Weak Legs = Big Problems! 3 Fixes for Ages 50

This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in March 2025. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/sRfmofl1oj8

Brad: Oh, it's getting harder to get up after you get older. And I believe that is true, statistically speaking. However, if you do exercise regularly, not so much. Mike.

Mike: So as we age, most people, if they don't stay active and keep their legs strong, tend to do fewer things overall. They often have poor circulation or blood flow in their legs, and it can start affecting their balance as they age, Brad.

Brad: Right, so we're going to show you a simple five-minute exercise routine to keep the legs strong, keep you balanced, and improve leg circulation. I want to talk about exercise, a little motivational speech. Now, think about your teeth. If you never brush your teeth, or only brush your teeth once a week, what can you expect by the time you're 50 or 60 years old? Teeth will be rotten and falling out. We all know that. We all accept that. With exercise and strength, if you do not exercise on a regular basis, your muscles will shrink. They will not become effective. It's the same analogy as brushing your teeth. So, if you don't feel like doing these exercises, think about your teeth and the muscles. How did that go, Mike?

Mike: So, I can brush my teeth, and my legs will get stronger?

Brad: Yeah, that'll work for you.

Mike: Anyway, this program is complete, and it includes strengthening muscles in your hips, your knees a bit, as well as your ankles.

Brad: Right. Simply three exercises. We'll show you how to do them. We'll give you options, because if you're really sedentary, you may want to start with the easier ones, and then you'll grow to get stronger and use the more advanced.

Mike: So, with each exercise, we're going to be showing 10 repetitions, which is what we want you to try and do. And you can do them up to five days a week. However, if you are more sore the next day, you can take some days off early on and progress over time.

Brad: Right. Too much, too soon can be a big problem. And I want everyone to notice. Mike, stand up.

Mike: Oh, okay.

Brad: Yeah, turn sideways. Now, Mike is wearing appropriate clothing for this. He usually comes in with his jeans because they're stretchy, but I'm so happy that these are not jeans.

Mike: It's cold in winter, so I wear my jeans sometimes.

Brad: All right, the first one is lunges. Let's go through those.

Mike: Now, there are different progressions of lunges you can try. If you're weaker and don't feel like doing lunges, you can just do partial lunges while holding onto something like a counter. If your knee gets uncomfortable, you can put a pillow underneath your knee or a pad of sorts, so it doesn't feel as tender. But make sure you feel safe and strong with this. And make sure to do both sides.

Brad: Yeah, so the other options, you could step forward. I like to have something to balance. Go down until your kneecap just touches. Come back up slow. And I like to alternate because it's more functional. Your body, when you walk, always goes right foot, left foot. You can even go backwards. It works things a little bit differently. What is going backwards? What muscles does that emphasize?

Mike: You engage your glutes a little more, so your glute maximus, your buttock muscle, fires a little bit more. When you go forward, it gets your quads going.

Brad: Right. So, that's important.

Mike: And now, if you're more advanced, and you find this easy, you could certainly hold on to weights, and you can do it that way for more of a challenge.

Brad: Very good idea. I've just started doing this with weights. It's a big difference.

Mike: Oh, yeah.

Brad: Yeah, because your balance gets thrown off as well.

Mike: And holding them at the side or holding one big one at your chest, it really can vary things. So, you can even do one leg. It really throws things off.

Brad: There you go. Again, 10 repetitions. Get done with that. Go on to the next one. Simply squats. I shouldn't say just simply squats because these are rated very high in the exercise program across the board. If you are a new beginner, haven't done them a lot, a firm chair with armrests is really helpful. Scooch to the edge of the chair. And you just stand up, all the way. Squeeze those butt muscles together to get those glutes firing. Very important to do that. Again, 10 of these. If this is too easy, you can put your hands across your chest. It'll make a big difference. If that's too easy, hands above your head. 10 of those.

Brad: Mike, can you show a more advanced exercise for those go-getters?

Mike: Yeah, so if you feel safe and steady doing a chair squat like that, you can do it without holding on. Typically, the next progression would be maybe my hands are on a countertop, and then I just squat down to a comfortable level and then come back up. That's easy. You don't have to hold on to anything. And just perform body weight squats. Again, you can add weight, kind of like I showed earlier, holding dumbbells at your sides. Or, one right here. This would be a goblet squat, actually.

Brad: Oh, where's the goblet?

Mike: Not here. It's invisible.

Brad: Oh, the imaginary one. Yeah, it is important to have imagination when you do exercise; it just gets you through the boredom aspect of it. Now, this is that hip muscle. It's really important for a lot of things as far as supporting your pelvis, your back, and your walking stability. Oh, now you see, I've got two color socks on today. And I did that because my wife says it's actually a style now, so I thought I'm going to be in style.

Mike: They even say right and left.

Brad: Yeah, they do.

Mike: Good for you. You got them on the correct feet.

Brad: That's right. So, good tall posture. Have something to hold onto if you need it. Toes pointed straight ahead. Not turned out to the side. Out straight in front of you. And then back in without touching the ground. Good control of the motion. Do 10 of these. Now, if this is too easy. I'm sorry. Make sure you do it on both legs. Make sure you don't lean to one side. That's cheating or compensating. Good tall posture. And here you'll feel this muscle start to burn after about four or five repetitions or so. Again, shoot for 10. If this is too easy, Mike's going to show you the advanced method.

Mike: So, you can use some sort of resistance. You can use a loop band, a typical resistance band. This is a loop band. Anyway, you can also use cuff weights. If you happen to have those, put them around your ankle. So for this, you have to get shoulder-width apart to have some tension in here. The more. The higher. The higher I have this band, the more resistance I'm going to be feeling. So, what you're going to do is just kick out to the side against the resistance. If this feels too hard. I just bring it down, and it's a little easier. Make sure to keep a nice upright posture and don't let your feet come off the ground on the other side because it'll kind of slingshot up, so make sure to be careful with this.

Brad: Yeah, and if you do that, and your toe actually points out, try that once. The band will sometimes slip.

Mike: That's actually really hard to do. Yeah.

Brad: It'll slip off sometimes.

Mike: Now, for a little added challenge, what I'm doing with my leg that is stationary, as I'm keeping a bent knee, I'm not locking it out straight. So, my hip abductor is kicking out to the side. And this hip abductor is actually keeping me up vertical in place. So, you'll notice if you do one leg and it switches to the other, you're feeling it on both sides.

Brad: Yes. Now actually, it's a really good point that you made about the point you just made.

Mike: Thank you.

Brad: So, I did what I'm saying. If you're doing exercises with this or that, and you don't have shoes on, this is what happens. And I've had this happen, and it's not fun. But you go like this, and it slips off your heel, and then you end up in a big mess. So, wear shoes while you do this, and it works very well. Again, same concept here. The higher you go, the more resistance.

Mike: Now, this variation of hip abduction is good because it works on your balance as well. You know, you can strengthen them lying down or seated, but this adds that whole balance aspect to it, so.

Brad: Good. So, try all these out. Get the three that fit your level of intensity the best. Make sure you do them. And you'll probably find that in less than five minutes, you'll get 10 reps of each of them down. Do them daily. Except you can skip one day a week. That's the only difference between brushing your teeth daily and doing exercises daily. You can't skip one day brushing your teeth, but you can skip one day of exercise. It's legal, and you'll still get stronger. So, very good. Keep smiling, walking, and hiking in nature.

Mike: Are you saying not brushing your teeth is illegal? Or, what are you getting at there?

Brad: They know what I'm talking about. They're a little bit brighter than the average person on, well, I don't want to say anything. Have a good day.

Mike: If you want to check out another video on Strengthening for Seniors, watch "3 BEST Beginner/Senior Leg Exercises Using A Kitchen Chair, Improve Balance & Walking." It's more based on seated exercises.

Brad: There you go. Yeah, actually, that's a nice video. It is.

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