10 Minute Seated Balance Workout For Stroke Recovery

Hi guys, my name is Anthony Bryan and I'm a personal trainer with the Hemiplegia. And in today's video we're going to be doing a 10 minute seated balance workout for stroke recovery. We're going to do 10 exercises and every exercise is going to be for 1 minute. And I want you to do the exercises along with me so you can have some of the exercises with at home. So in our first exercise we are going to do a tiny marching. So we're just going to sit on the seat and tiny march for 1 minute. Let's get ready. 1 minute on the clock. 3, 2, 1, let's go. So tiny march. Lift those knees nice and high. This is going to work those hip flexors. It's going to work your lower core muscles. So I want you to sit nice and tall to engage that core. Now you might feel a bit off balance while you do this. That's good because we're going to be working those core muscles to improve our balance. Now lift those knees. Now if you want to make it harder, Make sure your feet are coming off the ground. And if you do want to make it more difficult, We have 25 seconds to go. Lift those knees. Keep it going. Nice and high. Nice and high. Good. We have the last 15 seconds. Pick those knees up. Keep marching. If it's too easy for you, speed up that march. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, relax. Next, I want your knees to be out wide. Now I want you to shift your weight to one side. Lift the leg. Shift your weight to the other side. So we're rocking from side to side. Shifting the weight from side to side. We're going to work those hip flexors. We're going to test your balance. We're going to work those core muscles. We're going to do it for one minute. Let's get ready. 3, 2, 1. Legs wide. Lift one leg and lean. The further you lean to the side, the more you'll be working those balance muscles. Especially those core muscles. So lift. Not too far over. Lift that knee and lean. All the way across. Not too far. Just to work that balance. We have 30 seconds left. Lift that knee nice and high and lean to the side. All the way up. Up. 20 seconds to go. Up. Keep those legs nice and wide. Don't bring them lower. Lean. And lean. Lift those knees. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, another core exercise. I want you to sit tall. Your hands together. I want you to rotate around to the side. 90 degrees or more. I want your knees to be facing forwards. So one side and then the other. Your chin is going to follow your hands. Your knees are going to stay facing forwards. So just get this torso working. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Let's go. Hands together. Rotate around to the left. Then rotate around to the right. Try and look 90 degrees. 90 degrees. Pick a point. So it might be a window on the left. And a door and a wall on the right. Pick a point and make sure you're getting around that bar each time. So you're making a stretch in these muscles around. You're building all your core muscles. These are the muscles that are aiming to work. So there's knees facing forwards. We're just working this torso. If your knees are going with your whole body moving, and you're just moving the whole body, you're not working those core muscles. So we really want to work those core muscles. 15 seconds left to go. Keep it going all the way around. 10 more seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, I want you to lean back on your chair. We're going to march, but when we lift one leg, we're going to hold for 2 seconds. And 1, 2, and change. 1, 2, and change. If you want to make it a bit more challenging for your balance, we're going to sit forward and lift one knee. 1, 2. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Let's go. So as we're leaning back, we're sitting forward. 1, 2. The higher your knee, the better. You're going to feel those hip flexors working and those lower core muscles working. Working that balance at the same time. 1, 2. Now, hip flexors are really important muscles, especially for helping us while walking, going up and down steps. So they're really important muscles to help keep strong for everyday life. This exercise is a great one to get those muscles engaging. 1, 2. We have 20 seconds left. 1, 2. We've got 10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, I want your arms out wide. We're going to rotate those arms forward for 30 seconds and then backwards for 30 seconds. You might think, how's that going to test my balance? When your arms are out wide, your core is working to keep you in the middle. If you do want to make it more challenging, do circles with one leg off the ground. That's going to make you work. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. 1 minute. So sit tall. Circles forward for 30 seconds. If you want to make it harder, lift one leg. Feel that balance really working as you get those circles in those arms. We're going to switch legs. Halfway through. You have 15 seconds left. Keep getting those circles in forward. You might feel your shoulders working at the same time. That's because you're getting those circles in and your shoulders are holding those arms up. 3, 2, 1. We're now going to go backwards. If you're lifting that leg, lift the opposite leg. Or if not, just keep that leg in the ground and just keep going backwards. You should feel those shoulders really working now. Try and get both arms moving as best you can. All the way around. We have 10 more seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, we're going to do diagonal forward reaches. Put your hands together. Reach diagonally down to the opposite ankle. Then up. Diagonally down to the opposite ankle. Then up. Really, you want your elbow down by the opposite knee. Elbow down by the opposite knee. Diagonal side to side. Let's get ready. 3, 2, 1. Let's go. Diagonal to the side. Down nice and low. All the way down. This is working our core muscles. We're going to the opposite side. It's testing that balance. All the way down. 30 seconds to go. Really lean nice and low. Don't just go to where you feel comfortable. Try and get a bit lower. You're going to feel the hip flexor working. What we've got is lower core, obliques all kicking in and working. You might get some lower back working here as well. We have 10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, we're going to work these side core muscles, the obliques. We're going to plan for your side. In order to lean down, you have to go on one side and lean down. The lower you lean, the more you're going to work your balance. You're going to put these core muscles working. Let's get ready to go in 3, 2, 1. Let's go down to the side. Touch. Down to the side. Touch. It doesn't matter if you can't get down to the ground. If you're as low as you can be, you can stretch here. The reason you don't fall off your chair is because these muscles kick in and then they pull you back to the middle. Go low and then they pull you back to the middle. Side to side. As low as you can. We have 30 seconds. Try and get a bit lower. All the way down. Down. Now, if it's too easy to get fingertips to the ground, I want you to make a fist and try and get knuckles to go. It's going to take you a bit lower. If you want to go lower, touch underneath your body or underneath your seat. Get down as low as you can. We have 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, we're going to make these muscles we just worked work a little bit harder. You want one arm in the air now. You're going to side bend and bring your arm over your head. Go from side to side the best you can. You can assist it if you need to. Let's get ready. 3, 2, 1. Sit tall. Let's do the arms together. Lean to the side. Then lean to the side. Now, you may feel these side muscles working even more now because the arms are adding extra weight to the upper body, making these muscles work harder to make sure you don't fall off that seat. Again, lean to the side. The reason you don't fall off the chair is because these muscles kick in and they pull you back to the middle. The stronger these muscles, the better your balance. We have 30 seconds to go. Get all the way across. Side to side. All the way across. Side to side. Over and over. Last 15 seconds. We're nearly there. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. Next, we're going to do around the world. Hands together. We're going to start low. I want you to do the biggest circle you can with those hands. All the way around. Around the world as big as you can. We're going to go 30 seconds one way, then 30 seconds the other. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Hands together. Lean low as you can. Then go up to the side. Over your head. Round to the side. Low as you can. Now, really get a circle as big as you can. Hands lower than your knees. Wider than the body. Higher than the head. Wider than the body. Lower than the knees. Now, we're going the opposite way around. Opposite way around. Wider than the body. Higher than the head. Wider than the body. Lower than the knees. Muscles working here. You've got hip flexors. Core muscles. Lower back muscles. Shoulders. All kicking and working. All these muscles around the hips are all working. So, as you go to the side, you're working your obliques in the side. And relax. Good. So, we have one more exercise to do. We're going to work those lower core muscles. We're going to lean back on your chair. We're going to kick those legs up and down. Flutter kicks. We're going to try and do it for one minute. If you need to rest in between, have a little rest. But try and keep it up one minute. Get ready. 3, 2, 1, let's go. Straight legs. Kick, kick, kick, kick, kick. Flutter kicks. Nice and strong. Nice and fast. If you want to make it harder, bigger, faster. Kicks. Keep kicking those legs. Up and down. Nice and strong. Keep it going. Keep those legs. Kick those legs. Nice and fast. You're going to feel your quads working. Your hip flexors working. And your lower core muscles working. Your balance is kicking in at the same time. Now we're into the tough part. We're in the last 30 seconds. Keep it going as much as you can. Keep those legs straight. Keep those legs up and down. It's our last exercise. Let's try and make those muscles really work. We have just over 10 seconds. Keep kicking those legs. Especially those weaker legs. Keep those feet off the ground. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Relax. And that is our 10 minute workout video for seated balance for stroke recovery. Hope you enjoyed that workout. Let me know in the comments whether you enjoyed it or not. Make sure you give it a thumbs up and a subscribe. I'll see you in the next workout video. See you soon.