WHY FUNCTIONAL FITNESS IS IMPORTANT FOR SENIORS
Even though most of us are spending more time at home than ever before, it’s still important to keep physically active. Functional fitness exercises are not only a great way to keep your body moving while you’re confined, but will also improve your quality of life.
Functional fitness exercises are simply those that are designed to develop your muscles to perform everyday activities such as vacuuming, yard work, carrying groceries or just sitting down and getting up from a chair. These exercises train your muscles to work together by simulating common movements you might do at home or in sports.
As older adults, we can especially utilize these movements to ensure our ongoing independence and freedom for both self-care and leisure activities
I posted How’s your Functional Fitness? in April 2019. In it I gave instructions on how to identify weak spots in your fitness by performing the Senior Fitness Test. In this post I’m going to suggest six functional fitness exercises to make everyday activities easier, improve your muscle strength, improve your balance and reduce your risk of falls.
You can do each of these exercises in your home with minimal equipment. Also, you might want to go on YouTube to view the proper form.
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Squat
Squatting is a similar movement to sitting and getting up from a chair. Stand with your feet hip-width apart with your arms at your sides. Bend your knees and lower down, pushing back at your hips—as if you’re about to sit in a chair. Raise your arms in front of you as you go. When your thighs are parallel or almost parallel to the floor, pause and push through your heels to return to standing. Start with three sets of 10 reps.
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Lunge
Lunges are great for hip stability and balance plus prepare your body for such activities as vacuuming and yard work. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart with hand on your hips. Take a big step forward with one leg and lower your body as in a squat bringing your front thigh parallel to the floor. Direct your knee directly over your foot. Pause, and then press with your heel and drive up with your hips and knees and return to standing. Repeat on the other leg. Start with three sets of 10 reps on each side. In time, you could also add in back and side lunges.
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Chest Press
Performing pushups can be rather challenging for us seniors. The chest press works the same muscles but with gentler movement. This is great for the chest and shoulder girdle and prepares you for pushing yourself up off the ground or putting goods up on high shelves. Equipment: a bench. Lean over the bench with your arms extended and body straight. Bend your elbows and lower yourself until your upper body just touches the bench. Then push up until your arms are again straight. If this is too hard you can try the chest press against a wall. Start with three sets of 10 reps.
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Row
A row is a pulling movement that is similar to pulling your car door open, taking a heavy bag our of your trunk or raking leaves. Equipment: a resistance band. Tie the resistance band at elbow height to an anchor that will not move. Hold the two ends of the band and pull it straight back until your hands reach the sides of your ribs while squeezing your shoulder blades together. Pause and then release back to the start. Complete three sets of 10 reps to start. If you ever get to a gym, you can also perform these with a cable machine.
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Chop
A chop is a rotational move similar to the motion you would use to chop wood. It also simulates movements used in swimming, golf or tennis, putting on a seatbelt or shoveling snow. You’ll work your shoulders, triceps, biceps, quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and core muscles. Equipment: resistance band (or cable machine at a gym). Attach the resistance band near the floor to an anchor that will not move. Stand sideways to the anchor with your feet hip-width apart and your whole body turned toward the machine. Holding the two ends of the band, move into a squat position. Then rotate away from the anchor point raising your hands and arms into a high position above your head. Then return to the start. Do three sets of 10 reps on one side, then switch and do three sets of 10 reps on the other side.
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Plank
Getting into the plank position helps your mobility and balance plus aids you in getting up from the floor. It enhances hip, shoulder and core stabilization. Start by lying on your stomach up on your elbows. Keep your core tight and depress your shoulder blades. Then lift your butt and knees off the floor while keeping your back and hips level. Hold as long as you can up to 15 seconds. If this is too easy, you can start on all fours and push up from your hands and feet to a high-plank position. Do a total of three reps. (You can also easily move from here into the downward-facing dog yoga move.)
In doing all 6 of these exercises most days of the week you’ll build up many of the muscles you use in your daily life. By increasing your overall strength you’ll not only improve your balance and agility but also greatly decrease your chances of falling or injuring yourself. In other words just doing these regularly will improve your quality of life!
NEWS I’ve begun making a series of YouTube videos. My channel name is Generation Fit! Senior Fitness and I’m covering the same topics as this Generation Fit blog.
Here are the three videos I’ve uploaded so far:
1) Senior Fitness in Coronavirus Time
2) Overcome Your Stumbling Blocks to Getting Fit
3) Yes,You Can Lose Weight AND Keep it Off (just added)