Yoga/Pilates DVDs for the over 70s or infirm

JamesBurkes

My mom wants to keep fit more and has been doing aqua aerobics in a pool and very gentle circuit training in the gym, as well as low intensity riding on the exercise bike.

However, she's 70, overweight, has arthritis in one knee and a knee replacement in the other and has a weak back. She's expressed an interest in doing Pilates or Yoga but hasn't been able to do anything as she can't do anything on the mat because of her knees (she can't put weight on them and has difficulty getting down to the floor, anyway). I do a bit of yoga but I really can't think of anything that she'd be able to do. There's no way she could even do simple poses like Upward or downward dog. Warrior poses (unless her legs are only slightly apart and dead straight) are out of the question, too. Does anyone know of any Yoga or Pilates style workouts that are gentle enough to be doable, but hard enough to make it worth doing?

Ideally I'll get her to a class first so she can get personalised instruction, but it would be good to find a DVD for her once she knows what she's doing.

AZKristi

She can do very simple pilates moves without even getting out of bed!

If she is laying on her stomach, have her raise her left leg and right arm. For some people this may be a few inches off the ground; for another person they may fully contract their lats and glutes and still have their limbs in contact with the ground. THe point is the contraction, even if you are only lifting a millimeter, if you are working your muscles that is more important than your range of motion and can still effectively strengthen the back.

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fitplease

Chair Yoga for Seniors
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chair+yoga+for+seniors&aq=f

Chair Pilates for Seniors
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chair+pilates+for+seniors&aq=0&oq=chair+pilates+fo

HTH.

JamesBurkes

Thanks for the suggestions. A friend of a friend is actually a Yoga instructor so I've just emailed her to see if she does one-to-ones. But I'll definitely check out the suggestions.

Any others?