10 Minute Core & Abs Workout For Hemiplegia & Stroke Survivors

Hi guys, my name is Anthony Bryan, and I'm a personal trainer with a hemiplegia. And in today's video, we're going to be doing a 10 minute core and abs workout. For those of you that have hemiplegia. Every exercise we're going to do today is going to be for one minute. And I want you to do the exercises along with me. These exercises are going to strengthen our core muscles and our balance. We're just going to help us with our daily lives. So our first exercise is going to be sitting tall with your hands together, and you're going to rotate round to the right and then rotate round to the left. This is going to help stretch and get these core muscles activated and also motivate, also activate those spinal cord muscles. Now we're going to do this for one minute. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. Let's go. So hands together, feet facing forwards. Rotate round. Do not let those knees follow you. You want those knees facing forwards at all times. So keep those knees facing forwards and just use the upper torso to rotate round. So you should feel a stretch all around here. Right round, right round. Now I want you to try and get a 90 degree angle to the right and a 90 degree angle to the left. That's too easy. Try and go a bit further round and further round. The further you go round, the more muscles you are going to engage. All the way round. All the way round. Good. Try and pick a point to look at behind you and try and see that point either side. One and two. We have 10 seconds. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Next, we're going to hit the side of these core muscles, the obliques. Hands by your sides and you're going to lean down to the side. Touch the ground. Lean down to the side. Touch the ground. Get as low as you can. Don't have to touch the ground, just get as low as you can. You should feel a stretch inside here. These are the muscles we're targeting. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. To the side. So feet facing forwards, lean down to the side. Touch the ground. Lean down to the side. Touch the ground. Nice and low. Lean into it. Now, as you lean, you should feel a stretch here. These are the muscles that we're working on and they pull you back to the middle and then you go to the opposite side. So the reason you don't fall off your chair is because you lean to the side. These muscles hold you in place and then they pull you back to the middle. So you lean, they hold you there and they pull you back to the middle. So these muscles are key muscles for balance. Every time you're off balance, they kick in and they pull you back to the middle. So the stronger these muscles are, the better your balance will improve. Really get nice and low. Imagine you're picking something up off the ground one side or picking something off the ground the other side and relax. Now we're going to make those muscles work a little bit harder. Put your hands together and I want them up above the head like a pencil shape. We're going to lean to the side so you can point that pencil to the left and then point to the right. Think of it as an arrow. You're going to point that arrow to the left and point that arrow to the right. You're going to feel a bigger stretch in these muscles across here because we're adding more weight to our leans now. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. Let's go. So hands above. Lean to the side over as far as you can and then lean to the side, opposite side. Lean over as far as you can. Feel those oblique muscles working over and over. You might feel that balance really working as well. We have 30 seconds all the way across, all the way across. This is a tough one. You're going to feel those muscles really engaging and working. All the way over. We have 20 seconds. All the way over. Good. Keep it going. All the way over. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Good. Next, we're going to work on the front part of these core muscles and the lower back. So I want legs chair width apart and I want you to lean forward, touch the ground and then sit back nice and tall. So as you lean forward, those front core muscles working. As you come back up, those lower back muscles are working. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. So feet nice and wide, lean forward. Try and touch the ground as low as you can and then up nice and tall. So front core muscles, lower back muscles, front core muscles, lower back muscles. So this is like a seated, this is like a full sit up, but the seated version. So sit up and then down. Full sit up and down. Give me as many as you can. Try and get as low as you can to the ground. That way, we're getting a full range of movement on those core muscles. Nice and tall. Down. 10 seconds. No, 15 seconds. Keep it going. Nice and low. And up. Nice and low. Three, two, one. Relax. Good. Now we're going to get the front and the sides together. So I want feet together now. I'm going to go diagonal to the side and diagonal to the side. I want your elbow to try and get down to the opposite knee, either side. So it's going to be front and side muscles working together. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. Let's go. So feet together, lean to the side like you're picking up something from the left and then pick up something from the right. Pick up something from the left. Pick up from the right. Down, nice and low. Down, low. Good. Keep it going. Nice and low. We have 30 seconds to go. Make sure these muscles are starting to engage and work. Lean and lean. We've got 20 seconds. Lean and lean. Last 10 seconds. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Next, we're going to punch those arms. But at the same time, we're going to march those legs. So we have lower core muscles working and core keeping our balance and then chest working. Our brain's got to think about working, moving every part of our body at the same time. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. So punch those arms and now march those legs. Opposite arm, opposite leg. So you've got coordination working, balance and core muscles working. So the brain's got to think about punching the arms and at the same time, it's got to think about marching the legs at the same time. It's got to think about moving them out opposite arm, opposite leg, which is coordination. These lower core muscles are helping pick those legs up and your upper core muscles are helping keep you nice and tall. Keep it going. We have 20 seconds now. If you want to make it harder, I just want to speed up your march and keep the arms up with the speed of the legs. Punch, march, punch, march. Keep it going. We have 10 seconds left. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Next, again, we're going to work the side of these core muscles and the front of these core muscles. I want one hand in the air and I want you to lift and try and touch the toes of the opposite leg. If you can't touch the toes, I want you to either touch the knee or the shin. So it's touch one side, touch the other side. So it's my weakest side. I can't get as low, so I'm going to get as low as I can. Touch, touch is all about the high knee lift and the twist across using these core muscles. Get ready. Three, two, one. Let's go. So it's like you're putting your socks on one side and then your socks on the other. So it's touch, touch, opposite, opposite, opposite, opposite. So we've got hip flexors working. We've got lower core muscles working and we have oblique muscles helping us twist across. All these muscles engaging and working to help us get our movement. So the stronger our core muscles, the better it helps us in our daily lives and movement. Really get that weaker arm nice and low. Big twists across. One, two, one, two. If you want to make it harder, I want you to speed it up. We have 10 seconds. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Now we have two exercises left. This one's going to get our lower core muscles, our hips and our lower back working. So I want hands together and I want you to lean nice and low, with your hands as low as you can. We're going to draw the biggest circle we can. Going around the world, nice and slowly, going clockwise for one minute and then anti-clockwise for one minute. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. Hands together, lean low. Go wide to the right, up and above the head. Wide to the left, down below those knees. So you want to get that circle as big as you can. We've got all these muscles around the hips kicking in. So low, we have the front ab muscles working. Inside, we have obliques working. Now shoulders kicking. Now we have obliques, lower back, abs. Lower back, obliques, shoulders. All these muscles around the hips are kicking in. The slower you go, the more beneficial it is. Don't rush it. I want that circle as big as you can. Bigger the better. All the way around. Last 10 seconds. Six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Now we're going to go the opposite way around. This is our final exercise for our core and abs workout. Let's go the opposite way in three, two, one. Let's go. Down, opposite way around. Up and over. Down, low, wide, up and over. Round, low, wide, up and over. Wide, low, round, up and over. Good. So you can get lower. Can you get wider? Can you get higher? Higher, wider and lower. Remember the slower you go, the more beneficial it is. Control it all the way around. We have 15 seconds. Keep it going. Last bit of core work for today. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. So that is our core and ab workout. For those of you that have hemiplegia, I hope you liked and enjoyed that workout video. If you enjoyed it, make sure you press that thumbs up button and give it a subscribe and I'll see you in the next workout. See you soon.