I have been working on in-home walking, including doing a sit-walk and experimenting with sitting in different chairs. I have duplicated the four basic steps in home walking.
- Walking in place.
- Kicks
- Knee raises
- Side to side
One of the benefits of doing in-home walking is that you also get to practice upper body movements. Since I no longer have the balance to do the in-home walking without assistance, I have been trying to adapt to workouts with my upright walker and seated workouts. Using my upright walker, I am using my body's resistance in the walking steps. But I can't duplicate the upper body movements. The resistance for my legs is excellent, and I get the benefit of building stronger core and leg muscles and bones with resistance. Using sit walking, I get to the benefit of the upper body movements and the steps done in sit walking.
I am doing these workouts for one- or two-mile walks. I am continuing my biking, so many days, I am easily doing 45 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercises. I do feel the difference aerobically, and when I walk with my cane, it seems as if I am walking better.
This is all about making adaptions as we get older. I do believe that what I am experiencing is the loss of balance with my handicap from that experience. I can share these ideas with you because there will be times when you are recovering from something, and sit-walking can be very beneficial.
As they get older, I have noticed that people find it harder to get up from a chair, get out of a car, or perform other independent movements. There are many reasons for this, so I don't want to be too simplistic, but I do believe that people can be helped to recover from their difficulties. Some sedimentary people would greatly benefit from sit-walking.
Check with your doctor and always listen to your body's signals before beginning any exercise program.