This video, I'm going to show
easy leg strengthening exercises for seniors and
beginners. Stay tuned. Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe
coming to you from SpineCare in St. Joseph, Michigan. In this
video, we're going to go over easy, straightforward leg
strengthening exercises. Exercises that are focused on
building balance, coordination, stability, and strength in the
legs, knee, hip, and back. All of these exercises, they work
just a little bit differently. So, make sure to go through
them all and use what gives you the best results. As a bonus,
all of the exercises can be done at home and require no
special equipment. So, let's get one of my favorite ways to
build leg strength and help improve balance in a very easy
way is with the chair circuit we just need a sturdy chair for
this one preferably one without wheels I'm going to break this
exercise up into two separate parts and the first part we're
going to focus on getting the muscle the soft tissue warmed
up so we have more flexibility more range of motion to build
into the second part which are the strengthening exercises so
let's go right next to our chair have very good upright
posture during the exercise, let's tighten the core for more
support and put your weight evenly on your feet.
So, the
first exercise is known as a leg extension. Take your hands
right here, grip right on to the chair. We want to make sure
to try to keep our back as straight as possible during
this exercise. Don't round into it but the movement is pretty
easy. I'm just going to take one leg back like this as far
as I can. Kinda like taking the heel upward towards the
ceiling. The more that you go up, the more that you're going
to feel a ton of muscles fire in the leg thigh around the hip
into the glutes and the lower back.
You want to do this one
nice and slowly. It's all about controlling this motion and
hold this for 5 seconds. From there, you're just going to
come back and then you're going to repeat it on the other side.
You want to do this one for ten complete repetitions on both
sides and with each repetition, build into it just a little bit
more. It's all about building balance, coordination, and
strength. The second one going to do is take our legs straight
outwards.
So again, have very good upright posture, tighten
that core, and then just take your leg out like this. You'll
notice that the muscles in the leg around the hip and the
thigh get hit just a little bit differently. Five-second hold,
go on the other side and then repeat this one up to 10 times.
The last one, we're going to focus on a big instigator of
back pain which are the hip flexors right here in the front
part of the leg.
So, go up to the of your chair. Have very
good upright posture, tighten that core, and what you're
going to do is just lift one knee up towards the ceiling as
much as you can keeping your back straight. Really move
through that hip and pelvis. The goal with this one is to
drive the knee above the hip because that will engage those
hip flexors but if you're unable to get into that
position like let's say this is as far as I can go comfortably,
build into it. Do the best you can. Hopefully, over time, you
will gain strength and flexibility to get to this
position. Five second hold, you're going to relax and then
repeat it on the other side. Do this for 10 complete
repetitions on both sides. So, once we're done with the first
part and the muscles are nice and loose and warmed up, let's
go into the strengthening exercises.
So, this first one
is called a hip hiker. It's going to target muscles off to
one side including into the hip and lower back. I really like
this one because it focuses on a muscle called the quadratus
lumborum or QL muscle. It's a big back pain. So, what I'm
going to do is have very good upright posture. Again, try to
tighten your core during this exercise. Put your weight
evenly on your feet. I'm going to treat my body kind of like a
stiff board including my leg right here. The goal is I want
to lift up on one side drawing that hip and leg straight
upward towards the ceiling as much as I can.
You know you're
doing this one right because you're going to feel a ton fire
around that hip. You're going to feel it right here in the
part and also the lower back. It's hitting that QL muscle.
Drive that leg upward as much as you can. You want to hold
this one for 5 seconds. From there, you can relax and then
just repeat it on the other side. Try to do this one for 10
complete repetitions. Challenge yourself to drive up a little
bit more with each repetition and activate those muscles but
once you're done with that, if you feel like that was a little
bit too easy, you can take this one to the next level by going
next to a staircase. So, you pretty much do same movement.
You're just going to step up on a staircase and this way now
what you can do is lower that side down keeping this knee
right here straight as possible.
So you're just moving
with the side of your body right here. Go down as far as
you can. Hold this movement. You're going to feel the
muscles get activated a little bit differently and then lift
up as much as you can this time around. It's just a little bit
more challenging to be able to do this but I try to do it for
about 10 complete repetition on both sides right next to a
staircase that way you can use the wall for a little bit more
support. So, let's build into what is known as the squat. If
you're unfamiliar with the squat, it is one of the best
strengthening exercises for the leg, the butt, and the back.
So, with this one, again, I'm going to start with very good
upright posture.
Let's tighten the core, keep the back
straight during this exercise as much as possible. I want my
legs roughly hip width apart. I'm going to just take my toes
out very slightly just like this. It helps take pressure
off the knees and then I'm going to put all of my body
weight right on my heels. The movement from here is pretty
easy. What I'm going to do is just bend my knees and then
take my butt down towards the floor as much as I can. Keep
going down. You should feel a deep activation of the back of
the leg muscles, these hamstrings and what you're
going to do is keep going down and once you get to a point
where those muscles are firing but not causing pain, you do
hit a point of pain, come back up just slightly, go right
before that point. You want to hold this one for 5 seconds.
From there, you're just going to come back up and relax
and then you're going to repeat this.
On the next repetition,
you'll probably notice that you have a little bit more
flexibility to go down even further but I try to do this
one nice and slowly for about 10 complete repetitions and if
you do want to take this one to the next level, you can do a
one-legged squat just like this but whatever you do on one
side, always make sure to do on the other to keep them both in
balance. So, one of the easiest and most back-friendly ways to
strengthen your leg muscles is with the bridge exercise but
I'm going to take the bridge to the next level by showing you
different positions that will hit the muscles just a little
bit differently. This one can be done daily in bed or on a
floor.
Just start lying on your back like this. What I'm going
to do is have my legs roughly hip width apart. My knees are
going to be bent, feet are going to be flat. I'm going to
start with the basic bridge and from there progress into
different movements. So, take your hands, place them right on
your hips just like this. Tighten your core for a little
bit more support and then, what you're going to do is slowly
lift up with your hips and pelvis towards the ceiling
until your body is in a nice straight line from your knees
to your hips to your shoulders. If you're unable to get into
this position, let's say you can only go up a little bit
like this.
Do the best you can. Over time, hopefully, you will
strength and flexibility to get into this position but in the
bridge position I feel a ton of muscles firing the core muscles
the lower back the glutes buttocks and also the legs I
hold this one comfortably for five seconds from there I just
come back down and relax and then I'm going to repeat this
one up to 10 times with each repetition focus on activating
those muscles and building into it just a little bit more you
can make this one harder too by lifting one leg up like this
and putting your body weight on one side. Just make sure with
this one that one side doesn't sag down. You want your hips
and pelvis completely flat and whatever you do on one side,
always make sure to do on the other to keep them both
imbalance. So, let's go through different positions of the
bridge now to target muscles just a little bit differently.
Let's start by just this time around getting back into our
bridge position but angling our feet pointing our toes upward
towards the ceiling and then driving our heels into the mat
or the floor When you do this, you're going to notice that the
muscles in the legs just get hit a little bit differently.
Give that one a try.
You can also do it where your toes are
supporting of your body weight. So, drive your toes downward
and lift up. Again, you'll notice that the muscles get hit
just a little bit differently. You can also do what is known
as a clamshell bridge which is going to target the glutes just
a little bit more. So, what you're going to do is put your
feet together like this and then take your knees outward as
much as you really start to feel a good activation in the
inner part of the thigh towards the hips and then towards the
glutes.
From here, the movement is roughly the same. I'm just
going to lift up like this. Hold it for about 5 seconds and
then relax 10 repetitions. The last movement is going to
target a little bit more for the hamstrings right here and I
really like this one because it's a dynamic movement that
puts the muscles through different positions I should
say to challenge them a little bit more to get better results.
So, let's get back into our original position right here.
What I'm going to do is then drive my heels down into the
bed of the floor and then point my toes upward and then slowly
walk my legs out with my heels. When you do this, you'll feel a
ton of muscles fire in the back of the leg.
So, give that one a
try. Go through all of the positions. If you feel like one
is really just helping to address weakness or giving you
a lot of pain, tightness, or stiffness relief. At that
point, throw more repetitions in. Always target the positions
that work the best for you. So, let's save the most challenging
exercise for last. This is known as star taps. It's a
dynamic movement that's going to really help put the body
through different positions to help challenge it to build
stability, balance, and ultimately strength in the leg,
knee, and hip. What I'm going to do is start standing
with very good upright posture. I'm going to start by placing
all of my body weight onto one side. Try to keep your body
weight on your heel during this exercise eyes also. So, let's
say I'm going to start with my left side right here. I'm going
to just slightly bend my left knee until I feel a gentle
activation of the muscles in the leg, the back leg into the
glutes and then also into the back.
From there, I want to
tighten my core for a little bit more support. There's two
ways to do the star tap. Let's begin with the easier way
first. So, what I'm going to do is take my hands, place them
right on my hips. I'm going to take the other leg straight
just like this. Keep this knee locked and then you're just
going to take this leg and tap in front of you just like this.
Just hold it for a second or two. Your body is probably
going to fight this one. You might feel like you have a lot
of just balance issues with it. Do your best to keep your body
nice and straight and also make sure that your knee does not
buckle in or out. Keep that straight. Again, it's all about
building balance. So, I like to do this for a couple times.
Afterwards, what I'm going to do is just now go slightly off
to my side you're going to notice that your body is
going to get challenge just a little bit more because it's
throwing it off balance and then I just keep doing this
whole process doing a nice big arc off to the side going
completely off to my side and then going all the way back as
much as I can when you can't go back any further work your way
back forward just like this but I try to do this whole complete
cycle for about two complete sets if you do find that one
certain position one certain angle like let's say here for
me just feels really weak.
This is my weak link right here.
Focus on building into that by throwing more repetitions in.
From here, we can take this one to the next level by building a
little bit more leg strength into the knee also. So, this
time around, instead of keeping my knee completely locked, I'm
going to squat down into the movement while I do it. So,
watch how I do this. This time around, I'm going to squat down
and then tap down in front of me. This becomes extremely
challenging. So, only go to what you feel comfortable. When
you do this also, what you want to focus on is trying to go
down as far as you can but not going into pain.
If you go to a
point where it is painful, back off a little bit. Through
repetition, you should gain more range of motion and
flexibility to build into it but the movement from there is
pretty much the same. I'm just going to build into this
movement, going through that complete arc and then doing
this for two complete sets. Again, if you feel like one
certain spot, one certain angle hits just a little bit more is
addressing balance and weakness, throw more
repetitions in. If the exercises helped, please
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I'll get back to you as soon as I
can. Thanks for watching..
