These are the exercises that were suggested to me when I did rehab after a heart attack. They are good to keep the body moving and protected as we age. When you do these exercises be careful not to hurt yourself. In addition to these exercises, aim to walk for at least 15 minutes each day. Walk at a speed to make yourself slightly out of breath.
Stretches are done every day before the other exercises. Strength exercises are done just three days a week with a day’s test between. The balance exercises are done on the other days. There is also an addendum covering Alexander technique (posture) and getting u from the ground (e.g. after a fall).
I have included progress sheets I use as PDF format files for July and August. The links for those are below
(Also the original spreadsheet files (done in LibreOffice, but should open OK in Excel) EXERCISE CHART AUGUST 2026, EXERCISE CHART JULY 2026, EXERCISE CHART JUNE 2026 )
Stretches
Do these stretches every day before you do the other exercise. As you do the stretches, each day, you will slowly find you can stretch further.
- Stretch to the point where it feels uncomfortable but not painful.
- For each exercise move to the stretch position slowly and return to the starting position slowly.
- After each stretch, rest for a few moments and take a couple of deep breaths.
Get the balance right
- Standing upright, adjust your position so you feel equal pressure on both feet, and on the heel and toe of each foot. This ensures your pelvis is directly above your feet.
- Next move your back so that your body core is resting centrally on your pelvis.
- Finally position your head so it is balanced on top of your spine. In this position you should (in theory) be able to relax all your muscles and still not collapse!
Sideways stretch to the right
- Raise your arms above your head, palms together.
- Lean to the right, keeping your pelvis and lower body level.
- Return slowly.
This stretches the muscles down the left side of your torso.
Sideways stretch to the left
- Raise your arms above your head, palms together.
- Lean to the left, keeping your pelvis and lower body level.
- Return slowly.
This stretches the muscles down the right side of your torso
Clockwise body rotate
- Put your hands, palms together out in front of you level with your shoulders.
- Keeping you pelvis and legs facing forwards, rotate your upper body, and then your head clockwise (to the right).
Anticlockwise body rotate
- Put your hands, palms together out in front of you level with your shoulders.
- Keeping you pelvis and legs facing forwards, rotate your upper body, and then your head anti-clockwise (to the left).
Up to the stars
- Put you hands above you head, palms facing forward.
- Lean backwards and look upwards to face the stars.
- Remember to push your pelvis forward to ensure you remain balanced.
Down to the feet
- Allow your arms to hang in front of you.
- Lean forwards as to touch your toes. Note, If you can’t reach your toes it’s fine, Don’t hurt yourself.
- Slowly raise your body back to the rest position.
Muscle strengthening exercises.
Do these exercises just three times a week. I suggest doing them on days with a T in the name, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Remember to do the stretches first. Repeat the complete set twice.
Sit to stand.
Sit in a standard dining chair, or similar.
- With your arms crossed across your chest. Stand up slowly without throwing your arms or body forward. (You will have to lean forward as you rise to maintain your balance, but your legs should do all the lifting work) .
- Now sit again, slowly. Do not slump into the chair.
- Repeat this 8 times
Calf raise
- Stand up with a chair beside you which you can use to steady yourself (only if you need to).
- Raise yourself onto the ball of your foot slowly.
- Hold this position for 8 seconds
- Lower yourself slowly
- Repeat this 8 times
Hip abduct
- Stand up with a chair beside you which you can use to steady yourself and keep your pelvis level.
- Slowly raise the left leg out sideways pointing your heel (not you toe) away from you.
- Slowly lower the leg again
- Repeat 8 times
- Slowly raise the right leg out sideways pointing your heel (not you toe) away from you.
- Slowly lower the leg again
- Repeat 8 times
Half squat
(This is a bit different to the way I was taught. Maybe a bit more effective though)
- From a standing position slowly lower yourself towards a squatting position. Do not go too far. Only to the point where you can raise yourself again.
- Raise your self to a standing position again.
- Repeat 8 times
Glute Bridge
- Lay on a horizontal surface. You may prefer a hard surface such as the floor, but this works reasonably well on the bed too.
- With your arms resting loosely along side of you and keeping your feet on the floor/bed slightly apart, for stability, bring your knees toward you.
- From this position, using the muscles in your back and thighs, raise you pelvis slowly as far as you can, clenching your butt cheeks as you do so
- Slowly lower it again.
- Repeat 8 times
- Wall push up
- Stand about an arms length away from a wall, facing the wall.
- The first time you do this exercise, place your hands on the wall spaced apart the same as the width of your shoulders. The second time, do the exercise with your hands close toether on the wall. If you find discomfort in your wrists, you can support yourself against the wall with your fists instead.
- Slowly bend your arms so that your body leans toward the wall until your forehead almost touches the wall.
- Slowly push away until you are upright again.
- Repeat 8 times
Balance exercises
These exercises are intended to improve your balance so that you are less likely to fall. As we age our balance can get worse unless we exercise it.
One leg
- Make sure you have a chair or similar you can use if you lose balance.
- Stand on just the left leg for 8 seconds
- Stand on just the right leg for 8 seconds
- If you lose your balance, try again until you can manage it for the full 8 seconds.
Tandem walk
This is the same walk models do on the catwalk.
(I never tried doing this backwards!)
- Walk eight steps, putting one foot exactly in front of the other.
The aim is for the heel of the front foot to be immediately in front of the toes of the other foot. You will find this easier if you look a spot ahead of you, not at the floor. You will also find splaying your hands at your sides will help you to maintain your balance.
Square stepping.
I couldn’t find a video showing the way I do it. I will try to make one myself later.
Imagine your self standing, feet together at the centre of a square. This is easier on a tiled floor or perhaps a patterned carpet. Identfy the four corners of your square and the midpoints of the four sides.
- Starting from the curtsey position, with the toe of your left foot behind and to the right of the right foot, place the toe of your left foot on each point of the square in turn. Then reverse the sequence until you reach the curtsey position again.
- Repeat the sequence with the right foot.
Breathing
Slowly take three deep breaths, using as much of your lung capacity as possible. On the fourth breath, count numbers 1,2,3,4 etc. out loud until you run out of breath. Note the number you could count to. It should be between 30 and 60.
Each time you do this compare it to the previous time. If the numbers start to go down and contiinue to go down, check with your doctor in case there is a problem
ADDENDUM
Alexander technique
Alan also explained the Alexander technique for maintaining a good posture. We tend to slouch as we age, and maintaining your posture will stop this.
- Balance your body as described under “Getting the balance right”.
- Now imagine a string connected to the crown of your head, pulling you upwards.
- Raise your head, but keep your face level (don’t raise your chin)
- Now walk for a while maintaining this posture.
- Try to remember to maintain this posture (not easy), whatever you are doing
Getting up from the ground (eg after a fall)
Here are some methods you can use to get up from the floor without relying on a stool/chair etc.
Fixing a flabby tummy
This will not reduce the fat, but it will strengthen the muscles and allow you to form a habit to keep your tummy held. I could not find a video for this, which surprised me.
Kneel on the floor (or bed) and lean forward supporting yourself on your hands (the doggy position!)
Now slowly lift and lower your belly using your muscles. Do this 8 times and then rest. Repeat a further 8 times. As you get stronger, increase the number of repetitions up to around 5 or 6 sets of 8.
