Staying Healthy in the Fast Lane

staying healthy in the fast lane

Home “Pearls of Wisdom”
for the Elderly to Stay Strong

The elderly can do everything I have recommended for anyone
strength training if they go to a gym or have an in-home gym, but
here are a few suggestions for home application when you don’t
have a gym or are housebound:

¾ Get up and down from your chair at least five to twenty

times each hour. You don’t have to walk anywhere. Just get

up and sit down. You can do “sets” of five to twenty at the

end of each TV show or each half-hour. This helps thigh

strength and arm strength.

¾ Do chair bar-dips—any amount, every hour. You don’t

have to leave the chair. Just try to push yourself up using

the arm rests (careful the arm rests don’t break!).

¾ If you have dumb bells, keep them next to where you sit.

Do sets in all the directions that you can move your arms

with every hour of sitting. Use cans of beans or soup if you

don’t have dumb bells.

¾ Do straight leg raises or knee extensions from your chair.

Hold your legs out for five to twenty seconds every hour.

Put small weights on your ankles for more resistance.

¾ Do calf raises or quarter-squats holding onto the door

frame or a chair, or do “sink squats” by holding onto the

sink and squatting gently with no joint pain (never more

than ninety degrees). Put a non-rolling chair underneath

your butt to prevent falling. (Safety first! Prevent falls!)

¾ Do angled push-ups against the wall or a countertop.

Here is one way to apply the TRIAD Exercise Program to the
elderly when allocating their time to exercise: one-third aerobic,
one-third strength training, and one-third flexibility. Just give
equal time to each discipline. But most importantly keep moving