Chair Stand Exercise

Strengthens muscles in abdomen and thighs.

Your goal is to do this exercise without using your hands as you become stronger.

Exercise Instructions

1. Place pillows on the back of chair.

2. Sit toward front of chair, knees bent, feet flat on floor.

3. Lean back on pillows in half-reclining position. Keep your back and shoulders straight throughout exercise.

4. Raise upper body forward until sitting upright, using hands as little as possible (or not at all, if you can). Your back should no longer lean against pillows.

5. Slowly stand up, using hands as little as possible.

6. Slowly sit back down. Pause.

7. Repeat 8 to 15 times.

8. Rest; then do another set of 8 to 15 repetitions.

Senior's Extra Exercise Tip: Slow Resistance Exercise

Slow resistance exercise provides the most benefit for improving muscle strength as you age. So concluded Austrian researchers, after studying 19 healthy middle-aged women and training them for 12 weeks with either traditional or "super slow" resistance exercise. The "slow" group reaped significantly better results than the others; those with the least muscle mass at the start saw the most improvement. The researchers suggest that resistance exercise done slowly can help maintain muscle mass and strength, reducing the risk of falls in older age.