did you know that there's a simple exercise that you can use to improve your walking that almost everyone ignores in this video I'm going to show you what that exercise is how it can boost your walking and why it's so important for you to do it daily especially if you are age 50 plus stick around to the end of the video and I'll show you how one of my patients in my clinic tripled her walking distance stopped using her cane in a matter of weeks with one secret trick now before I show you the exercise
let's start by looking at some of the main issues that people have with walking and the one system that is crucial to fixing them all now there are usually three main problems that people come to me when it comes to walking either they can't walk as far as they used to they can't walk as fast as they used to or walking hurts so they don't enjoy it anymore now the bad news is that all three walking problems tend to worsen with age but not all hope is lost the good news is that we can actually
reverse all three problems with one simple exercise now think of your body like a bicycle first we have the frame second we have the wheels and third we have the handlebars if any of these parts isn't working right the bicycle becomes slow unsteady and inefficient now just like our bike needs all three components to run smoothly our bodies also need these three main components to walk better so first and foremost we need a strong and robust frame which is your bones and joints without these our bike completely falls apart once we have that we need
Wheels which give us movement and power our bike forward this is like our muscles and without them our bike cannot go as far or as fast as we'd like and finally we have the handlebars which are like your body's nervous system giving us control and balance without this our bike becomes unsteady or tips over unfortunately exercise programs online mostly target one or two parts of the system and they neglect the third one typically they focus on muscles and Joints however there is one exercise that hits all three components so you can walk further faster and
pain-free but before I show you this there is one more thing that you need to understand because if you don't you might injure yourself and make matters a bit worse let me introduce you to Mora a 55-year-old client of mine who went from struggling to walk with a cane to walking almost an hour around the block in just a few weeks now Mora loved walking with her friends but after an injury and a back surgery she relied on a cane and struggle to keep up when she came to see me she could only walk 10
minutes with support I gave Mora one exercise which I'll show you in a bit and advis her to walk just 5 minutes each day rather than the 10 minutes she she was trying to do before now here's the trick I then asked her to increase her walking Time by 20% each week this is what we call the Golden Rule of rehab consistency over intensity in 2 months Mora doubled her walking time improved her balance and no longer needed her cane 3 months later she was able to keep up with all her friends on their walks
and she was thrilled so what is the moral of the story progress doesn't have to be fast it just needs needs to be steady the key to improving your Mobility balance and your walking is to focus on consistency and gradual improvements just like a turtle slow and steady truly wins the race here now that you understand the golden rule of rehab let's jump into the exercise so let's start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart lightly holding on to a chair or counter in front of you for balance first shift your weight forward onto
your toes and lift your heels off the the ground holding this position at the top for 5 seconds before slowly lowering your heels back down next reversing the movement shifting your weight onto your heels and lifting your toes up holding again for 5 seconds and repeating the cycle 10 times heels up hold toes up hold this exercise targets two key muscles and one critical joint involved in walking when you lift your toes up you're strengthening the tibialis anterior muscle at the front of your shin this is the muscle that is crucial for clearing your toes
when you walk helping you avoid trips and falls now when you lift your heels up you're working your calf muscles which are vital for pushing off the ground as you walk ultimately this is the muscle that is crucial for boosting your speed and endurance now both of these movements also help to strengthen your ankle and foot joints but we're not done yet so far we've only worked on the muscles and Joints but for the final step of this exercise and only if it feels safe try performing the same heel and to raise with one or
two fingers on the chair for support or letting go entirely if you can this progression will Challenge and improve your balance addressing the often overlooked nervous system component that is required for walking so to recap we've strengthened your muscles and Joints like upgrading the frame and pedals on our bike and by improving our balance we've added brand new handlebars and a brake system giving you more control when you walk I recommend doing 10 repetitions of both heel raise and toe raises twice a day and then slowly increasing those repetitions just like MOA 20% per week
don't speed this process up take it nice and slow now if that exercise felt too easy or too challenging don't worry I have three variations for you ranging from easiest to hardest first let's talk about the easiest option you can perform the same exercise while sitting down you can make it a bit more effective by pressing down on your knees to add some resistance this variation is perfect for you if you like to watch TV and you want to do some exercises or if you find standing exercises to be difficult for you next a more
challenging option to try is the same exercise but at the edge of a step while holding onto the railings place the balls of your feet on the step with your heels hanging off this variation Works your ankle joints and muscles throughout the full range of motion giving them an extra workout and finally the most advanced option perform the heel and toe raise on one leg instead of two while standing on the floor this is the ultimate exercise for boosting your walking ability I recommend doing five repetitions on each leg increase your repetitions by just 10
to 20% per week this was the key to Mora's success and you can get there too now walking is just one of the many challenges people over 50 face but there's another issue that can be even bigger yet surprisingly easy to overcome that is stairs click on this video here to discover how you can climb stairs easily with three simple exercises and a trick to do it painfree I'll see you there
