His aim is to inspire readers of the best side of 60 to keep fit, strong and healthy. Exercise is not only advantageous for the body, but it also keeps the brain alert and enhances one's mood. So keep up with these exercises and you will feel the difference!
I trust that by now all of you are working very hard towards having very stable ankles and that your balance has improved substantially. Today I want to add a couple of exercises to help increase the strength and stability of the knee joint and its surrounding muscles.
For the first exercise stand with your back against a smooth surfaced wall with either a towel behind your back or, if you have one, a big stability ball, as shown in photo 1. Note the position of the feet. Your back should be straight without leaning forwards or backwards, while your feet should be about a foot and a half in front of your body, shoulder-width apart, your toes turned slightly outwards. Now, slide down the wall with your back against the towel or the ball, keeping your back straight, ending in the position showed in photo 2.
Your lower legs should stay vertical and your knees should not bend more than 90°. If you have pain when your knees are bent 90°, do not go down that far. After this return back to the starting position, slowly and in a controlled movement. Make sure that the exercise is pain free. Do NOT try this exercise against a sliding glass door or a thin wall as it may not support the weight of the exercise. Repeat this 30 times. If it is too easy do more and if it is too hard do less. Make sure you challenge yourself.
Alternative
If the first exercise and the exercises of last week give you pain or it is too difficult, the following exercise is a very effective alternative for improved knee strength and stability. Lying on your back, place a folded pillow or a small soccer ball under your knee, as shown in photo 3. Now, turn your knee so that it faces slightly towards the outside. Without taking the weight of the knee off the ball, lift your foot up to the ceiling by simply straightening the leg, as shown in photo 4.
Do NOT lift your knee from the ball. You should feel the muscles on the front of your knee tighten and work hard to hold your leg up. Hold your leg up for 10 seconds and repeat this 10 times with the left and right legs. The rest of the body and the other leg should be relaxed while only the one leg is working. You can do today's exercises plus those of last week as all of these exercises complement each other nicely. If you can only do this second exercise make sure you do it for a couple of days/weeks and regularly check if you have become strong enough to do all the knee stability exercises. Remember to stay pain free - unless it is your muscles that are burning from doing these excellent exercises.
A big thanks to Elisabeth Boshoff and Cynthia Pienaar for being our models for this week's exercises. They have been a part of our practice for years and are currently part of our back stability classes. They are in excellent shape because of the active lifestyle they are leading!
Next week I will focus on the hip joint, as we slowly but surely work our way through every joint in the body.
Enjoy your exercises and let's stay young.
Cynthia Pienaar demonstrates the alternative exercise with a small soccer ball.
'We bring you the latest Garden Route | Klein-Karoo news'
