And if you’re even less mobile consider closed chain or isometric exercises as advised by my biomechanic (and reproduced about a year ago on this site). Enjoy, Roland
Subject: ROLAND. ISOMETRICS. STRENGTH WORK OUT. My Best Wishes. Dianna.
ROLAND ISOMETRICS EXERCISE ROUTINE. ( ONCE YOU’RE IN FLOW ROLAND - THIS ENTIRE ROUTINE TAKES JUST A WHISKER OVER 6 MINUTES)
Due to the relatively brief nature of the muscle contractions you sustain ( AT ONLY EVER WHAT YOU ASSESS TO BE 80% OF YOUR MAXIMUM STRENGTH FOR 25 SECONDS PLEASE - NEVER APPLYING THE MAXIMUM YOU’RE CAPABLE OF APPLYING) this routine can be done twice a day if your day’s activities permit it. One of its great advantages, is that you can be pretty tired after a day’s activities, yet still get the maximum benefit on that day.
TO REPEAT - ALL MUSCULAR CONTRACTIONS ARE SUSTAINED, AT WHAT YOU ASSESS TO BE 80% OF YOUR MAXIMUM STRENGTH ON THE DAY, AND WHILST MAINTAINING THIS, PLEASE REMEMBER TO BREATHE ROLAND , AS IT’S ALL TOO EASY TO END UP INADVERTENTLY HOLDING YOUR BREATH, AND ACTUALLY FORGETTING TO BREATHE, OVER A PERIOD OF JUST 25 SECONDS, WHILST CONSTANTLY SUSTAINING A MUSCULAR CONTRACTION.
PLEASE MOVE INTO AND EXIT EACH EXERCISE GRADUALLY - VIA EASING INTO AND RELEASING OUT OF - EACH CONTRACTION, SLOWLY AND PURPOSEFULLY.
***** For the front thighs, rear thighs and calves, please hold on to something for support *******
FRONT THIGHS ( With any extra support you need to stand, for addressing your R front thigh, perhaps assisted by Simonetta?)
Stand one foot length away from a wall and taking the weight on your R foot, with your L foot, allow it to go forward and touch the wall, keeping your L leg straight. Whilst doing so - constantly maintain a comfortably straight R leg, keeping that R leg very slightly bent. Now push the ball of that left foot against the wall, ensuring its heel isn’t resting on the floor. The effort should be felt dominantly in the front upper thigh to hip area of your left leg. Sustain the front thigh sensation for your 25 seconds and then repeat the process for the left leg. If you’re in bare feet or in your socks, curl your toes back to engage the ball of the foot against the wall, but if in footwear, just place the tip of your shoe/trainer against the wall.
REAR UPPER THIGHS ( With any support necessary from Simonetta please)
From standing upright - lean back on a wall, with your feet approximately one-foot length away from it. This should present you at an angle which allows you to bend your R leg (with the R foot turned up towards your shin) and engage your right heel against the surface of the wall.
Focusing on the fine edge of the back of your heel, ( avoid pushing from under your heel on the wall) push it against the wall, sustaining the contraction - which you should focus on feeling in the rear, right upper thigh. At no time should any part of your right foot, be actually resting on the floor. Repeat the technique with your left rear upper thigh.
CALVES
Holding onto something solid for support - look straight ahead - and standing with your feet just comfortably apart - go up onto the balls of your feet to the highest point you can possibly attain. Now lower down from that just a tiny amount below that absolute maximum height you’d reached. Stay up there for your 25 seconds, concentrating on staying up manageably high, via the sustained contraction in your calves, keeping it constant and steady. Doing this in bare feet or socks - is assessed to be 20% more demanding than when in footwear - so perhaps doing this in footwear to begin with, would be best.
UPPER CHEST
Clasp your hands together at the level of your mouth. Now raise both elbows up and outwards. Hold this elevated elbow position whilst maintaining the solid gripping firmness of your hand clasp. Next - with those two factors in place, push one palm against the other in a sustained 80% effort for your 25 seconds. Now reverse the hand position and repeat.
The dominant ‘feel’ factor is targeted at your upper chest, with some effect present across your front shoulders, due to the held elevation of your elbows. Your R elbow not being as high as your L isn’t a problem Roland, so just maintain what height you can with it, as any different heights regarding your L and R elbow - doesn’t thwart the ultimate objective of this exercise.
SHOULDERS
Position yourself in the middle of a doorframe, feet comfortably apart, make a fist with each hand. Keeping the arms only very slightly bent, rotate your fists to have your palms facing backwards and then move them outwards, until they’re firmly ( little fingers side) against the inside of the doorframe either side of you. Now carefully push your fists outwards against the doorframe for the required 25 second period, ensuring you strictly maintain that very slightly bent arm position throughout. This is important, as too much actual bend in the arms, will result in ‘offloading’ much of the focus from the target area of your shoulders, to your rear upper arm triceps.
LOWER/MIDDLE CHEST
Have your arms straight out in front of you at middle chest level, with your palms flat against each other. Allowing a little bend to take place in your arms during this technique, press your palms against each other, visualising the very middle point of the palms as being the ‘pinpoint’ of your pressing action. Performing this technique can often lead you to bend the arms too much, in order to bring to bear what you feel would be a more effective and powerful pressure. However, it’s best to 'live’ with a feeling of what you’ll consider to be a weaker pressure at the palms, as what ‘lesser’ pressure you do produce there by not bending your arms too much, is actually more ‘on target’ for your chest muscles.
FRONT UPPER ARMS/REAR UPPER ARMS
With your arms close in to your body, bend both of them to 90 degrees with your hands in front of you, at a level between waist and chest muscles. Make a fist ( little finger side lowest, as though you’re holding a hammer) with one hand - and ‘cup’ beneath it with the other hand. Now push up with the cupped hand, whilst resisting it’s ascent with the fist pushing downwards into the palm. Your balance of effort in both the fist pressing down and cupped hand pushing up, should result in an equal resistance, which results in both hands constantly in the same position.
Then reverse it - where the upturned-cupped palm, becomes the downward pressing fist.
FOREARMS.
Clasp your hands firmly together, whilst hugging your forearms in to your ribs, and keeping them there. Now continue squeezing your hands solidly together for the 25 seconds. It’s important that the inner surfaces of your upper arms stay ‘glued’ to your ribs throughout this exercise, and you don’t allow your elbows to move out, as doing so will significantly recruit other muscle groups, and reduce the intensity/quality of work in your forearms. Repeat with changed hands position.
ABDOMINAL MUSCLES ( ****** please have this one on hold for the present Roland ****** )
This technique requires you to finely self adjust, until you become ‘aware’ of the intended focus of the exercise tension, which should be happening in your stomach muscles.
Sit upright in front of a table on a straight back kitchen chair, your back constantly in touch with the back of your chair. Sit really close to the table - so that your ribs are literally, just touching the edge of the table. Now, with your arms held out completely straight in front of you, lower them down to have your palms flat down on the surface of the table.
Next, round your shoulders forward slightly, (but only from the shoulder blades up,) without your middle back downwards losing contact with the back of the chair behind you. Focusing on the centre point of your palms, press down, *keeping the arms as straight as possible, whilst keeping your shoulders rounded forward slightly throughout, *but only from the shoulder blades up, without actually leaning forward onto your hands from your waist.
If these last two points * aren’t strictly observed, then your rear upper arms will ‘gatecrash’ your efforts, and your lower back will become overly involved to result in the quality of strength work in your stomach being reduced.
*** Breathing in this one, will be necessarily be in small ‘puffs’ so to speak. ***
INNER THIGHS (use a cushion between your knees if you feel more comfortable with that in place)
Seated, with your feet - one foot width apart, bring your knees together, maintain the contact, and then push your knees against each other, remembering to release gently at the end of your 25 second hold.
NECK. ( Simonetta assistance here possibly)
Seated, with your back fully supported against the back of a chair, ‘think long and tall’ in your upper body, and look directly across the room, with your chest pushed out just a little. Now interlock your fingers together, and if possible place your palms behind the back of your head,. If not, Simonetta can place her palms against the back of your head and you can push your head backwards against her hands at a level of 80% of your maximum capability. She then matches the level of your push with her hands, holding that ‘meeting’ for 25 seconds, and then releasing your pressure gently.
*** Always initiate your head pushing backwards first, before matching it’s 80% push with your cupped hands.
NB Roland. Only generate enough power in the pull of your hands, to be able to match the backward pushing ability of your neck muscles. The result should be a ‘stalemate’, with your head in a normal upright position, but with your neck muscles pushing your head constantly back, and your cupped palms constantly trying to pull your head forward. All exertion of course, at only 80% of your maximum strength, breathing as you do so please.
