(Photo by iStock)
If you feel that as you grow older your body “loses” its mobility and elasticity, the following exercises should be included in your daily routine.
There is an exercise that also works as a test to understand at what level your physical health is. It’s the “sitting-rising” test and it really makes sense to try it, because it can be a good indicator that now is the time to prevent premature wear and tear that will affect both your physical and mental health .
If you ask any elderly person about their “secrets” to longevity , they will first mention movement, the fact that they remain active despite any mobility difficulties. For the Japanese , the people who hold the scepter of longevity, walking is a ritual, while martial arts are a physical as well as spiritual practice that is not missing from their routine.
In short, mobility and flexibility are valuable not only for staying active on a daily basis, but also for maintaining good physical health over time. In this context, the following exercises deserve to become part of your daily routine.
5 exercises that improve flexibility and mobility
1. “Sit” on the wall
It is an isometric exercise that has recently been found to be the “sitting-rising” test and to improve cardiovascular health perhaps more effectively than other aerobic exercises . At the same time, it improves balance and mobility, because it involves many muscles that “work” at the same time.
To do it right, choose a wall that you can lean your back against and bend your knees to a 90-degree angle as if you were sitting in a chair, but with your buttocks in the air. Canadian doctor Peter Attia (who also wrote the book Outlive: the Science and Art of Longevity) practices this exercise every day. He suggests starting by applying it for 10 seconds every day and if you see that you can do it comfortably, increase it.
2. Touch your toes
You may think that you can easily do it, but if you have time to do it, you may find that it is not so easy anymore. First try this exercise while sitting in a chair. Bring one leg forward, with the heel on the floor, and with a straight back try to touch the toes. Stay like this for a few seconds and repeat on the other leg.
If you succeed, proceed to a slightly more difficult exercise: Stand with your legs straight, bend your waist and bend down so that you can reach your toes with your hands, without bending your knees. Then lift and repeat for a total of 10 times. Can you do 3 sets of 10 reps?
3. Hang from a single beam
If you have a barbell at home , this is a great exercise to use in a way that will improve your flexibility and strength. Besides, it’s a very easy exercise in terms of technique: You just hang and let gravity do all the work. But how long can you stay like this?
Dr. Peter Attia has included it in measurable tests of strength and endurance that he has created and claims that a 40-year-old woman should – ideally – be able to hang like this for 1.5 minutes, while a 40-year-old man should reach 2 minutes . If you find you can only last a few seconds, don’t get discouraged. Over time your power will increase.
4. Sit properly in the office chair
Office work is destructive to your correct posture. According to physical therapist Abby Halpin , “spending weeks, months, or years sitting the same way at the same desk can cause hypersensitivity of the tissues involved in maintaining that position.” For this reason we must remember to correct our posture in the office, keeping our spine as straight as possible.
A good exercise to “straighten” your back and improve the flexibility of your torso while sitting is to pull your hands back and try to bring your palms together, turning them so they “look” outwards. Stay like this for a minute, as long as you don’t feel discomfort.
5. A paradoxical flexibility exercise for the hips
Now that you’ve improved flexibility and mobility in your core, see what you can do for the lower body, specifically the hips, which often bother older people. The famous British mobility coach Roger Frampton suggests that you try to support one leg bent on the other. Not to sit cross-legged, but to rest the ankle of one foot on the knee of the other and stay like that for a minute.
It sounds very simple, and for some it might be, so Frampton suggests more difficult versions. In the following video you will see exactly how to apply them:
