Move · 5 min
Ten sit-to-stands from a kitchen chair
Getting up from a chair is a strength exercise in disguise. Ten slow ones a day keep the legs ready for the stairs, the bath and the bus.
Most of the strength we need for daily life lives in the legs: getting out of bed, off the toilet, up from the sofa, out of the car. It fades quietly when we sit more. The good news is that the exercise that keeps it is the movement itself, done slowly and on purpose.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
Choose a sturdy chair with no wheels, and put its back against a wall so it cannot slide.
Sit near the front edge with your feet flat and a little apart, slightly behind your knees.
Lean forward, press through your heels, and stand up slowly, using your hands on your thighs or the arms of the chair if you need to. Stand tall for a breath.
Sit back down as slowly as you can, reaching back with your bottom as if the chair were further away. Do ten, resting whenever you like, and stop at fewer if that is enough today.
The reason
Why it helps
Leg strength is one of the things that most helps people stay steady and independent as they get older, and it responds to practice at any age. Standing and sitting slowly asks the big muscles of the legs and hips to work in the same way daily life does, so the gains show up where you need them. Once a day is a good start; it takes less time than the news headlines.
A gentle variation
If ten is too many, do three, and add one each week. If standing up without your hands is easy, try it with your arms crossed, or pause for a moment just above the seat before you sit.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
If you care for someone who is still able to stand, do your ten alongside theirs, chair by chair, counting out loud together. It is an exercise physical therapists often recommend, so it is worth asking whether it suits them.
Try it today
Today, put a sturdy chair against a wall and stand up and sit down slowly ten times, using your hands if you need them.
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