Leg Exercises

As you get older, leg exercises are crucial for your general health and well being. They have a number of advantages that will help you retain mobility, preserve independence, avoid accidents and maintain good health. This collection runs through 12 great lower body strengthening exercises that you can perform easily at home. Simply pick three of four exercises at a time and incorporate them into your regular fitness programme. We've included some great demonstration videos to help you ensure you perform the exercises correctly, and don't forget to click through to the second page of the article if you want to keep on reading.

What are the benefits of leg strengthening exercises? Leg strengthening exercises have a number of benefits that can help you stay fit and healthy as you age, and some are less obvious than others. They can help you in a numbers of ways, by allowing you to do the following: Strengthen the muscles responsible for walking and mobility. Help you avoid the aches and pains associated with pushing out of a chair or similar as you get older. Help your balance, making falls less likely. Help improve your bone health, reducing your risk of osteoporosis. Increase the associated strength of your lower back and help control back pain. Contribute to lower cholesterol levels. Increase your glucose tolerance and resistance to insulin. With so many benefits, it makes sense to include some leg strengthening exercises in your weekly routine. But which exercises should you be doing? Here are 12 of the best, and their suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels.

1. Ankle Circles

Benefits: Improves ankle flexibility. Improves ankle stability, a key factor in maintaining balance. Strengthens the ankles, making it easier for you to push off when you walk. Instructions: Sit in a supportive chair (not a soft sofa), with your feet flat on the floor. Extend your right knee upwards and forwards. Move your foot in a circular motion 20 times, exhaling during the upward movement phase, and exhaling as your foot moves downwards. Repeat the exercise another 20 times, but move your foot in the opposite direction. Switch feet and repeat the entire routine.

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Tips: If you struggle to lift your knee, just extend your leg outwards. If you feel pain in your ankle when making circles, just move your foot up and down instead. If you are feeling confident, try performing the exercises while standing up. Stand on one leg and lean against a wall. You can vary the exercise by trying to spell your name with your foot, rather than making straightforward circles.

2. Hip Marches

Benefits: Helps you strengthen your hips and retain good posture. Increases your walking endurance. Improves your ability to bend down and pick up small objects. Helps you strengthen the flexors responsible for lifting your leg when you need to step over an object. You are much more likely to avoid tripping. Instructions: Take a position in a supportive chair and place your feet flat on the floor. Lift up your knee to a comfortable point, exhale as you do so. Lower your leg back down while inhaling. Repeat the exercise for the other leg. Alternate between each leg until you have completed 10 repetitions for each.

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Tips: Try to maintain a regular breathing pattern throughout the exercise. Move at a slow to moderate speed, and don't perform more than twenty marches in a row to avoid the risk of soreness. If you feel comfortable, vary the exercise by placing your hands on your knees to create resistance as you lift your legs upwards.

3. Sit to Stand

Benefits: Entirely designed to help you improve your ability to stand up from a seated position. One of the best exercises for maintaining mobility and confidence as you get older. Maintains leg and hip strength, which can not only help you stand, but also helps you push off when walking. Instructions: Stand with your legs slightly apart and a supportive chair placed behind you. Lean forward slightly while bending your knees just a bit. Lower yourself towards the chair as if you are trying to sit. Inhale as you do so. Before your backside reaches the chair, pause for a second and then stand back up into an upright position. Exhale as you move upwards. Repeat the exercise 10 times.

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Tips: Always bend from the hips, keeping your back straight. Place your hands on your knees for support if you need to do so. As you rise, lift up your ribcage and fully extend your back to stand tall.

4. The Heel Stand

Benefits: Helps increase the blood flow through your legs, to prevent pooling. Strengthens your calf muscles and ankles to aid balance and movement. Strengthening the heels helps you avoid overbalancing backwards. Helps you raise your toes more easily and avoid tripping. Instructions: Stand behind a chair, and use it to help you balance. Raise yourself up on to your heels, exhaling as you do so. Lower your toes again and return to a flat footed standing position, inhaling through the downward movement phase. Repeat 10 times.

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Tips: Try to keep your body as straight as possible as you raise your toes. Don't lean on the chair too obviously, use it for support but keep yourself as upright as possible. If you are feeling confident, try holding the chair with just one hand or finger, or perhaps even let go of it altogether. This will better test and improve your balance.

5. The Knee Extension

Benefits: An extremely easy knee exercise that maintains your ability to stand quickly. Increases flexibility in the knee joint, which is important for a whole range of movements including walking, crouching and kneeling. Helps you stand and avoid tension when you walk.  Instructions: Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your knees slightly apart. Straighten out your right knee to a comfortable, raised position, exhaling as you do so. Hold the position for a few seconds. Lower the leg back down while inhaling. Repeat with the other leg, alternating between legs until you have done 10 repetitions for each.

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Tips: Move slowly and precisely, avoiding any 'jerking' movements'. As you lift the knee, curl your toes back towards your body if you can. This will engage the quadriceps (thigh muscles) for added benefits. Use your full range of movement - extend your heel as far as it will go in each direction.

6. Calf Raises

Benefits: Works out the calf muscles, often considered the 'heart' of the lower body. Helps pump blood up through your legs and into your upper body, which can stop you feeling faint. Improves your ability to 'push off' as you walk and accelerate. Instructions: Stand on flat feet behind a chair, and use the chair to help you balance. Raise up on to your toes with moderate speed, exhaling as you do so. Hold the position for a few seconds. Inhale as you lower yourself back down, and repeat the exercise ten times.

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Tips: Keep your body still as you raise yourself upwards. If you find it difficult to keep your balance, increase the gap between your legs. If you are feeling confident, try and repeat the exercise without using the chair.

7. Partial Squats

Benefits: Increases flexibility in the hips and upper part of the lower leg, helping promote steady balance and strength. Increases your ability to raise your knees and step over objects. Strengthens the thighs, which is important for helping you get up from a chair, the bed or bathtub. Instructions: Stand behind a chair, using it to help you balance. With your legs slightly apart, bend your knees as far as you can go without feeling pain. Inhale as you do so. Return to the standing position carefully, while exhaling. Repeat the exercise ten times.

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Tips: Breathe out as you bend your knees, and take a nice long breath as you rise up again, making sure you lift your ribs. Keep your body as straight as possible and keep looking straight ahead. If you are feeling confident, use one hand or one finger to balance, or ignore the chair altogether.

8. The Straight Leg Raise

Benefits: Assists with lower body strengthening and improves flexibility. Increases core strength in the abdomen and lower back as well. Designed to help you maintain a wide stride pattern. Instructions: Lie on your back with one knee bent and the other knee straightened. Point your toes to the ceiling. Raise your straightened leg so it's level with your bent knee. Exhale as you do so. Lower the leg back down while inhaling. Repeat the exercise ten times for each leg.

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Tips: Place you palms against the floor either side of you so that they provide you with support. Don't raise your lifted knee higher than your bent knee to avoid over-extension. Add a 2 pound weight to your ankle if you feel confident, for extra strengthening.