Transform Weak Knees: 5 Chair Exercises for Seniors

Hey there, April Viesta next to my mom, Aiko. Hi. Do you have weak knees? Well, we've got five exercises to help strengthen the muscles around your knee to give them more support. Now, if you have knee issues, please check with your doctor before doing these exercises. Now, we're going to be doing these exercises seated, and you don't need any equipment to do them. However, if you want to challenge yourself, please feel free to use bands. My mom is going to be using a mini band, not around her head. And I'm going to be using a band with handles, and I'm just going to tie them in a knot. And you can also use these strappy bands, too. If you need some suggestions, check out the description below. All right, Mom, any thoughts on knees? How are your knees feeling today? Well, my knees sometimes talk back to me, you know, so I think it's important to keep the muscles around them strong. You need your knees to walk, so I mean, it's important, too. Very true. So with that, we'll take a pause and get started. Okay, everyone, so get your bands. Okay, so if you have the strappy bands, you want to tie them in a knot like this. And so we've already put them around our legs, our thighs here. And so what you want to do is, ultimately, when your feet are hip distance apart, I want you to be feeling some tension in the band. Okay? All right? That's step one. Now, for us to warm up, let's loosen that tension, bring our feet together, and just gently march. So we don't feel any tension, right? Easy peasy, right? Easy peasy. So far, easy. Easy peasy. Yeah. Your legs are saying, this is a cakewalk. I can do this all day. All right. Okay. Keep it going. We just want to get those joints moving, get everything moving. Wake up, everybody. Yep. Okay? All right. Give me some nice step forwards, or you can give me some heel touches, wherever you are there. Okay? Okay. And breathe. Yes, keep breathing. Don't forget to breathe, okay? Don't stop breathing. And please, always have good posture. We're seated, but you know what? Hips, shoulders, ears, all in alignment, please. Okay? Okay. March it out again. Gentle, gentle. Okay. No tension in the band right now. Yep. Okay? Just gentle step outs. Little, tiny step outs. Step it out. Yeah. You don't have to have any tension in the band. I just want you to move the feet. Okay? So we're not into our strength training yet. Okay. Sounds good. Okay? All right. This I can do. You can? Okay. We can do this all day. Right. Okay. That's another workout. Okay. All right. Okay. Gentle march it. Good. All right. Very nice. Okay. So I'm going to put this one here, over here. So let's get started. And basically, this is what we're going to do. So again, let's put our knees apart. This is where we want to feel tension in the band, okay? So sit yourself up because we're going to do some gentle marching. So you should feel this, right? Up and down. It's up on the thighs? Yeah. I don't want you to go fast. I want you to up and hold. Lift and hold those. Yeah. Lift the knee up and hold down. Up and hold down. Good. Really working all those, the hips and the leg muscles here. It should be up on the thighs, right? Correct. Above your knees, everybody. Okay? I don't want anything on the joint. Okay? But you should feel the resistance. You really feel your legs working here. And believe it or not, you are also working your core because you've got to sit upright, right? Right? I don't want any like leaning over. Engage your torso here. Okay? So up and down. Good. Nice. Are you feeling this? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Give me some tension in the bands, everyone. Okay. Nice and gentle. Up and hold. Give me five more each side. Five. Good. Yeah, it's like you're walking. Yes. Great. Or riding a bike, actually. Yeah. Two and one. Just imagine if you're walking down the street with these bands. That's possible, too. You see that? Like, wow, that's interesting. You look kind of weird, lady. Yeah. That's interesting. All right. Very good. Okay. So now I want you to move the bands down to your calf. Okay? Behind your calf muscles. Not on your knee joints. And I'm going to take the opportunity to use this other band to just show you a different variation with a different band. Okay? Okay. So if you're using the ones with the handles, we're going to use a working leg, your right leg. But I want you to have the handles on this side because we're going to be moving this right leg. Okay? So maybe come to the edge of your seat or, you know, so you're comfortable. You feel solid. You can even hold on. You know, so your seat sits tall. Okay. And feel the tension in the band. See, it's like boing. Right? Feel the tension? Yep. Okay? No loosey-goosey. Nice tension. Now, we're going to kick it up. One. Good. We're going for ten here. Okay? This is two. Are you feeling this? Yeah, I can feel it. This is three. We're working your front thigh, your quad here. That's four. Okay? Sit up tall. Five. Breathe, everyone. Don't forget to breathe. Six. Okay? When you lift, breathe out. Seven. Good. And eight. Very nice. This is nine. Good job. And ten. And rest. Breathe. Yeah, I can feel it. You can loosen up. Loosen up the tension on the band. Give yourself a little rest. Take a breath. Okay. Okay? And breathe. You know what? I'm actually going to even take a sip of water here. So, I encourage you to take a sip of water. Do you want a sip of water? It's kind of hard with my legs straggling. Oh, I'm sorry about that. I should have brought your water bottle closer. Okay. But that's okay. Stretching is good. While you're really working, working these muscles, you know? That's hard. Okay. So, we did that leg extension, right? Right. Okay. Now, same position. Tension in the band. Mm-hmm. Sit tall. Now, I want you to step that one foot back and then forward. Okay? So, you might have to scooch up a little bit. Okay? So, step your foot back and forward. Do you feel tension? Mm-hmm. Okay, good. That's two. Good. Sit tall. Three. And breathe. This is four. You're working your hamstring. And five. Back of the thigh. This is six. Whoo! I'm feeling this. Yeah. It's a feeling. Good job. And eight. More. And nine. And ten. And rest. All right. Loosen it up. Whoo! Yes. Okay. Breathe. Breathe, breathe, breathe. I want you to take a breath. Take a sip of water. Take a sip of water, too. Important to say. Hydrate. Take a breath. And exhale. Okay. We kicked it back. Now we're going to kick it to the side. Good. Tension in the band, please. Okay? Sit up tall. Check your posture. Okay? We're going to step it out to the right. Okay, so you might have to, like... My little band is, like, rolling up here, so I want to make sure I keep it at my calf level. So, step it to the side and back. Good. Step it to the side and back. If you're maintaining tension in the band, it shouldn't roll up and down. Okay? Mm-hmm. This is four. Ooh, I am feeling this. Ooh. This is five. Give me five more. Good. This is six. Breathe. And seven. Good job. Your poor knees do a lot of work. Eight. Oh, yes. And nine. Rest. Nice. Take a breath, okay? All right. Take a breath. Okay. I'm going to take a sip of water again. All right. Very nice, because now we've got to do the other side. Okay? Okay. Those three moves. Okay. And so, if you're using these handle bands like me, this is where we're going to turn the handles on the other side, because we don't want them getting in the way on our working leg. But you're good there. I'm good. So, wait. So, we're going to move this down to the calves, Mom. Oh, you're going to stay down here? Yeah. Stay down the calf. Right down there. I thought we were doing our thigh balls. The what? We did that already. Yeah, but we didn't do the right side. I know. We're going to do the leg extension. That's what we're doing. Okay? All right. So, tension in the band. Okay? Sit up tall. Okay? Kick it out. Leg extension. And down. Good. And up. Down. Good. Toe up to the ceiling, everyone. We're working this thigh. Woo. This is three. Nice and slow. Sit tall. Four. Breathe out. Good. Inhale. Exhale. Up. That's five. Good. Six. Breathe. Seven. Nice work. Eight. Good job. Nine. Take it slow. And one more. Ten. And rest. All right. Woo. I don't know about you, but I am feeling that. Okay. Rest. Let that, let your muscles rest a little bit. Water. Good job. Okay. We're going to go into that hamstring curl. Okay? So, I've got my band on, on my center. tension in the band, and we're going to just step it back and forward. Okay. I'm going to scooch up just a bit. Step it back and forward. If you've got tension in the band, it shouldn't be rolling, okay? Keep it going. Four. You might have to adjust it to be a little bit lower. Five. Good. This is six. Are you good? Yeah. Okay. And seven. Mm-hmm. This is eight. Good job. And nine. One more, and ten. Very nice. Rest. Okay. Breathe. Again, give yourself a little rest. I'm going to give myself a little rest here. Get my steps in. Ooh, it feels good to just move those legs around after giving it some challenge. Okay. Again, hip width apart, tension in the band. We're stepping it out now, okay? Stepping it out. To the left. Ooh, see? That one's rolling up, so I'm going to push it down a little bit. Tension band. Left. Good. Boy, I feel these. Yeah. This is three. And four. Breathe it out. Five. Good. This is six. Very nice. Seven. Sit tall. And eight. Good job. Two more. Nine. Ten. Excellent work. Okay. Breathe. Ooh. Are you feeling that? Yep. Okay. Nice, nice work. Okay. Take a breath. And relax. So our last exercises are just going to be heel raises, so we're going to work the calf even more. But here's what we want to do. Again, I want you to have tension in the band, everybody. Okay? Mm-hmm. Tension in the band. Sit tall. And we're going to lift those heels up and down. Okay? Mm-hmm. Up and down. You're really working, you know, actually your whole leg because you're holding the tension in the band. But working the calves. Big time. Okay? I call that five. Breathe. This is six. Mm-hmm. And seven. Home stretch. Down. This is eight. Good job. Yeah. This is nine. Excellent. And ten. And rest. Excellent work doing this one set of five exercises. Now, we encourage you to do, like, two or three sets, you know, and build up over time. That's going to really strengthen your legs. And I recommend that you do this, you can do it twice a week. Make sure that you rest in between sessions, especially if you're sore. Rest until soreness subsides. Maybe just do some gentle stretching. All right? So great job on strengthening the muscles around your knee. If you like this video, please give it a like, share a comment, share it with your friends, and subscribe to our channel. We really appreciate it. We look forward to seeing you in a future workout, and in the meantime, keep moving and building muscle. See you soon.