A Simple Sitting Isometric Exercise Exercise For Seniors

First of all, let me tell you that I am 70 years old and have been doing this basic exercise program for several years, along with a few other activities.

Since you may not be familiar with isometric exercises, just a short summary.

These are exercises that are performed in which one group of muscles, for example the biceps (front of the arm … bends the arm), pulls or pushes against another group of muscles, for example, the triceps (back of upper arm … extend arm), or an immovable object.

The muscle tightens in contraction or extension for seven to ten seconds.

I always count slowly to 10.

Caution, while the recommendation for faster results is to tense the muscle to 75% of its maximum capacity, you have no way to measure this and are at a higher risk of injury at first, so when starting out, simply tighten up you feel resistance and gradually you will begin to feel the “sweet spot.” Also, the supporting muscles may not be as strong as the main muscle being exercised, and you don’t want to have to stop because a smaller muscle was injured.

There is a tendency during extreme exertion to hold your breath.

This is another little rule of thumb of mine. If I have to stop breathing to do the isometric exercise in particular, I’m pushing myself too hard and I risk injuring myself … not just my muscle, but my heart as well.

The goal is to help you get and stay fit, not turn you into a professional athlete. Isometric exercises should never be your only exercises. You should walk or do other forms of aerobic activities, at a minimum. It’s also a good idea to do some exercises that really require movement, since an isometric exercise contraction does not exercise a particular muscle through its full range.

So, by the way, I do some exercises for the same muscle in different positions.

At the end of the training itself, I will give you a couple of suggestions to improve your result, both with isometric exercise training and with the addition of a little aerobic activity in the process.

THE TRAINING

Get yourself a sturdy chair with no arms. The style of the kitchen table will do. Put it in position.

Now, walk around the house for a minute or two to “get the blood flowing.”

You’ll want to do the exercises one after the other, once your body is acclimated to isometric training, but don’t push it at first and always rest as much as you need between exercises. This is supposed to help you be healthier … not push you to become an Olympic-level athlete … or have a heart attack.

Slowly lower yourself to a seat in the chair … GOAL …

Just before you are actually sitting down and still in a kind of skier pose, stop and hold the position while you slowly count to 10.

To save time, and writing, from now on, I will not say “slow count of 10”, I will just say hold the position.

Sit in the chair as far forward as you can, as you’ll want to rock back and forth a bit later.

ARMS, CHEST, BACK

These exercises will be done in three sets of three to allow individual muscles to rest a bit between exercises. At the same time, this allows you to get a small amount of aerobic results from isometric exercises, which is difficult to do.

First set:

Arm exercise 1:

Hold one arm so it’s at your side and make a 90-degree angle with your elbow in almost the classic “look at my muscle.” Bring your palms together and pull up with the first arm while pushing down with the other and hold. Reverse the positions of the hands and repeat.

Chest exercise 1:

Put the fist of one hand in the palm of the other in front of your chest. Push them against each other and hold them.

Back exercise 1:

With your hands still in front of you, grab hands, pull, and hold.

For Set 2, repeat the isometric exercises with your hands in a low position, at or below the waist.

For Set 3, repeat the exercises with your hands in a high position.

Don’t worry about the shape. You’re doing this for yourself, and how you look doesn’t really matter. Also, as you get stronger, become more familiar with the exercises and how they feel, you will begin to realize that you can focus the contraction where you want it.

CORE PLUS

I used the word “more” because while the concentration of the next exercises is in the center or in the middle area of ​​the body, you will also do some things for other parts. We will not do multiple positions of these.

Basic exercise 1:

Place your hands on your knees and, using your abdominal muscles as much as possible, push down and hold.

Basic exercise 2:

Place your right hand on the outside of one knee and pull to the other side as if you are trying to rotate in that direction. Try to use your core muscles and just use your arm like a “stick”. To hold back. Then repeat going backwards.

More exercises 1 and 2:

At this point, for a mini break in my core exercises, I put my hands between my legs, press the backs of my hands against the inside of my knees, press out, and hold.

Once done, place your hands on the outside of your knees and press inward and hold.

Basic exercise 3:

Place one hand on the opposite knee (right hand on left knee or left hand on right knee). Using your core (abdominal) muscles, press and hold. Reverse and do with the other hand and knee.

NECK

Neck exercise 1:

Place your hands against the front of your forehead. Push forward with your neck and resist with your hands.

Neck exercise 2:

Put your hands behind your head. Pull back with your neck muscles and against that with your hands and hold.

LAST EXERCISE

Start to stand up BUT just as you clear the chair stop and hold for a slow count to 10.

Get up, put the chair away, and take a walk around the house for a couple of minutes.

TIPS

While at first you may just want to do the isometric exercises and let the rest go, if you want to get a bit more aerobic effect and at the same time make the exercises more effective, add a little movement to each exercise. , just before the “wait”.

For example, in arm exercises, I alternately bend and extend my arms three or four times before placing them in the “hold” position. In the chest exercise, I move my arms in and out before preparing for the exercise. I try to do each movement as if I am moving into position and keep moving forward three or four times.

I mentioned sitting forward in the chair. This is so you can rock back and forth before abdominal exercises. For the neck, I move my chin to my chest and lift it, or I look up at the ceiling and straighten my head.

HOW OFTEN?

Since I can put a lot of effort into each “wait”, I only do this workout four times a week, two days, one day off, two days off, and two days off. However, you may have to play, especially in the beginning.

One thing to really pay attention to is pain. While there may be a bit of pain with any form of exercise, particularly a new one, if you’re really in pain, you’re trying too hard. In fact, I recommend that for the first few weeks you keep the pressure fairly light and gradually increase it until you experience real resistance.

No hurry. The fact that you are doing this little isometric exercise program, which will probably only take about 10 minutes or so, on a regular basis will soon start to pay off. Now, you may not lose a lot of weight or increase your strength a lot, but you should notice a little more energy and loose clothing after a few weeks.

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