31 Days To Strong and Steady

Take up the Let’s Get Moving challenge ‘31 Days to Strong and Steady’, you can do this any month of the year, not just January.

What: The challenge gives you 5 simple exercises to do over 31 days.

Why: The exercises can help build strength and balance and reduce joint pain. Doing the exercises regularly will make daily activities easier to do and help prevent a fall.

Where: The simple exercises can be done in the comfort of your own home and will only take a couple of minutes. You can do them while waiting for the kettle to boil, or when watching TV.

As you work through the exercises over the month, the number of repetitions and time for each exercise will increase. Use this as a guide, you can do more or less, but always listen to your body.

Download and print the January 2024 calendar and put it somewhere that reminds you to do the exercises every day, such as on your fridge.

5 simple exercises:

Sit to stand 

Sit tall in your chair

Stand up and slowly lower yourself back down, with control

Helps to strengthen important muscles in your legs

Heel raises

Stand tall with feet hip width apart

Slowly lift your heels up and back to the floor

Helps to strengthen the calf muscles

Wall press

Stand at arm’s length from the wall

Hands flat against the wall at chest level

Bend and straighten your arms

Helps strengthen your chest, arms and shoulders

One-legged stand

Stand sideways to a chair

Lift one leg and hold

Repeat on the other side

Helps with balance and coordination 

Tandem stance

Standing sideways to a chair

Place one foot directly in front of the other foot, and hold

Switch foot and repeat

Helps improve stability and also strengthens leg and trunk muscles

Surveys

Visit our Let’s Get Moving surveys page. There are two short surveys to complete. Before you start a challenge fill in the ‘starting line’ survey, then after six weeks complete the ‘follow up’ survey and let us know how you got on. The surveys are short and will only take a couple of minutes of your time.