Partial Squats
Hip flexibility exercises for seniors and the elderly are important components of your daily program of stretching. Lower body flexibility training will improve your balance and add to your quality of life.
Increased flexibility in the hips will allow you to step higher, avoiding stumbling due to the inability to lift the leg high enough. Working on your strength in your thigh is important for standing up, getting out of a chair or out of a bathtub.
The partial squat exercise below is a classic and a standard leg strengthener and stretcher. Give it a try!
Purpose of this exercise
Increase your quadriceps strength and hip flexor strength. Improve your ability to get up from a chair and walk. Steady your body for better balance and safety.
Step 1
Stand, using a chair to balance yourself.
Step 2
Bend your knees as far as comfortable without pain. Return to the standing position and repeat 10 times.
Breathing
Inhale during the upward movement phase. Exhale during the downward movement phase.
Tips
Breathe out as you bend your knees and breathe in as you stand tall again, lifting your ribs. Keep your body straight as you lower and raise yourself. Look forward and keep your heels in contact with the floor.
Take it up a notch
Use one hand, one finger or no hands to balance. Use 2 to 5 pound weights in each hand to increase the workout.
How to do Partial Squats
More Lower Body Strengthening
- This exercise improves your ankle flexibility and ability to move your ankle upward and downward.
- This is a great warm up exercise for the lower leg and feet.
2. Hip Marching
- This exercise will strengthen your hip flexor and thighs.
- With correct seated posture it will also help your abdominal muscles.
- Strengthening your knees width knee strengthening exercises will improve your ability to stand and balance.
- This exercise will improve your available knee range of motion.
4. Calf Raises
- Strengthening your calf muscles with calf exercises will give your more power to step forward on level surfaces or carry you up hills on uneven terrain.
- Helps pump blood up from your legs to your upper-body and brain.
- These knee exercises strengthens your hamstring muscles.
- Also helps with your standing balance.
- Safely strengthens your side hip muscles to help with hip arthritis.
- Helps maintain your lower body endurance to better walk and side step around objects.
7. Sit to Stand
- Excellent hip exercises to maintain your leg and hip strength.
- One of the most important exercises used daily to keep your independence and confidence.
8. Heel Stand
- Strengthens the front part of the lower leg with ankle stretches.
- You will become better able to raise your toes to avoid tripping.
9. Lunges
- To strengthen your quadriceps and hips with leg toning exercises.
- Improve your ability to get out of a chair and balance.
- Help you with lifting chores around the house.
- To increase your quadriceps and hip flexor strength with this leg workout.
- To strengthen your abdominal muscles.
- Allow you to advance your leg during walking with greater ease.
11. Partial Squats
- Increase your hip flexibility, quadriceps strength and hip flexor strength.
- Improve your ability to get up from a chair and walk.
- Steady your body for better balance and safety.
12. Hip Extension
- This exercise will help with strengthening the hip joint and muscles.
- This will improve the ability to walk and propel yourself forward or up stairs.