Start in a comfortable seated position with your feet below your knees. It provides great stimulation to help rewire the brain and improve movement after stroke. This leg exercise involves complex coordinated movements. Resistance training can help reverse muscle atrophy after stroke. Then, squeeze your knees and fists together and hold the squeeze for 8 seconds, or as long as you can. Start by making two fists and place them side by side between your knees. This is a strengthening exercise for the legs and adductors (inner thighs). As long as there is no pain, hold the stretch for 20 seconds and then come up slowly. Make sure to bend at your hips and not at your low back. To stretch out your hamstrings, reach for your toes while staying seated in your chair. Moving your muscles through their range-of-motion can help improve spasticity. But don’t neglect these stretching exercises. Spasticity can make it difficult to stretch your leg muscles. This will help stretch and warm up your ankle joint. Ankle Rollsįor this gentle range-of-motion exercise, sit comfortably in your seat and make big circles with your ankles. If you have sufficient mobility in your legs, then you can use these as a warm up or cool down exercise. They can also help those struggling with spasticity in the legs and ankles. Next, the following exercises are best for patients with limited mobility. The leg exercises above can help stroke patients of all ability levels. Gentle Seated Leg Exercises for Stroke Patients Then, kick your leg inward toward your midline. Then, kick your leg outward like you’re kicking a ball to the side. Your knee should remain bent at 90 degrees, but your foot should hover over the floor.
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Hip Flexion with Holdįor this leg exercise, sit in a chair and lift your affected leg slightly off the floor. These are the keys to stroke recovery.īelow are our best leg exercises for stroke patients. massed practice) is the best method for motor recovery after stroke.Īs you’re designing your home therapy regimen, be sure to focus on high repetition and consistency. Physical Therapy Leg Exercises for Stroke PatientsĮxercising with high repetition (i.e. They are organized from easiest to hardest. The rest of this article contains more leg exercises from Liliana, DPT. If you prefer written direction, keep reading. Physical therapist Liliana guides you through some great leg rehab exercises in this video: Video: Leg Exercises for Stroke Patients with PT Liliana Whether you’re trying to improve your gait (manner of walking) or balance, you can benefit from these rehab exercises.įeel confident knowing that each stroke exercise for legs features our favorite physical therapist, Liliana. You’ll find something for all ability levels here.
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Top 25 at-home exercises.If you’re a visual learner, then you’ll love these leg exercises for stroke patients. Tips for monitoring aerobic exercise intensity.Staying active during the coronavirus pandemic.At-home exercise routines for busy parents. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. We link primary sources - including studies, scientific references, and statistics - within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. In addition to focusing on effort, consistency is also important.Įngaging in a consistent home exercise routine 3–5 days per week can enhance physical abilities and overall physical health.
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Making an effort to alternate exertion levels or increase RPE with subsequent home workouts can help enhance a person’s cardio routine.
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RPE is a scale of intensity with 0 indicating rest and 10 referring to exercise at a person’s maximum capacity. One way that exercise experts achieve this involves a person estimating their “rate of perceived exertion or effort,” or RPE. With cardiovascular workouts, a person must focus not only on the exercises themselves but also on their effort and intensity when performing them.