Kosher Fitness
By Michael Ungar
One of the main concerns that older adults have from a physical standpoint is their ability to walk well and climb stairs. These are both activities that are a part of daily living and lead to greater independence.
There are many exercises that can help with walking and stair-climbing. Of course, there are treadmills and stair-climbing machines, but most people use these more for cardio exercise than for building lower body strength. If you are looking to maintain or strengthen the muscles for these activities, arguably the best exercise is The Squat. I blogged about this a couple of months ago, but it bears some repetition and further expansion.
When I ask my new clients to show me a squat, nine times out of 10, what I get is a deep knee bend (an exercise that is not particularly good for the knees and that I do not recommend for older adults). When doing a deep knee bend, the knees bend and go forward–usually in front of the toes; this puts a good deal of stress on the tendons and ligaments.
As a trainer, one of my primary goals is to teach my clients various exercises and the correct way to do them. When a squat is done properly, feet are a little bit wider than shoulder-width, the rear-end goes back and down, and the knees stay behind the toes; ideally, the knees should stay directly above the ankles/heels.
As I noted in the blog referenced above, this is not easy for most people, let alone older adults. It takes practice because there is almost always a fear of falling backwards, but eventually, my clients are able to do a half-squat correctly (only lowering the rear-end down halfway) and then move on to a full squat. Sit-and-Stands are also a great way to practice the form. Those who master a full squat can begin to add different elements such as a wide-stance, side-to-side squat, squat with a lateral leg raise, squat jumps, and adding dumbbells or barbells.
Why is the squat so effective? It works nearly every muscle in the lower body: glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors, hip flexors, and calves—the very muscles that are recruited in walking and stair-climbing as well as other activities.
How many squats should you do? This varies from person to person, but I usually start my clients with two sets of 10-12 reps. Once those have been mastered and there is no feeling of pain or soreness, we add the elements mentioned above to increase the level of resistance and/or add another set.
A personal trainer or other fitness professional can help you on your squat journey. It is quite important to get the form correct in order to avoid injury and to make sure to reap the benefits of this simple but effective exercise.
This lightly-edited blog with photo was originally published on kosher-fitness.com on 11/20/23 by Rabbi Ungar.
