10 Minute Strength Workout For Stroke Recovery At Home

Hi guys, my name is Anthony Bryan and I'm a personal trainer with Ahemaplegia and in today's video we're going to be doing a 10 minute strength workout for stroke recovery that you can do at home. So every exercise I want you to do it along with me as I do it and we're going to work out together so you can do this from home. Every exercise is going to be using a chair so we're going to be doing sitting down and standing up exercises and do it to the best of your ability and we're going to do every single exercise for one minute. So our very first exercise is going to be sitting nice and tall and we're going to march on the spot lifting those knees up and down. Bring those arms back and we're going to march for one minute. Let's get ready, three, two, one, one minute march. So lift those knees nice and high, march on the spot. If you sit nice and tall you engage those core muscles more but if you need more back support lean back on your chair and lift those knees. Either way you're still working those hip flexors and lower core muscles but sitting tall is engaging more muscles. Now if this is too easy for you speed up that march but keep getting those knees nice and high especially that weaker leg. Try and bring those arms back now so we've got a full body exercise, every muscle in the body is working. Lift those knees nice and high, we have 20 seconds to go. Keep up that speed and keep the height of those knees. Do not let those knees drop any lower. Keep marching those legs, good work. Keep it going, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Next we're going to engage those quad muscles. So I want you to sit back in your seat, extend one leg up, toes facing the ceiling, back down. Opposite leg straight up and down, so it's kick, kick. Now really focus on getting that weaker leg up nice and high. Get ready, one minute, three, two, one, let's go. So kick that leg straight up and down, kick that leg straight up and down. So when you kick that leg up the quad muscles are engaging. It's going to help strengthen those quads which is a really important muscle for helping us with our walking, going up and down steps, and even balance. Good, keep kicking those legs out, nice and straight, toes facing the ceiling. You can get that heel in line with that hip. The higher the heel, the better. We have 25 seconds, keep kicking those legs up nice and high. Good, now if you want to make it a bit more challenging, I want you to speed it up. Let's keep that height of that kick, good. Keep kicking those legs up, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Next, I want you to lean back on your chair and I want you to lift one knee up nice and high and pulse it up and down for one, two, three, four. Then you're going to change sides and pulse, one, two, three, four, changing each time. Get ready, three, two, one, lean back on your chair, lift your knee nice and high and go one, two, three, four, then change, one, two, three, four, change, one, two, three, four, change, one, two, three, four, change, one, two, three, four, change, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. Keep going, one, two, three, four. Now you should feel those hip flexors at the top of those hips starting to work. Now hip flexors are a really important muscle for again helping us with our walking and going up and down steps. So the stronger your hip flexors, the higher you can lift your legs up as you're walking, so you're not tripping over those feet or dragging those feet. Keep pulsing for four, nice and high and relax. Good, good, good. Shake those legs out. Next we're going to our biceps, so arms by your side. Curl those arms up nice and high and down. Now if you need an assisted version, I want hands together and you're going to curl in together and down. So either the assisted version or separate arms and arms up. Really focus on that weaker side. Get ready, one minute, three, two, one, go. Curl those arms up, bring them down. Curl those arms up, bring them down. Now if that's too easy, I want you to speed it up, but really focus on that weaker side. You can still do the assisted version if you need to. You're going to find the longer it goes on for, the harder it is going to be keeping that concentration to get that weaker side up. Good, curl it up, all the way up. Good work. Curl those arms in, get those biceps engaging. Build the strength in those biceps. Nice and high, keep it going. Sit nice and tall, engaging those core muscles. Now really focus now, we have 15 seconds to go. Lift them up nice and high, good. Last seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Now we're going to work those shoulders, so we're going to sit nice and tall. Arms by your side, I want you to raise your arms in front, bring them down, and arms to the side, bring them down. So try and get that weaker arm up as high as you can in front, and then out to the side. Get ready, three, two, one, let's go. So sit tall, raise those arms in front, control them down. Raise those arms to the side, control them down. As long as you're getting that weaker arm away from the body, you are still engaging those shoulder muscles. So I can't get my weaker arm up as high as my stronger arm, but as long as I'm getting it away from the centre line of the body, those muscles are still engaging. So when you lift your arms to the front, you're working the front of the shoulders. When you lift the arms to the side, you're working the side of the shoulders. There's three parts to the shoulder, so front shoulder, side shoulder. Now if you want to make it harder, let's make it faster. Speed it up, front, side, but make sure you are keeping the height on those lifts. You might start to feel a burn creeping into those shoulders, that means those muscles are starting to work, and they're starting to fatigue, which is what we want to make them stronger. Four, three, two, one, relax. So that's the first part of the shoulder, second part of the shoulder. Now the third part of the shoulder is on the top of the shoulder, and that movement is shoulder presses. So arms wide, you're gonna push both arms straight up, but if you struggle to get that weaker arm up, I want hands together, and I want you to go up as high as you can above the head, and then down. You're gonna feel a stretch as you pull it up, which is gonna stretch out those lats as well, so shoulder and lats. So either the assisted version, or separate version, get those hands up nice and high. Get ready, three, two, one, let's go. So either assisted, arms up, and down, or arms separate and down, but make sure those arms are straight and above the head, and down. Straight above the head, and down. If I make it harder, speed it up. Give me more reps, as many as you can, keep it going. Here's arms above the head, should start for the top of those shoulders starting to burn now. Make sure you're getting full extensions, we still have 30 seconds to go. This is where the burns gonna kick in. This is where you have to keep pushing. When you push through that burn, that's how you strengthen those muscles. Keep going nice and high, we have 15 seconds to go. All the way up, keep it going. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax, shake it out. Next, arms into a lateral hold, so arms out wide, as straight as you can, like the wings of your plane, keep them there, and you're gonna march those legs up and down. Do not drop those arms or let them bend, get that weaker arm out as far as you can, as long as it's away from the side of the body, you are engaging those muscles. So we're gonna hold those arms up and march, in three, two, one, let's go. So arms up, high as you can, now march. Keep those arms up, do not drop them down. We're in a nice straight T-shape, lift those legs, hold those arms up. Now the higher your knees, the more the core muscles are working, and the straighter your arms out to the side, the more those shoulders are working. Do not let that weaker arm drop, keep that straight line here. Keep it there, we have 30 seconds left. This is where those shoulders are gonna start to burn, do not let those arms drop, keep it there and keep marching. Lots of strength in those shoulders, hold those arms up, deep breaths. Keep it there, we only have 10 seconds to go. Keep it there, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, shake out those shoulders, shake out those arms. Feel the burn building in those shoulders. Okay next, I want arms across your chest and your feet facing forwards. You're gonna push up and you're slowly gonna come down for three seconds and then back up for one minute. Get ready, three, two, one, let's go. Arms across the chest, push, come down, three, two, one, push, come down, three, two, one, push, three, two, one, really control it, push, three, two, one, and push, three, two, two, one, and push, three, two, one, and push, three, two, one, and push, keep pushing, three, two, one, and push, three, two, one, last five seconds, last one, three, two, one, relax. This time I want your legs and your feet chair width or wider. The wider you go the more challenging it is. So wide legs, I want hands on the knees or if you want to make it harder, hands across the chest. You're gonna push up wide legs and slowly come down wide legs, three, two, one, push, wide legs, down wide legs, three, two, one, push, three, two, one. If you want put hands on knees and push, three, two, one, push, three, two, one, push, three, two, one, push, three, two, one, one more, three, two, one, relax, shake it out. Next, I want you to stand behind your chair and I want you to hold on to the back of the chair. You're going to step to the side and lunge forward then come back to the middle. Step to the side, lunge forward. Now the chair's here to help you with balance. If you want to make it more challenging, no holding on. So you've got a diagonal to the chair and diagonal to the chair. Gonna get those quads working and glutes firing. Okay, one minute on the clock, three, two, one, let's go. So you can hold off the balance or no holding on. Step and back. The bigger the step, the more muscles you engage. Step to the side, back, side, back, side, push, lunge, forward, lunge, push back, lunge, push back. 30 seconds, push all that weight forward through the front leg and then push it back. Lunge and back, lunge and back, lunge and back, lunge and back. Keep going, 10 seconds, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and relax. So that is our 10 minute strength workout for stroke recovery that you can do at home. Hope you enjoyed that workout. If you enjoyed it, make sure you give it a thumbs up and press subscribe. I will see you in the next workout. See you soon.