If your mobility is limited, you can still build strength with a few simple exercises.
In 2020, Aarthi Ravindran, then 23, was using a leg press machine at her gym when she suddenly felt an intense pain in her right knee. She was new to strength training and had tried to lift too much weight.
A doctor quickly found that Ms. Ravindran had torn a flap of cartilage from her knee, and said she should recover with a brace and physical therapy. But two years later, she still couldn’t climb stairs without pain and felt hopeless about being able to move as she had before.
“It was devastating,” Ms. Ravindran said. “I thought I’d never be able to go back to the gym or do things I love,” like going for long walks.
Then, last fall, a trainer introduced her to low-impact, seated exercises. By progressively adding weights to these chair workouts, she’s been able to strengthen the muscles around her knees. Now, she can ride a bike and climb stairs without pain.
A chair exercise is exactly what it sounds like: Movements performed seated or standing that use a chair for support. There are chair workouts that target all major muscles groups and even some to get your heart rate up, said Heather Ducharme, a physical therapist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Chair workouts can be helpful for older adults, people with cognitive impairments, new exercisers who feel wobbly on their feet and people recovering from an injury.