FOR YOUR HEALTH

CHANGE UP YOUR EXERCISES TO feel younger

Varied exercise is key to maintaining strength, balance and flexibility so we can keep driving, dancing, carrying groceries and grandkids. RiverStone Health Home Care professionals offer these ideas for combatting agerelated changes.

Rain Dow, RiverStone Health Home Care supervisor and physical therapist, recommends cross-body activities, like diagonal arm raises with light 2- or 3-pound weights to help maintain your ability to reach overhead. This is a good exercise to decrease risk for osteoporosis.

Experts at the National Institutes of Health recommend that adults do strength training for all the major muscle groups, two or more days a week. Use small amounts of weight to start. Stop immediately if you have pain. Add more weight slowly over time. Use smooth, steady movements to lift weights. Keep knees and elbows bent to avoid locking your joints. Don’t hold your breath during strength exercises.

STAY STRONG

Rain recommends activities that support strength and balance, such as sit-to-stands without using hands. Here’s how: 1. Sit toward the front edge of a sturdy chair. 2. Breathe in slowly. Lean forward and slightly shift your weight to the front of your feet. 3. Breathe out as you slowly stand up. Try not to support any weight with your hands. 4. Stand and pause for a full breath in and out. 5. Breathe in as you slowly lower yourself back to the chair. 6. Gradually build up to standing up 10 times, rest for one minute and then do 10 more repetitions.

FIND BALANCE

For balance, Corey Bummer, RiverStone Health Home Care physical therapy assistant, often works with patients who are prescribed this standing exercise: 1. Stand on a flat, hard surface where you can hold onto something (like a counter) with your feet together. That narrow stance may be harder to maintain than you think. Practice this pose until you can do it for 10 seconds without holding onto anything. Then, you may gradually progress through these other balance stages. 2. Stand with one foot halfway in front of the other.

3. Stand with one foot in front of the other (heel to toe). 4. Stand on one leg. 5. Stand on one leg while turning your head to the side.

Your goal can be to do each of these exercises for 10 seconds without holding onto anything. Maintaining balance is crucial to being able to step and walk safely, thus preventing falls.

BE FLEXIBLE

Maintaining flexibility keeps us healthy and mobile, says Krista Meier, RiverStone Health Home Care physical therapist. She suggests giving attention to three key areas: spinal mobility and posture, shoulder movements and ankle flexibility. • For your posture, stand against a wall with your head, shoulders, hips, and feet touching the wall. Pretend someone is pulling a string from the top of your head, and extend your spine. If you don’t have shoulder pain, bring both arms directly above your head. • Routinely practice toe and heel raises while standing at the kitchen sink to support ankle mobility. • Practice seated hamstring stretching to maintain hip flexibility. Gently reach toward your ankle while seated. You should feel a stretch the back of your thigh.

Work regularly on strength, balance and flexibility, so you can enjoy more freedom of movement at every age.