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 support the channel by giving
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get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for watching.