Posted On: November 16, 2023

Top 5 Functional Movements You Can Practice at Home

Did you know that your ability to perform certain functional movements is correlated to greater longevity? Examples of such movements are balance, strength, power, flexibility, speed, and more.

Let’s take balance as an example – balance ability typically starts to decline around 40 years of age. After we turn 50, individuals typically lose about 25% of their balance ability each decade. We also know balance is directly correlated with fall risk, and falls are the cause of up to 90% of hip fractures.

As another example, one’s ability to do push-ups is directly linked with risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack.  Read more about these examples and more in our post on fitness level and longevity.

But how can you ensure you are maintaining healthy functional movement? The good news is that there are simple movements you can practice — and they are easy to implement at home!  Check out the suggested exercises below and get started on maximizing your own longevity.

1. & 2. Balance and Motor Control

Standing on one leg while brushing your teeth.

Stand and Grab your toes, rock back and forth shifting weight. Take a step if you need to.

3. Endurance

Walking:

• Try for at least 7500 steps a day.
• If you find yourself losing your balance use a stick or assistive device.

4. Flexibility

Floor to stand:

• After playing with a child, grandchild, pet or gardening, try to get into standing without significant use of upper extremities.

5. Strength

Grip strength: Farmers carry

Core strength: Push ups/planks

While watching TV, sit up and down off your chair at each commercial break.

 

Julie Johnson, PT, DPT, is with our physical therapy partner MovementX. Therapists from MovementX provide complimentary Functional Fitness Tests annually for our members. These tests are one of the many elements of comprehensive preventive care we incorporate into our concierge internal medicine membership at Eileen West, MD and Associates.