Age is catching up to you, and while you may be active for your age and always on-the-go, hip pain has a way of catching up to you, too. The truth is that the vast majority of seniors have hip weakness or pain.
We?ve all heard the stories of seniors breaking their hips, or the dreadful stories of a senior going to grab onto a counter and falling. This is often caused by weak hip muscles that cause you to lose your balance and try using couches, walls and countertops as a walking aid for stability.
Losing some strength in your elder years is normal. But you don?t have to live with extremely weak hips that can cause you to lose mobility, feel unstable or even succumb to injuries. It’s best to try and strengthen these muscles as soon as you can before you need to use a rollator or a walker for support.
Performing the proper hip exercises for seniors will allow you to remain confident in your balance and walking while also providing you with countless other benefits.
Benefits of Hip and Leg Exercises for Seniors
- Improve lean muscle mass
- Boost stability and balance
- Reduce pain
- Increases blood flow
- Increase strength
- Maintain a healthy weight
And these are just some of the many benefits exercise can help you achieve.
3 Hip Exercises for Seniors
There are a lot of hip exercises you can do as a senior. We?re going to be discussing a few exercises that are easy to moderately-difficult to do in an attempt to build up those weak hip muscles once and for all.
1.????? Standing Hip Extensions
Standing hip extensions will work both your butt and your hips. The great thing about this exercise is that it?s easy to perform and you can increase its difficulty with relative ease if you find that it isn?t providing enough of a challenge.
Step 1
Stand with your feet facing the back of a sturdy, non-swivel chair.
Step 2
Grab the top of the chair and use it to balance.
Step 3
Holding on to the chair, keep your right leg as straight as possible and move it backward with the knee straight.
Step 4
Return to the start position and perform the exercise on the other leg. You?ll ideally perform 10 repetitions before resting.
This is as simple as it can get, and the chair will provide you with the added balance you need to confidently perform this exercise while lowering your risk of falling in the process.
Key Form Factors
Form is everything when performing an exercise properly. If you do not maintain proper form, you can hurt yourself or cause more injuries to occur. A few tips to remember when maintaining form are:
- Maintain proper alignment of your upper body with the ribs lifted during movement. You don?t want to bend your upper body when performing the exercise.
- Tighten your stomach muscles and remember to exhale during the movement.
- Keep your knee as straight as possible during the movement.
Making the Exercise Harder
Ankle weights can be added into the mix if you find that the exercise is too easy. Start with just two pounds and progress as necessary.
2.????? Standing Hip Flexor
Standing hip flexor exercises work the small muscles in the hips that are responsible for picking up your leg. And when done properly, you?ll also be working your glutes and hip abductors that will be very important when balancing.
This exercise is much like the previous exercise:
Step 1
Stand with your feet facing a sturdy chair and be back far enough to pick your leg up in the air.
Step 2
Hold onto the chair with both hands.
Step 3
Keeping one leg straight, bring the opposing leg up toward your chest with the knee bent. The idea is to bring the knee as close to the chest possible.
Step 4
Place the lifted leg back down on the ground and repeat for 12 ? 15 repetitions on each leg.
Key Form Factors
It’s easy to cheat when performing these hip flexor exercises, so you want to maintain proper form to avoid accidental cheating on your part. Here are some tips:
- Keep the back straight without leaning too far back.
- You can keep your knees slightly bent to alleviate pressure on bad knees.
- Lift the leg as high as possible while being able to maintain proper form.
Making the Exercise Harder
Just like with the previous exercise, you can add ankle weights to your routine to make this exercise harder on the hip flexors.
3.????? Hip Abductor
The hip abductors are very important for balance, and this exercise is simple and easy while also being very safe. You will want to start with a low-level resistance band.
Step 1
Sit on a chair.
Step 2
Wrap the resistance band around the thighs right above the knee and tie together.
Step 3
Spread your legs apart at the knees using your hips.
Key Form Factors
There are only two main factors you?ll want to pay special attention to when performing this exercise. Form can be kept at optimal levels by:
- Keeping your back straight against the back of the chair.
- Abducting the hips from the knees with resistance to your outer thighs.
You should feel resistance in your outer thighs. A burning sensation will be felt after enough repetitions.
Making the Exercise Harder
If you want to make this exercise harder, your best option is to buy a stronger, more difficult resistance band that will add more resistance to your exercise.
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