Transcription
If you're over the age of 60 and you're worried about getting weaker each year, there's one simple move you can do daily to start rebuilding strength in the areas that matter for walking, balance, and staying independent.
In today's video, I'm going to show you what that move is and how you can do it safely at home. This exercise is one of my favorites for over 60s because it builds strength in some of the most important muscle groups in the body, the quads and the glutes. It's called the step up. And all you need at home for this is your staircase or a step if you've got one in the garden or similar.
Now listen, you guys know who watch my channel, I try and make these exercises as doable for people with minimal equipment, which is why I love this exercise cuz you really don't need anything more than what you've already got lying around your house, but it's so powerful and so functional. So, I'm going to show you four variations. Now, we've got a beginner variation all the way up to advanced. So, stick with me to the end to see that.
But before I show you it, this exercise is not suitable for everyone. Please get checked out before you try it and avoid it if it causes you pain.
So, here's the first variation, the basic variation. All you need for this, like I said, is your step. And you're just going to step on it with one foot, step up with the other, and then step back down. It's so, so simple. But what we want to try and do here is drive up nice and fast on the way up. And on the way back down, it's a slow lower. And you can do this by going up with the right and then down with the right like this. And repeating with the same leg. Then make sure you swap over. Or you can alternate. So you go up like this, then back down, and you keep going like this. And again, make sure you swap that pattern after you've done 10 or 15, something like that. So that is your first variation.
If you want to make this harder, find a higher step. You can either choose a step that's naturally bigger or you can try stepping up to your second step on your staircase as long as it's safe for you to do so.
But the next variation I'm going to show you incorporates something called power into the movement. And power is a function of strength times speed. So we're going to make the movement more powerful. We're going to add some speed to it. And this is how it looks. So for this one, you're going to step on the step and as you come up, you're going to drive with your free leg and then come back down. So we're adding a knee drive with that with that free leg. Okay? So the one that's trailing is going to be carried through and you're going to use it to drive up.
Now, if you feel this puts you off balance, feel free to hold on, but just don't use your arms to pull you because then that's cheating and you're going to lose the benefit from your legs. Obviously, after you've done a number of repetitions, you can swap over and do the other side. You got to keep it slow on the way down, and we want it to be nice and quick on the way up, generating that power. And the reason I like power for people over 60 is because when you fall or when you trip and you go to fall, the thing that's going to save you is a powerful movement for your legs stopping you from falling. That is literally the only way you're going to prevent yourself from falling. So adding some power training into your routine is a brilliant way to safeguard yourself from falls.
The next way to make this tougher is to add some resistance. Now I know not everyone has these weights lying around at home. That's totally fine if you don't. Just get a rucks sack or a heavy bag filled up with books or something heavy and hold it in one hand. So for this we just need one dumbbell. This is your third variation. And we're going to hold the dumbbell in the opposite hand that we're going to work. Okay. Okay. So, we're going to work the right leg. We want the dumbbell in the left. And I'll explain why in a minute. So, the exercise looks like this. You put your right foot up. You step up to the step. You can either do it just normally or you can do the knee drive if you prefer. And then you come back down. So, you're coming up like this and then back down. And up like this, and then back down.
Now, the reason I've got the dumbbell in this hand is because the dumbbell is trying to pull me down like this. And what that means is now my glute on this side of the hip is having to work to keep my pelvis level. So it's actually really nice to have it in the opposite hand because you get an extra kick to your glutius medius which is a super important muscle. You'll also get stronger work for your quads because obviously you've just added whatever you're holding to your body weight. So it's a really really good way to make the exercise tougher. Obviously make sure you swap hands when you swap legs.
And then the final variation of this for those who are a bit more advanced is to add in a second weight. Now for this you probably are going to need dumbbells because you want to be holding the exact equal weight in both hands. But if you don't have that you can wear a rucks sack but just make it quite heavy on your back. It's basically just adding weight to your body. So with this one, what we're going to do is hold both dumbbells and it's exactly the same. Nothing changes. Keep your back nice and tall. You're going to step up. You can do the knee drive and then really slowly come back to the floor. You'll feel your hips having to work harder. And you can do it like I am where you repeat on the same side or you can go right and then left. It is totally up to you.
But it's such a wonderful functional exercise because it's relevant to daily life. I recommend doing three sets of this exercise and each set should be done to the point of fatigue, which means to the point where you start to feel tiredness in your quads and your glutes. So, that's a wonderful exercise for you to try. I hope you've enjoyed that. Drop a comment below if you have.
And if you're one of the many people who's interested in seriously improving your strength and your mobility, one of the best things to do is to take my Stronger for Life road map. It's totally free, but it's a quiz where you answer 10 questions and based on your answers, we will send you a personalized plan to help you improve your fitness, your strength, and your mobility. You can find details of that in the description box below. And I'll see you again next time.