10 Minute Functional Strength Workout For Hemiplegia

Hi guys, my name's Anthony Bryan and I'm a personal trainer with Ahemaplegia. And in today's video, we're going to be doing a 10-minute functional strength workout for those of you that have Ahemaplegia. So, we're going to do 10 exercises, 1 minute per exercise. And if you need an extra rest, just press pause and continue when you're ready. So, our first exercise is going to be marching on the spot, lifting our knees nice and high. So, knees up nice and high, marching as fast as you can. We're going to do it for 1 minute, so let's get ready, 3, 2, 1. March those knees up, 1, 2. Lift those knees nice and high. So, imagine where your belly button is. I want you to get those knees up above your belly button height and get those elbows back so it's a proper march, but we're doing it seated. Keep it going, we have 40 seconds to go. Now, if you want to make it harder, a bit more speed in those marches, but keep the height, do not let those knees drop. Because the higher those knees, the more the hip flexors and lower core muscles work. And these are key muscles for helping us with everyday life, with things such as walking, going up and down stairs. We have last 15 seconds, keep marching those legs up and down. Sit tall. Last 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1, relax. Next, we're going to go into our hip flexors again. I want you to lean back on your chair, lift one knee and pulse it up and down for 4 reps. Then opposite side, pulsing it up and down for 4 reps. So the main thing we need to focus on here is really focus on that weaker leg. Get it up nice and high and pulsing. Get ready, 3, 2, 1, 1 minute. Lean back, lift one knee up as high as you can, go 1, 2, 3, 4, then change. 1, 2, 3, 4, get that weaker leg up nice and high. 1, 2, 3, 4, get that weaker leg up. 1, 2, 3, 4, you should be feeling those hip flexors already. And 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, nice and high. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. Again, we're trying to get that knee up above that belly button height and then pulsing as high as we can. You should be feeling those hip flexors really burning now. The last 10 seconds or so, get them up nice and high. Really feel those hip flexors burn. Good, keep it going, 3, 2, 1, relax. Next, we're going to those quads. So sit tall, your weight is straight and one leg out straight. Get those toes facing the ceiling and then the opposite side. Again, I really want to focus on that weaker leg. Get it as straight as you can and toes facing up. Let's get ready, 3, 2, 1. Kick that leg straight down, opposite side. Kick, down, kick, down. Now, I can't get my weaker leg up as high as my stronger leg, but as long as I'm getting that heel away from the ground, those quad muscles are engaging and working. And if you want to make it harder, you just speed it up. 1, 2, 1, 2. Try and get that heel up nice and high, that heel in line with that knee and hip. Get those toes facing the ceiling, keep kicking those legs. You should start to be feeling those quads working, maybe even feeling those hamstrings stretching as well. We have 20 seconds left, keep kicking those legs up nice and high. You might feel some fatigue kicking in on that weaker side, but I really want to focus about getting that heel up, all the way up. Keep kicking those legs all the way up, nice and high. Last 5, 5 seconds, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, we're going to do some more quad work. So, one leg straight and we're going to draw circles using the whole leg. Don't just rotate the ankles, I want the whole leg moving. So, straight, lock it out and then we go circles. So, we're going to go 30 seconds one way and then 30 seconds the opposite. Then we're going to change legs. Get ready, 3, 2, 1. So, legs straight, clockwise circles. Try and get those toes up nice and high. You should start to feel those quads starting to kick in already. Keep that leg straight, maybe even some hip flexors working. So, we're at 15 seconds, then we're going to change direction. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Quickly shake it out, back up. Now, we go opposite direction, anti-clockwise. Lift those heels up nice and high. The higher your heel, the more the quads work. Get those toes facing up. Now, this is my stronger leg. It's going to be a lot more challenging with the weaker leg. So, last 10 seconds, keep that heel off the ground. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Shake it out. Now, we're going to do the opposite side. So, for me, it's my weaker leg. Just focus on getting that heel up as high as you can. Ready, 3, 2, 1. Legs straight, let's go clockwise circles. Try and get that leg as straight as you can. Engage those quads. Now, I can feel my hip flexor kicking in quite a bit and my quads. Get that leg nice and straight. Last 15 seconds, then we change direction. So, keep going clockwise. Keep that heel off the ground. My leg's not as high as this leg, but at least that heel's off the ground. That quad is still engaging. Keep that leg nice and straight and relax. We're going to go the opposite way around in 3, 2, 1. Up, anti-clockwise. Keep it going round. I can feel those quads working now and that hip flexor. Keep that leg straight. Last 12 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Shake it out. Shake those legs out. Give you a 10 second rest. The next exercise we're going to do is legs straight. We're going to flutter kick. Up and down, up and down, up and down. More quad work. Just relax those legs. Shake them out. If you need more rest, press pause and continue when you're ready. Let's get ready. 3, 2, 1. Flutter kicks. Legs straight. Kick up and down, kick up and down, kick up and down. Kick those legs, kick those legs, kick those legs, kick those legs. Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick. Keep it going, keep it going, keep it going. Legs straight as you can. If you want to make it harder, kick a bit quicker, kick a bit quicker. This is getting your lower core muscles, hip flexors and those quads working. Keep kicking those legs. We have just over 30 seconds. Keep kicking those legs. Do not let those feet touch the ground. Keep going, keep going, keep going. You should feel those quads kicking in now. Good. We have just over 20 seconds now. Keep kicking those legs. Keep them up. Really make those muscles work. We've got 15 seconds. Sit tall. Engage those core muscles. Last 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, we're going to sit to stand. Feet facing forwards, arms across your chest. We're going to push up nice and tall. Then slowly come down. Control it all the way down. Do not hit the seat before the count of 1. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Let's go. Arms across the chest. Push up. Slowly come down. 3, 2, 1. Push up. Slowly down. 3, 2, 1. Push. Come down. 3, 2, 1. Push. Come down. 3, 2, 1. Push. Come down. 3, 2, 1. Push. 3, 2, 1. Down. Push. 3, 2, 1. Push. Last few. 3, 2, 1. Push. 3, 2, 1. Last one. 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, now those legs, I want them to go wide. As wide as your chair legs. If you want to make it harder, go even wider than your chair legs. You can either have your arms across the chest, hands on the knees to help you push up, or just have them free. We're going to go wide legs. Push up, wide legs. And then slowly down for 3 seconds. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Wide legs. Push up. And slowly down. 3, 2, 1. Control it down. Wide legs. Push. Down. 3, 2, 1. Up. 3, 2, 1. Push. Down. 3, 2, 1. Push. 30 seconds. 3, 2, 1. Push. 3, 2, 1. Push. Keep going. 3, 2, 1. Keep those legs nice and wide. Push. 3, 2, 1. Two more. Push. 3, 2, 1. Last one. Come down. 3, 2, 1. And relax. Let's go into some shoulder work. I'll give you two options. Either arms separately wide. Push both arms straight above the head. That's as high as I can get my weaker arm. So what I'm going to do is have assisted. So you can either do it separate. Or you can do it assisted. We just go up and down. So it's either pushing up and down. Or doing it assisted. Your choice. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Hands together or separate. Go up nice and high. And down. So it's working the top of those shoulders. It's also going to give you a really big stretch in those lats. Even if you're doing assisted, it's still going to be working those shoulder muscles. Get it up nice and high. Really stretch up as high as you can. Good. Keep it going. We have 30 seconds. All the way up. 20 seconds. Keep it going. Get those arms up nice and high. Good. Now you should feel those shoulders working. You should feel a stretch in those lats. And you might feel some tension or fatigue kicking into that weaker arm. Just focus on getting them up nice and high. Last 5 seconds. 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next we're going to hit the outside of these shoulders now. So hold your hands by your side. Now we're going to raise those arms into a T shape. And hold them there. And march. Now my weak arm can't get up as high as my stronger arm. But just hold it as high as you can away from the body. And march those legs. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Hold those arms up. And march. Keep those arms away from the body. Even if you can't get that weaker arm up as high as that stronger arm. Just keep it away from the centre line of the body. And you're still engaging those shoulder muscles. Now lift those knees. So the outside of these shoulders are holding your arms up. Your lower core is picking those legs up. And sitting tall is getting that upper core and lower back. So all these muscles are kicking in. Now you should start to feel those shoulders starting to burn. Do not drop those arms. Keep them up nice and strong. Sit tall. Lift those legs. Keep it going. Keep those arms up. Especially that weaker arm. We have less than 15 seconds. Keep those arms up. Breathe through the burn. Do not let those arms drop. Feel those shoulders burn. Just building the strength in those shoulders. And relax. Now we have one more exercise to do. We're going to do a core exercise. So I'll give you two options. Lean back on your chair. And knees up and hold. If you can't hold your knees up. Just hold one knee up. And then the other knee up. But the more challenging ones, I want you to hold both knees up. As high as you can. Engage those core. We're going to hold it for one minute. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Lean back on that chair. Lift those feet up away from the ground. And hold. So here, lower core is holding those legs up. Upper core is keeping your upper body up. Hold those legs nice and strong. Keep it there. Do not drop those legs. Core strength is going to burn. It's going to work. It's making those core muscles engage and work. Hip flexors and core. Keep it there. Keep it strong. Breathe through it. Do not drop those legs. You can drop a little bit lower. But it's harder lower. So pick those legs up nice and high. Just hold it there. Engage those core muscles. We have less than 20 seconds now. Keep it there. Keep it there. Nice and strong. If you need to have a breather, just drop the legs and continue when you're ready. If not, hold through the burn. We have less than 10 seconds. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Good. So that is our 10-minute functional strength workout for those of you that have a hemiplegia. Hope you enjoyed that workout. Give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it or give me a comment and let me know what you liked. If you want to do another workout, then check out my YouTube page. There's several different workouts you could do. You could do a 20-minute workout by doing two videos back-to-back. If not, I'll see you in the next video and I'll see you soon.