5-Min Bed Workout Seniors Can’t Afford to Skip!

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March 2025. For the original video, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Gq-FMkNAA

Brad: All right, everyone. If you want a full-body exercise within five minutes, you don't have to get down on the floor, you don't have to stand while you're doing this. This is for you. Mike.

Mike: We have developed a routine you can do, and all you need is a bed and a pillow. And it's a great workout for seniors or anyone at any age. But please, do not have a Packer blanket as we do, because it's ugly.

Brad: Oh. Well, that is optional. Anyways, let's get on with this. Now, I thought, to do a nice video, you can follow along with this. It's in bed. You don't have to do it on the floor. Big advantage, you don't have to do it standing. I actually brought one of my blankets from home, my Green Bay Packer blanket, to give it that homey feeling. And if you don't like it, Mike's a Viking fan, I think. And well, they both didn't do very well this year, anyway.

Mike: No, they didn't.

Brad: Well, they had a bad ending. Anyways, let's get on with it. So, I'm going to be in bed now. You can do this all with me at the same time, or you can break it up and switch up. There may be some exercises that just don't work for you, for whatever reason. Skip those. Wait for the next one. But we're going to start lying down. Now, I think it's best to have the covers down. Don't have them all mixed up. You can't do it. You need to have a decent surface and not a bunch of wrinkled-up covers. Okay, Mike, what's the first one?

Mike: First one, we're going to work our core muscles. You need a pillow to knee pass for abs.

Brad: Now, you could use a ball. You don't need anything, actually, but I think giving you something to work with is helpful. And you're going to take it and go up overhead and bring your knees up and pass it to your knees. Squeeze it together and then go back. Tighten the stomach up all the way back so we get a stretch with it, as well as core tightening.

Brad: If you want to make it more difficult, you can put it between your feet and go out like this. This really adds a little difficulty, so use whatever you want. I'm getting tired, Mike. What's the next one?

Mike: I think you're doing pretty well. Do 50 more.

Brad: I appreciate it. I do appreciate the compliment.

Mike: I would like to point out that Brad is doing a good job of keeping his lower back on the bed, and he is not rounding his spine too much because you don't want to have back pain after doing this.

Brad: Exactly.

Mike: Now, the next one is actually going to work on your hips and low back a little bit, so we just call this hook lying rotation. And Brad, do you want to demo that?

Brad: Sure. Feet together, knees up, just like we have here. This is known as a hook lying position if you're in the therapy world. And we're going to roll right to left. Assuming it's pain-free, this is good for the lower back, the mid back, as well as the hips. Now, I like to keep my feet together. You get a little more motion in the mid back when you do it that way. It works the core, as well. Do this five to 10 repetitions. Make sure you breathe, relax with all of this. Ah, yes.

Mike: And the next one we're going to do is bridging, which is going to work your glutes, specifically, your glute max and your lower back, as well.

Brad: There you go. So, this probably works better if you have shoes on. If you don't like doing exercise with shoes in bed, well, clean them off.

Mike: You could go barefoot.

Brad: Yeah, you could, but your feet might slide. So, you're going up as high as you can. Squeeze those glute muscles together and back down. Now this one, you may feel more comfortable with the pillow not there, because it does flex your neck a little more the higher you go. So, this works really nicely, a really important exercise for all kinds of activities while you're walking, etc., going up and down steps. And the goal is 10 of them. Hold for a little bit, squeeze, and back down. You might be watching this if you have a TV on the wall in your bedroom, so you can just follow along that way. Okay, I'm getting tired, Mike.

Mike: You are? How many did you do?

Brad: I didn't count. I lost count, sorry.

Mike: Next one we're going to do is a straight leg raise.

Brad: Oh, wait, Mike, I was going to say if they want to make it more difficult, put your hands across your stomach, and that makes it a lot harder.

Mike: You could even do one leg, too, but that makes it more challenging.

Brad: Yeah, that's a lot more challenging. If you're that good, you probably want to get down on the floor.

Mike: Next one is straight leg raises. This is going to work your hip flexors a lot and a little bit of your core. So, Brad's going to have one knee bent, one leg straight. And you just kind of go even with the bent knee. You don't have to go all the way up to your chest with that leg. Keep it straight the whole time. Keep the knee locked out. You're going to want to do 10 repetitions on one side, and you're going to want to switch after that.

Brad: That's right. So, it is important to keep this knee up and take stress off your back, and it just works better. If you want to go higher to get a hamstring stretch, keep your knees straight, and you'll feel the hamstring stretch while you get the hip flexors stronger as well. Again, 10 repetitions is the goal. Do more or less, depending on what you like. All right. Nice hip flexor, stomach. Everything is working well. Okay, Mike.

Mike: Next one, Brad's actually going to sit up at the edge of the bed, so that's the last of the ones lying down. And he's going to do a little bit of a core workout. You need some pillows for this.

Brad: Yeah, so if you've got a couple of pillows, you don't have to have the pillows, but it works nicely, particularly if you do. I haven't done a lot of core or abdominal work. The pillows, right up against your backside, and then we're just going to go back. You'll feel the pillows, and they'll kind of help let you come up with a little assistance there. And if it's too easy, you can put your hands here, which makes it a little more difficult. If you even want more resistance, bring your knees up, like this. Just make sure you don't scoot and fall off the bed. So, be safe, be careful. This one will do a nice job with the core and the front. Of course, the core muscles wrap all the way around. We're focusing on the front.

Brad: If you want to, you could put a little twist, like this, as long as there's no pain associated with it. And that gets your oblique muscles in your stomach as well. Again, 10 repetitions, more or less, depending on your comfort level. Alright, now I'm getting tired.

Mike: Exercise number six we're going to do is actually getting in a sideline position and back up, so it's more of a functional movement, but you get a lot of different body parts working.

Brad: Yeah, again, a lot of core muscles. Transverse abdominis, which we did not get so much on this one. So, sitting here on the edge of the bed, you're going to scoot your bottom back. And this is just like when you get into bed. You can go all the way down to get your feet up there. You're going to push with this elbow and then go the other way. You can just do a partial one to start out with, whatever works well. You don't even have to bring your feet up, depending on your comfort level, again. The goal would be to go all the way down to here, hand here, push, come up to here. There we go. Left. And this is one thing that any therapist knows: if you work with seniors who are weak people, getting into bed from here to here can be a big deal. And if you keep up that strength on a day-to-day basis with an exercise routine like this, that will be very simple, and it will not be a challenge like it is for many people who are sedentary.

Mike: Now, if this is hard for you, you can certainly just do a few on each side, because some people, this is a challenge. If it's easy, like Brad is doing, you can do more repetitions. And go nice and slow. If you happen to get dizzy with this, maybe don't do as much or take breaks in between. Now, the next one is for the more advanced people. So, you're actually gonna go on all fours and do the pointer dog, we call this.

Brad: Right, so this, as Mike mentioned, is advanced. We've shown this one many times before. This is a great one for core, hip, and a number of muscle groups. So, we go like this. Now, actually, this one on the bed is a little more challenging than on the floor, because it's soft. So again, if you don't feel comfortable doing this one, I'll show you an easier way. Ideally, the left hand comes up, and points like this, the back and opposite leg goes out and stays straight. So, it's best just to see if you can do it like this. If that feels easy, you can, and you can do the back leg. We're not going way up like this, and we're not pointing towards the ceiling. It's straight out and straight behind you.

Brad: If you do them both at the same time, it really works the core. You tighten up your tummy muscles. Did we call this the pointer dog?

Mike: The pointer dog.

Brad: Yeah. Yeah. If you got a bird dog, you know what we're talking about.

Mike: Bird dog. It's also called bird dogs in some places.

Brad: There you go. My friend's got a Vizsla, and that dog points like that.

Mike: Well, my dog just likes treats.

Brad: But your dog's not a pointer.

Mike: No, she's not. Anyway, you can do 10 on one side and 10 on the other. Or you can alternate if you want to make it a little more challenging.

Brad: That is a good point, Mike.

Mike: One side. Then the other side. Just aim for 10 repetitions total. Again, if this is fatiguing to you, you can just do five total on each side. Whatever works for you.

Brad: That, and the last one, this is one of my favorites.

Mike: Last one, you're going to go on the edge of the bed again, and you're going to do sit to stand. So, standing up and sitting down in a nice, controlled manner. Now, you can go easier or harder, and Brad will kind of show a progression.

Brad: There you go. So, sit on the edge of the bed, scoot your bottom forward, hands here, and simply stand up tall, back down to here. The goal is to do 10 of those. Make sure you stand up nice and tall, and that you have good balance. If your balance isn't so good and you use a walker, have that walker right in front of you, so that you will be safe with this, and you have something to catch your balance.

Brad: If you don't and you're more mobile, and let's say you're playing pickleball or something, and you want something more aggressive, you can simply go here, bring the arms up, and then back down. This is a really good posture exercise as well. There we go. And you can do 10 of those if you want to do more. Or, you know, if 10 is too easy and you're doing these and you want to add something, you simply add a little plyometric, or a little jump and back down. Again, use good judgment. We don't want to do this, especially if you're a guy, you think, "Oh, I can do anything. Easy."

Mike: Is that what you sound like?

Brad: Yeah, that's exactly. My wife says, "What are you doing that for? You're getting too old for those activities." Anyways, do 10 of those. You will have plenty of exercise here to get fatigued. My heart rate is up, I'm a little tired, and I'm starting to perspire a little bit, so take it easy. Get through it and progress as tolerated. Be wise.

Mike: Now, you can do this routine once a day if you want, you can do it every other day, or what works for your schedule and what you can stay consistent with. Try all the exercises because it works your entire body. But if something is causing pain, just skip that exercise or try modifying it.

Brad: And the really nice thing about this exercise routine is that when you're done, you need a little time to relax. Your bed is here, have your pillow available, and take the well-deserved rest and relax. You can go back to sleep if you'd like.

Mike: Hopefully, you're not perspiring, because then your bed is going to stink like sweat later. But, if you want to check out another video on exercising full body workouts, watch "Absolute BEST Full Body Exercise For Seniors! 30 Seconds!"

Brad: Right, this has 30-second options. We give, I think, three or four options, 30-second exercises that will get you tired. It's a nice option.

Mike: Can we get rid of this bedspread now?

Brad: No, this bedspread's coming home with me.

Mike: Good. Or, it can go into the trash. That's fine.

Brad: You better believe it. You get your favorite sports team blanket, and it just makes life more fun. All right, let's be done.

Mike: Yeah.

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