Holding on to Chairs for Exercises

Factors including advanced age, injury and illness cause a lack of stability when performing exercises, especially balance exercises. Instability hurts your ability to perform exercises that require you to stand on one foot, especially when the other foot moves away from the center of your body. When instability is an issue, you need the support of a sturdy chair. Not that a chair is the answer to all your stability problems, but it does open up a variety of exercises and stretches that you might otherwise avoid for fear of falling over and getting hurt.

  1. Benefits

    • According to the National Institute on Aging, “Even very small changes in muscle strength can make a real difference in function, especially in people who have already lost a lot of muscle.” Many exercises allow you to gain strength in your muscles while holding onto the back of a chair. This does not lower the exercises' benefits; it merely gives you a means to perform them without worrying about your balance. Don’t give up and you will notice strength returning to your muscles.

    Warm-Up

    • Before starting any exercise, you need to warm up your muscles. Warming up not only increases their temperature, but it also increases blood flow to each area of your body. To warm up, walk around at a moderate pace for five to 10 minutes or perform jumping jacks for one to two minutes, if you are able. When you begin to sweat, your warm muscles will be ready for work. Do not take a break between warming up and exercising so your muscles don't cool down. If that happens, you will need to warm up again before exercising.

    Exercises

    • Make sure you chose a sturdy chair to hold onto before you start your exercises. Once you have the chair, you can work your calves, upper legs, glutes and hips. A suitable starting point is to focus on the gastrocnemius muscle of your calves. To target these muscles, grab the back of your chair with both hands and raise your right foot off the ground. Lift the heel of your left foot of the ground as high as you can and hold for five seconds. Lower your heel to the ground and repeat four more times. Switch feet and repeat the calf raise with your right foot. This is just one example of how you can exercise using a chair for stability.

    Stretching

    • Stretching after your exercise allows your muscle to cool down slowly. The hip flexor stretch improves your balance and improves the movement of your hip. To perform this stretch, hold the chair back with both hands while keeping the front of both feet near the chair’s back legs. Step backward with one foot. Bend the knee of your front leg to lower your body toward the ground while keeping your rear leg straight. You can shift the foot of your rear leg backward as you move down. Stop lowering your body when you feel the stretch in your groin. Hold the position for 10 seconds before you switch to your other leg.