A person doesn’t need to have complete mobility to experience the health advantages of exercise. If damage, disability, illness, or weight problems have limited the body’s mobility, there is still an abundance of ways one can use exercise to boost the mood, ease depression, reduce stress and anxiety, develop self-esteem, and advance the whole outlook on life. This article is about 8 exercises with limited mobility.

An individual, who has been a regular exerciser and is currently sidelined with an injury, might have probably noticed how inactivity has caused the mood and energy levels to sink. This is reasonable: exercise has such a potent effect on mood that it can treat mild to moderate depression as efficiently as antidepressant medication. However, an injury doesn’t mean that a person’s mental and emotional health is doomed to decline. 

While some injuries retort best to total rest, most simply need one to exercise with limited mobility and reevaluate their exercise routine with help of a doctor or physical therapist. The following points should also be kept in consideration:

1. Set the body and mind up for exercise success
2. Start slow and slowly increase the activity level.
3. Make exercise part of everyday life.
4. Stick with it.
5. Anticipate ups and downs.
6. Stop exercising if you have pain.
7. Avoid activity concerning an injured body part.
8. Warm up, stretch and cool down.
9. Drink a lot of water.
10. Wear suitable clothing, such as supportive footwear and relaxed clothes that won’t limit movements.

Exercises With Limited Mobility

Here are some of the most efficient exercises with limited mobility:

1. Low impact aerobics – for legs

Aerobic style exercises like strength training and stretching can feel ahead of a person’s capabilities if the mobility is reduced. But low-impact aerobic movements are exceptionally good at thwarting stiff joints and building muscles, as well as helping heart health and overall mood.

One of the most vital exercises in this genre is called a “Chair Stand.” It’s most helpful if the mobility issues curtail pain or damage in the legs. The thought is to bit by bit stand up and sit down again from a normal chair (with arms) in reps of 10. By focusing on the movement one can control certain muscle groups and use hands for support if needed.

2. Bicep curls – for arms

This is a well-known workout for limited mobility from the weight lifting genre that everyone is used to seeing in popular culture. However, it’s usually associated with extremely heavy weights and very big biceps! But that doesn’t mean the movement can’t be useful to those with limited mobility.

Start with elbows by the sides and the arm out (palm upwards) gripping a small tin of food or a half-full bottle of water. Then gradually “curl” by keeping the elbow in place and pulling the hand up to the shoulder and lowering it back down over again.

3. Ceiling stretch – for backs

The easiest of movements can be advantageous for the body if done in a controlled manner. Chair stretches are a few of the easiest to do because they can be done while doing something else, such as watching TV. grasping both hands together, stretch the arms up to the ceiling, thrusting the palms outwards, and then gradually bend from the waist (keeping arms straight) and tip the palms towards one edge of the room and then back to center, before stirring to the other edge. These movements can be very efficient for people who endure Rheumatoid Arthritis for example, because even the smallest movements, done habitually, are helpful. 

4. Hand stretch – for fingers

For a lot of people, their biggest pain and mobility challenges come from the smallest parts of the body, like their hands. A simple hand stretch engages by spreading the fingers wide and then making a fist shape. The idea is to do this constantly in a stretching, squeezing, stretching pattern. Some people will make use of a foam shape to squeeze. This is where the previous idea of the “stress ball” came from because these movements discharge tension in the hands and arms while also sinking anxiety because of the relief of the repetitive movement.

5. Three-way stretch – for hips

Hip bones and joints are a frequent problem area for those whose mobility issues, often simply as a symptom of getting older. It’s a testing part of the body to single out and exercise on its own, but some easy movements can help if a person has weak muscles around the hips.

Standing facing a sink or worktop area (so one can hold on if needed), gradually raise and lower one knee and then the other, as high as one can towards the hip area, as though in a slow-motion march. Then, lift a leg out to the side, keeping the leg straight and the feet and toes in the same place as they were on the floor. Repeat the same on the other leg. 

The final of the three movements is a stretch of each leg out behind as one stands straight. It is required to be a few inches off the ground. These three movements will work from the hip, thighs/glutes, and lower back muscles correspondingly.

6. Chair boxing – for the heart

“Punching” thin air (with or without weights) is a simple exercise that can be done sitting in a chair if standing is trouble. When repeated it’s what’s called a “cardio” movement which augments heart rate, gets the blood running, and the body sweating, all of which are significant for keeping our hearts healthy and strong.

The key to this exercise is to embrace as much speed as one can but to go easy on joints by not fully lengthening the elbow as one punches each fist out in front. The jabbing motion should be repeated anywhere convenient between 10 to 30 reps. then, if possible, try changing up the motion by jabbing towards the ceiling for an analogous number of reps.

7. Yoga – for joints

Although certain styles of the now-popular exercise trend are not perfect for reduced mobility (such as hot yoga or flow/Vinyasa yoga) the deep relaxation methods taught in practices such as Nidra are reachable to most people of varying ages and abilities.

The focus on breathing and tender stretching has proven advantages for maintaining and even improving mobility as well as endorsing a healthy immune system. Habitual practice of gentle yoga movements has been shown to relieve pain for those who suffer from swollen joints in particular.

8. Water aerobics – whole body workout

Water is a dominant aid in rehabilitation, physiotherapy, and common exercise because it both supports and confronts our bodies. For those who find regular strength training hard then exercising in water can be huge because it gives the resistance to movement that works muscles and then, if one is tired or hurt, simply relax and the water will support the body weight as while floating.

While one doesn’t have to feel capable for a full water aerobics class, there are exercises with limited mobility that could be done in a pool which will give an all-over workout. Just walking around the edges at as quick a pace as one can manage is one option. One can also buy a buoyancy aid like a water belt, which will hold the weight a little off the pool floor, decreasing further the pressure on your joints.

Don’t let injury, disability, illness, or weight problems reduce the spirit. These chair exercises and other simple fitness tips can keep one active and advance a person’s health and well-being.

If a person has a disability, rigorous weight problem, chronic breathing condition, diabetes, arthritis, or other enduring illness, he/she may think that these health problems will make it impossible for exercising effectively, if at all. Or perhaps one becomes frail with age and is worried about falling or injuring if tries to exercise. 

The truth is despite the age, current physical condition, and whether one has exercised in the past or not, there is a profusion of ways to overcome the mobility issues and harvest the physical, mental, and emotional rewards of exercise. Exercise with limited mobility and recover your body and spirits.

Also Read: How To Exercise With Limited Mobility?