Seniors: 3 Most Effective Leg Exercises For Blood Flow & Balance
- chelsie462
- Apr 29
- 8 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July of 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/HVWdzdW7eQ0
Brad: Now, this is our best information if you're a senior and you're concerned about increasing leg strength, blood flow, and improving your balance.
Mike: So we're going to show you three functional exercises you can do, which will address all of these concerns. And you can do them at home in less than three minutes.
Brad: Just a little warning, if you do them, you're going to want to have shorts on or some pants that are stretchy and flexible. Alright, before we get started, we need to talk about how you're going to do this safely, because if your balance is off a little bit, you may want to have some support. Let me give you an example. You could have a chair on both sides of you so that you have balance, or maybe you only need one chair off to the side, or you may have it in front of you. Or you can simply use a wall for balance. And as soon as we get into this, you'll understand why. We're going to go through each exercise briefly, and then we're going to go through the whole routine without stopping. So you can go with us at that point.
Mike: You can also use a railing if you want, if you have a handrail in the hallway or near your steps, that's definitely an option for support as well. And all these exercises are functional. They are compound movements, meaning they work more than one muscle group. They're all gonna be focused on the legs. And let's just get to it.
Brad: There you go. Okay, now I'm going to use the Booyah Stik for balance. You could use that, a walking stick, a cane, or whatever we talked about. First thing, let's just do a little warmup for about 20 seconds. Simply marching in place is good. If you want to get the hips warmed up a little bit more, make circles with your knee and just think about doing that.
Mike: If you feel unsteady, you can take shorter steps or smaller steps initially, and work up in height over time.
Brad: Okay, now the key to this, as far as balance is we're going to work in three different directions. First of all, we're going to do a simple squat, up and down.
Mike: You just go wherever's comfortable for you. You can even have a chair behind you if you want, or a surface so you don't feel like you're going to fall over.
Brad: Right, if you go too deep and you can't get back up, then obviously we're going to fall. And that's not desirable, so just be cautious. Use good judgment. Now, the next thing we're going to do is a sidestep. We'll call it a side lunge. Now, don't go real far out and do not go real deep. Just take the little ones to start out with. Get a good feel for it. We're using large muscle groups. This is incredibly helpful for keeping your balance because, oftentimes, when you lose your balance, you need to sidestep to regain the balance. This does the exact same movement. Make sure you do it in both directions.
Mike: We'll do 10 repetitions each way and 10 repetitions for the squat as well. You can alternate going both ways. We're just kind of limited in space, and we're going to kick each other if we get too close.
Brad: Yeah, we want to be safe and have no issues.
Mike: What are we on? I'm on a hundred, I think.
Brad: Okay, and the third and final exercise is a lunge going forward. Notice I'm taking a small lunge, not going very deep. Mike's feeling stronger, more advanced. He's going to go down, and he put a cushion down so that if his knee does hit the floor, it doesn't create pain.
Mike: Yeah, so you can do this holding onto maybe a bed or a countertop, something for support, maybe at your stairs as well. Just having a cushion or pillow or something down there kind of saves your knees. You don't have to have one. Again, make sure to do 10 repetitions on one leg. Take a break and catch your breath if you need to. Make sure to switch to the other side.
Brad: And in regards to balance, you can see why oftentimes walking forward, if you stumble, you need to get one leg out in front of you to catch your balance so you don't fall. Exact same movement as what we're doing here. So it all fits together. Keeping you stronger, safer, using all muscle groups, so that your blood flow is going to increase in the legs. It's a wonderful combination. I did want to mention that if you're feeling a little more advanced, you actually can do a step backward.
Mike: Yes, this actually works the same muscles, but it'll engage your glute max on the front leg a little bit more. The leg that's always in front should be working more than the back leg.
Brad: There you go. And again, as far as balance, moving backwards is a common area where balance is lost, and you need to have the ability to step back and catch your balance. So it works that wonderfully. Alright, let's get on and just do the whole routine, Mike. Alright, so let's get ready. We're going to go through this. It should only take two to three minutes. I am actually going to use a wall for balance. It's a good option. Everyone has a wall to use. Mike is going to be facing you with a stick. Do what you need to do for safety. Okay, ready to go, Mike?
Mike: I'm ready.
Brad: Okay, let's start out with our squats and let's go. There we go.
Mike: 10 repetitions total. These are not Jack squats because that means nothing. So we're doing full squats.
Brad: Mike, this is a family show.
Mike: What does Jack have to not be family for? I don't know what number we're on.
Brad: We're on seven.
Mike: Okay, good.
Brad: Eight.
Mike: Again, go to what depth is comfortable for you.
Brad: Now let's go to the sidestepping. Start with the left leg going to the left. Again, don't go out too far, take your time with it. If it is too easy, simply go a little deeper, but not too much too soon. Be cautious.
Mike: We're just going to do five on each leg for time's sake here.
Brad: Yeah.
Mike: So we'll switch sides now. You can do more at home. You can do 10 on each side. If you need breaks in between all these, that's perfectly acceptable as well.
Brad: That's right. Remember that you're breathing, you're relaxed. Breathing through your nose, out your mouth if you can. That makes a big difference in your endurance and how you feel.
Mike: I already hit 10.
Brad: Oh, sorry about that. Now we're going to go forward with the right leg first. Take a step, and all the weight is going through that front leg, or most of it. You're going to feel your quadriceps really working now.
Mike: And you want to make sure to have an upright trunk with this. Don't lean forward too much. It kind of destroys part of the benefits of this exercise.
Brad: Yeah, we don't want that. Make sure you do the opposite leg. Now we're going to add the extra credit on at the end of this, going backward, but we want to get at least five on each leg.
Mike: What do I get if I do extra credit?
Brad: Extra credit, well then, you get a donut. Yep, cream-filled. Okay, now again, if you feel like doing the backwards, I wanted to make sure you have good control. Take a step backward, because your vision is now out of the picture, which is a very big part of balance. Squat down, hold that wall. You know here and here. Sometimes a hallway works well, especially if you have some handrails. Okay, now I think we might have done over five.
Mike: I did five on that side, I'm switching sides. You can alternate these, too, if you really want to spice it up.
Brad: Yeah, that's true. You're going to feel it a little bit differently when you do it this way in your quadriceps. It is different. It has some nice advantages. There you go. That's it. And I think we did it in less than two minutes. It was right around there. I know at home, I did it in less than two minutes. After you do them a few times, it'll go very well. Make it a part of your day. Get up after you've moved around a little bit. Go ahead and do these exercises. If you want to do them twice a day, that's okay too. But the big thing is, the first day you do it and you haven't done it before, you might feel sore the next day you get up, and those quads and legs might be a little tender.
Mike: So maybe, yeah, take a break that day and do it every other day.
Brad: That's right.
Mike: Now, if you want to check out more videos on how to improve leg circulation without exercising, check out our video "Best 3 Options To Increase Leg Circulation/Blood Flow Without Exercise."
Brad: There you go. So you could do this one day and the next day do that without exercise to recover. And then the day after that, you'll go back to this.
Mike: And get your cream-filled donut.
Brad: That's right. You always need a little bit of reward after the hard work. There you go, we don't need to talk about that with seniors because seniors know they're very wise people. I'm a little bit of a senior.
Mike: This is rambling on a little bit now.
Brad: Yeah, that's right.
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