Most people over 65 sit far more during the day than they realize, and the effects show up in the hips and legs first. You feel it getting out of the car, stepping sideways off a curb, or getting up off the floor.
I’ve been working as a personal trainer for almost 40 years, and I’m co-founder of TRAINFITNESS, the provider of the UK’s best in-person and online personal training courses. The hips and legs respond well once you give them back the movements that sitting has taken away. These five exercises can help you do exactly that.
What Sitting Does to You
Long spells of sitting leave the glutes with very little to do. After years of it, people arrive with weak glutes and stiff hips that don’t rotate or move sideways very well. The fronts of the hips get tight and short, and the legs lose the power they need to stand up quickly or catch a trip. I see a lot of lower back ache, swollen ankles from sluggish circulation, and poor balance, especially sideways.
The practical things come up just as often. Getting in and out of the car becomes a project. Getting down to the floor, and back up, becomes something people avoid altogether, because they doubt they could get up. Plenty of clients tell me they “only walk forward now,” and that’s usually down to hips that have lost the ability to move in other directions.
RELATED: 3 Chair Exercises That Smooth Bat Wings Faster Than Gym Classes After 60
Why Walking Isn’t Enough
Walking is a decent movement, but it only moves the hips forward and backward through a fairly small range, at a steady pace, on two feet. It doesn’t move the hips sideways or through rotation, it doesn’t strengthen the glutes much, it doesn’t take the hip fully behind you, and it never practices getting down to the floor and back up. Years of sitting shrink exactly those things.
Targeted exercises cover the directions and ranges that walking doesn’t touch. They also strengthen rather than just move, which is what weak glutes actually need, and several of them train balance, which matters for avoiding falls.
On safety, hold the kitchen counter or a sturdy chair for all of these. And if you’ve had a hip replacement, check with your surgeon or physical therapist about the hip circles and the depth of the side lunge, as some movements are restricted for a while after surgery.
Supported Side Lunge
This moves the hips sideways and strengthens the inner thighs and the glutes, which is a direction walking never trains. It’s the movement you need to step sideways quickly and catch your balance, like when someone brushes past you or you need to get out of the way of a shopping cart.
How to Do It:
- Stand facing the kitchen counter with both hands on it and your feet together.
- Take a wide step out to one side.
- Bend that knee and push the hips back, keeping the other leg straight, until you feel a stretch in the inner thigh of the straight leg.
- Push back through the bent leg to return to standing.
Avoid These Mistakes:
- Don’t let the bent knee collapse inward or shoot forward past your toes.
- Don’t lean your chest right over the counter.
- Keep the knee over the middle of the foot, the chest up, and the hips back.
Sets and Reps: Do 8 to 10 on each side, for 2 sets.
Form Tip: Start with a small step and a shallow bend.
RELATED: 5 Exercises That Restore the Core Strength You Had at 40 After 65
Standing Hip Circles
This takes the hip through its full rotation, which is the movement that stiffens most with sitting. It helps with getting in and out of the car and with turning on the spot, both of which catch people out when the hips are tight.
How to Do It:
- Stand side-on to the kitchen counter, holding it with one hand.
- Lift the outside knee to hip height, or as high as is comfortable.
- Slowly open the knee out to the side, then take it back behind you, then bring the foot down, drawing one big slow circle with the knee.
- Swap legs after each set.
Avoid These Mistakes:
- Don’t rush it.
- Don’t twist your whole trunk to make the circle look bigger. Keep the pelvis and trunk still and let only the leg move.
- Don’t worry if the circle feels small at first. It gets bigger with practice.
Sets and Reps: Do 5 circles one way and 5 the other, then swap legs.
Form Tip: Keep the standing leg soft and your body upright throughout.
Backward Walking
Walking backward works the glutes and hamstrings harder than walking forward, and it takes the hip further behind you than normal walking ever does. It also trains balance in a direction most people haven’t practiced since childhood.
How to Do It:
- Find a clear hallway, or walk along the kitchen counter, lightly touching it with one hand.
- Glance over your shoulder to check the path, and clear any rugs or obstacles before you start.
- Step back, reaching through the toes first and rolling down onto the heel.
- Take 10 to 15 slow steps back, then walk forward to the start.
Avoid These Mistakes:
- Don’t shuffle with tiny steps and stare down at your feet. That’s what makes it feel unsteady.
- Take normal-length steps, reach back with the toes, and stand tall.
Sets and Reps: Do 3 to 4 trips down and back.
Form Tip: Look straight ahead, not down at your feet.
RELATED: 5 Daily Exercises Women Over 65 Need to Keep Their Muscles Strong
Floor Get-Up Practice
Years of sitting often take away the ability to get down to the floor and back up. Knowing you can get up after a fall changes how confidently you move through the rest of your day. This one works the legs, hips, arms, and balance together, and it’s the exercise I’d pick if someone could only manage one.
How to Do It:
- Place a sturdy chair against a wall, with a cushion on the floor in front of it.
- Holding the chair seat, lower one knee onto the cushion, then the other.
- Pause on both knees.
- To come up, bring one foot forward flat on the floor so you’re half-kneeling.
- Put both hands on the chair seat and push up through the front leg to standing.
Stage 1 is just kneeling down and back up. Only go further, sitting fully onto the floor and returning to kneeling, once that feels easy. If kneeling is painful, or a knee replacement makes it uncomfortable, skip this one and practice the half-kneel onto a low step or a firm bed instead.
Avoid These Mistakes:
- Don’t try to stand straight up from both knees at once.
- Don’t haul on the chair with your arms. Push through the front leg instead.
- Always go through half-kneeling, and let the front leg do the lifting.
Sets and Reps: Do this 3 to 5 times, swapping which leg is in front each time.
Form Tip: Have someone else in the house the first few times.
Standing Knee Lift Hold
This strengthens the hip flexors, the muscles at the front of the hip that get both tight and weak from sitting, and it trains balance on one leg at the same time. Strong hip flexors lift the foot clear of curbs and stairs, which helps prevent trips.
How to Do It:
- Stand side-on to the kitchen counter, holding it lightly.
- Lift one knee to hip height, or as high as is comfortable, with the foot relaxed.
- Hold for 5 seconds, standing tall on the other leg.
- Lower with control.
Avoid These Mistakes:
- Don’t lean back to get the knee higher. Lift it only as high as you can while standing tall.
- Don’t hold your breath. Keep breathing normally.
Sets and Reps: Do 6 to 8 on each side.
Form Tip: As your balance improves, lighten the grip to fingertips.
RELATED: 5 Daily Exercises Women Over 65 Need to Keep Their Muscles Strong
Your Weekly Routine
Yes, keep walking, and aim for a walk most days if you can. The exercises cover what walking doesn’t, and walking covers what they don’t. The two together are much better than either on its own.
Do the five exercises three times a week, on non-consecutive days, and allow about 15 minutes for the lot. Don’t cram them all into one day and then do nothing for a week.
Also break up your sitting during the day. Every 30 to 45 minutes, stand up and do a few hip circles or knee lifts while the water boils or during commercial breaks. Once a week, if you’re steady on your feet, try a few backward steps at the end of a walk on a safe, flat path. If that doesn’t feel right, keep the backward walking to the hallway.
After a few weeks, progress things: a deeper side lunge, longer holds on the knee lift, a lighter grip on the kitchen counter. Small changes, added slowly.
What Results to Expect
In the first week or two, most people notice their hips feel looser, especially after they’ve been sitting for a while. Getting out of the car is usually the first thing clients tell me has gotten easier.
By four to six weeks, people feel steadier on one leg and stepping sideways feels less awkward. The legs are stronger by then too, so standing up from a low chair stops being something you have to plan for.
Between eight and 12 weeks, getting down to the floor and back up starts to feel possible again, and that tends to change how people move around generally. They stop avoiding things.
Exercise can’t undo every effect of years of sitting, and the best results come from also sitting less during the day. Strength, hip movement, and balance all respond well at any age, but they fade again if you stop, so pick a routine you can keep going.
The post 5 Exercises That Undo 10 Years of Sitting Better Than Walking After 65 appeared first on Eat This Not That.
