More Life Health Blog - Discussing Seniors' Exercise, Health, Fitness, & More!
How to Exercise Your Feet!
When it comes to exercising our feet, unless we have pain in our feet or undertake in a hobby or sport which requires we do exercises, they’re not usually a part of the body we think about exercising.
When we exercise our feet we can keep them healthy, keep them strong, keep ourselves moving much better AND also decrease pain.
Feet exercises for seniors - keep your feet functioning well
How often do you exercise your feet?
If you're anything like me, or the other 99% of us, you probably don't exercise them.
The fact is, it's actually a body part we should take some time to do specific exercises for.
Our little old feet, the majority of the time, are housed in shoes meaning we don't work our feet muscles as much as they could be worked. This leads to weakness, which can then lead to further issues.
Also, after decades of wearing shoes the sensory maps on our feet aren't as effective sending information from the ground to our brains, which can increase our falls risk. When the shoes worn each day are narrow, this usually leads to the toes becoming cramped up, leading to further issues.
In this week's video I give you two tips to help keep your feet healthy and go through some great feet exercises which will help strengthen the feet, keep you moving well and decrease your falls risk.
Here's the video:
To skip to the exercise go to 2:35.
FOOT EXERCISE ROUTINE:
Exercise: 1: Self Massage to Foot with Tennis Ball - 30 seconds each foot
Exercise 2: Toe, Foot and Ankle Stretch - 30 seconds each side
Exercise 3: Ankle Circles - 8 circles clockwise, 8 circles anti clockwise -each foot
Exercise 4: Toe Raises - x 10 each foot.
Exercise 5: Toe Raise + Spread x 10 each foot
Exercise 6: Seated Calf Raise x 10
Exercise 7: Seated Toe Raise x 10
Exercise 8: Toe Flexions x 10
ENJOY these exercises!
Do your best with it, let me know how you go and ask any questions, any time!
Stay Active! Stay Happy!
- Mike
An Introduction to Resistance Bands For Seniors
There comes a point when exercising consistently that it's a good idea to add some for of resistance to your exercise program to continue to make progress.
Progress in the form of increased strength and other aspects of fitness which makes the activities of your daily life much easier.
In this video I cover resistance bands AND we go through 6 exercises to help strengthen both the upper and lower body.
Resistance bands for seniors - seniors resistance band exercises
As said last week, there comes a point when exercising consistently that it's a good idea to add some form of resistance to your exercise program to continue to make progress.
Progress in the form of increased strength and other aspects of fitness which makes the activities of your daily life much easier!
In this video, I cover resistance bands, AND we go through 6 exercises to help strengthen both the upper and lower body.
WORKOUT:
Warm-Up: Seated Marching On the Spot
Exercise 1: Bicep Curls x 10 each arm
Exercise 2: Lateral Shoulder Raises x 10 each arm
Exercise 3: Knee Extensions x 10 each leg
Exercise 4: Ankle Plantar Flexions x 10 each ankle
Exercise 5: Hip Abductions x 10
Exercise 6: Standing Core Stability x 10 each arm
Go grab yourself some resistance bands and ENJOY this workout!
These are just an example of the many exercises you can do with resistance bands.
Do your best with it, let me know how you go and ask any questions, any time!
Stay Active! Stay Happy!
- Mike
An Introduction to Weights For Seniors
There comes a point when exercising consistently that it's a good idea to add some for of resistance to your exercise program to continue to make progress.
Progress in the form of increased strength and other aspects of fitness which makes the activities of your daily life much easier.
Weights are not something to be feared!
In this video I clear up some questions around the use of weights AND we go through a simple seated workout with weights.
[Working Out With Weights - An Introduction For Seniors - (10 Minutes)]
There comes a point when exercising consistently that it's a good idea to add some form of resistance to your exercise program to continue to make progress.
Progress in the form of increased strength and other aspects of fitness which makes the activities of your daily life much easier.
Weights are not something to be feared!
In this video, I clear up some questions around the use of weights, AND we go through a simple seated workout with weights.
WORKOUT: Warm-Up: Seated Marching On the Spot
Exercise 1: Weighted Bicep Curls x 10
Exercise 2: Weighted Calf Raises x 10
Exercise 3: Weighted Sit To Stand x 3 (Work Up to 10)
Exercise 4: Weighted Triceps Extension x 10
Exercise 5: Weighted Upright Row x 10
Go grab yourself some weights and ENJOY this workout!
Do your best with it, let me know how you go, and ask any questions - any time!
Stay Active! Stay Happy!
- Mike
Posture Exercises For Seniors & Quick Tips To Improve Posture
Maintaining good posture is important for many reasons.
Not only will it help you decrease pain, it will also decrease your chances of falling and improve how you look.
Every day we spend much of our time doing tasks that are at the front of us, predominantly using the muscles at the front of our body.
Here are ways to improve your posture.
Maintaining good posture is important for many reasons.
Not only will it help you decrease pain, but it will also decrease your chances of falling and improve how you look.
Every day we spend much of our time doing tasks that are at the front of us, predominantly using the muscles at the front of our body.
These tasks could be sitting on the computer, doing work at our desks, ironing, gardening, cooking, even reading a book on the couch gets us in a slouched forward position. As you can see, there are many tasks we do, causing us to get into awkward positions.
We are in more of a slouched position.
Our head is forward, and our shoulders are rounded, we are bent at the thoracic spine (the upper part of our back).
These positions are usually positions which aggravate pain also.
They are positions that aren't good for our posture and over time, certain muscles start to become tight whilst the muscles used to hold an upright posture become weaker.
Our posture starts becoming out of shape.
This is why it's important to add some exercises into your daily routine which stretch the front of our body and strengthen the back. This will improve our posture and prevent any worsening.
It's also a great idea to continually have awareness of your posture throughout your day
Here is how to sit with good posture.
Check Your Posture - Simple Posture Correction
Sitting up in a chair or standing.
Up nice and tall with stomach held tight.
Bring your shoulders up, back and down.
Keep your head up and tuck your chin in.
Correct Posture
Do the same when standing up. Nice and tall.
Here is an exercise video which will help work your muscles and make you stronger. Click the exercise video to begin working out.
