getting ready to go out, each of these ordinary actions involves standing up.
That’s why it’s so important to maintain lower-body strength with training you can continue without strain.
In this article, we introduce standing-up exercises that older adults can do at their own pace.
There are routines you can do while seated and ones you can do while holding on for support, so try incorporating them into your daily habits.
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[For Seniors] Make Standing Up Easier! Training from a Chair and from the Floor (1–10)
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.
Simple exercises to make standing up easierNEW!
When standing up from a chair, lifting your hips is essential.
But that’s the moment that puts the most strain on your legs and lower back.
So let’s use this exercise to train yourself to raise your hips more easily.
First, clasp your hands and extend your arms in front of your body.
Then take both feet slightly back, and as you extend your arms diagonally upward, lift your hips off the seat.
Repeat this movement, and when you’re done, actually stand up.
The key is to tilt your pelvis upright and keep your back straight so it doesn’t round.
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.
[For Seniors] Make standing up easier! Training from a chair and from the floor (11–20)
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.