10 Minute Core & Abs Workout For Stroke Survivors

Hi guys, my name is Anthony Bryan and I'm a personal trainer with Ahemaplegia and in today's video we're going to be doing a 10 minute core and abs workout for stroke survivors. So we're going to be doing 10 one minute ab workouts and they're all going to be seated engaging every single ab muscle in the body. So let's get ready for our very first exercise. We've got one minute on the clock. So our first exercise is going to be hands clasped together, knees facing forwards. What you're going to do is rotate round to the right, keeping your knees facing forwards and then rotate round to the left. Now I want your chin to follow your hands so you're getting this twist across your abdominal muscles which are your core muscles really working. Okay so one minute, three, two, one, let's go. So hands clasped together, rotate round to the left, try and get that 90 degrees and then round to the right, 90 degrees. If you want to make it a little bit harder, go round further than 90 degrees but as you rotate round you should feel a stretch around here. These are the muscles that are engaging, helping us rotate round and rotate round but make sure your knees aren't going round with you because we don't want a full body turn, we want just the upper torso rotating. Now you should feel those muscles engaging. We have 20 seconds to go, keep it going from side to side. Good, sit tall and get all the way round. Now can you go a bit further than 90 degrees? Further you go round and we're going to feel those muscles stretching and working. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Good, next, hands by your sides, you're going to lean down, touch the ground and then lean down and touch the ground from side to side. Now this is going to work the obliques in the sides of your core, in the sides of your body. Let's get ready, three, two, one. Hands by your sides, lean down, touch the ground, lean down, touch the ground. Now if you can't touch the ground, I want you to lean as low as you can until you feel a stretch here, then you're going to pull back. So as long as you feel that stretch, it means you're engaging those muscles. So these are the muscles we're targeting, get nice and low. Now the reason you don't fall off your chair is because these muscles are kicking in and then they're holding you there and they're pulling you back to the middle. So that is the job of these muscles. The lower you get on those side bends, the more you're making these muscles work, which make them stronger. These muscles are key muscles for helping us with balance and balance is a really, really important thing for everyday life. So if you want to make it harder, let's go a bit quicker, side to side. Last seven seconds, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Good. Next, now an elbow, arm out, and one elbow to knee, opposite side to opposite side. It's going to work those hip flexors, lower core muscles, side core muscles, all engaging. Let's get ready. Three, two, one, let's go. Now if you can't get elbow to knee, I want you to get hand to knee, but really try and get that elbow because it gives you more of a twist and more core muscles engaging. Side to side. Now if you can't get that elbow, remember you can use that hand, but really try and get that elbow across the body. Good. I can start feeling those hip flexors working, those lower core muscles working. Good. We have 30 seconds. Keep it going all the way across. Now if you can't lift those legs, I want you to just go forward, elbow to knee like so. If not, then let's get those knees going. Ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Good, good, good. Now a little bit tougher now. I want you to lean back on your chair, one arm in the air. Can you touch those toes by lifting that knee up nice and high and down? Then the opposite side. If you can't touch the toes, I want you to touch the shin or the knee, and then the other side. I want you to get that weaker side really working. Get ready. Three, two, one, let's go. Hand in the air, touch the toes, shin, or knee, and then opposite side. Touch, touch, touch, touch. I can't get my weaker hand out too far, so I'm just going for the shin. Then the other side, I'm going for the toes. See how low you can get down. Now this is engaging those lower core muscles again, and those obliques, and some of those upper core muscles. Keep it going. Get those legs up nice and high. Remember, if it's too much on those hip flexors, just touch the knee. Keep it going. Fifteen seconds. Nice and high. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, relax. Good. Next. Legs wide, and I want you to lean down, touch the ground, and then come up tall. Both hands together, come down, touch the ground, and then up tall. Forward and back. As you go forward, you're engaging those core muscles. As you come back, you're engaging those lower back muscles. Get ready. Three, two, one. Get down as low as you can, down, and then up, down, and up, down, and up. So you might not think it, but these are really engaging those core muscles and lower back muscles. Really lean as low as you can. Get that full range of movement. Good. Nice and low. Now, if you wanted to make this a bit more challenging, you would hold a weight and go down with the weight, and then come back with the weight. We have 20 seconds to go. Keep it going. Nice and low, and up, low, and up. Coming up to the last 10 seconds. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Next. Similar exercise, but we're going to get the sides working now. That was the middle of the core. Now we're going to get the sides. So legs together. Same as we did before. We're going to go low, but I want you to go to the left, and then the right. Left. Now I want you to try and get your elbow down to the opposite knee, either side. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. Legs together. Go down one side, and then down the opposite side. Down one side, down the other. Down and across, down. So he's working these core muscles again, and a bit more in the sides. Last 30 seconds. Try and get as low as you can. Good. Get him right down. Sit tall, all the way over as wide as you can from side to side. Last 15 seconds. Keep it going. Really work those core muscles. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Next. So sitting on the edge of your chair, hands clasped together. Go down. We're going to draw the biggest circle we can with those hands, going around the world as big as you can. The slower the better. We're going to go clockwise for one minute, and then anticlockwise for one minute. Get ready. Three, two, one. Let's go. Hands together. Go down, out to the side, round and over, down, and low. Round and over. So as you go down, you're working those front core muscles, and then as you come up, you're working those lower back muscles. Get that circle as big as you can, all the way around. 30 seconds to go. Keep it going. Get that circle as big as you can. Do not make it smaller. If you want to make it more challenging, I want you to go slower in those circles. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Good. Now we're going to go the opposite way around. So let's go down, around, up and over, round, and down. Up and over, round, down, up and over. Good. Get that circle as big as you can. Now remember, if you want to make it more challenging, you go even slower. So the slower you go, the longer those muscles have to work for making it more challenging. Final 20 seconds. Keep that circle big. Do not make it smaller. All the way around. Good. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Relax. Good. Now, for the last two exercises, we're going to do them for 30 seconds each, because they're a little bit tougher. So let's get 30 seconds on the clock. Or we'll just do one minute and do half and half. Let's get ready. One minute on the clock. So the first exercise is going to be flutter kicks up and down for 30 seconds. Then we're going to lift those knees up as high as you can, get those feet off the ground, and hold for 30 seconds. This is our final exercise. Two exercises put together into one minute. Let's get ready. Three, two, one. One minute. Let's go. So, legs straight, kicking them up and down. Flutter kicks. Get those heels off the ground and kick those legs up and down. Let's get those quads working and those hip flexors working and those lower core muscles working. 15 seconds. Keep kicking those legs. You're going to feel those hip flexors working. Those legs are going to get heavier. Keep kicking them up. Four, three, two, one. Lean back on your chair. Lift those legs up nice and high. Hold those feet off the ground. As long as those feet are off the ground, we are engaging those hip flexors and core muscles. Hold it there. We have under 20 seconds left. Keep those legs up. If you want to make it harder, I want you to keep your legs higher. Hold those legs nice and high. Now, the lower core are holding the legs up. The upper core are holding your upper body up. Keep it there nice and strong. And relax. So, that is our 10-minute core and ab workout for stroke survivors. Let me know in the comments whether you enjoyed that. Give it a thumbs up. Also, give it a subscribe. I'll see you in the next workout video. See you soon.