My Favorite Exercise

The best exercises are the ones that just repeat an action you want to be able to do. The one I think is most useful is getting out of a chair. Nearly any chair that a person usually sits in will do. Have him stand up, get his balance and then sit back down. Repeat. There is no magic number to perform. Just do as many as he is able to do. It should not be painful and he should be able to stay in a standing position. He can only do this unsupervised if getting out of a chair is something he can already do on his own. When he does it 5, 10 or 20 times in a row, then it is an exercise! If he already requires your assistance then have him do it a few times in a row with your assistance. Give him cues to do more of it himself. Like "put your hands on the arms of the chair and help push yourself up." If he has his hands around your neck and you lift him up, you are only getting him more dependent and getting yourself a sore neck! If he has very painful knees then this is not a good exercise. Again, an exercise can safely pinch, pull or stretch, but it should not hurt. This exercise should be done at least 3 times a week and daily is better!