How To Feel 10 Years Younger

Will Harlow, over-50s specialist physio, shows us how to turn back the clock:

Reach for youthfulness

Most of mobility is lost through lack of use. If we’re afraid of stretching fully, we’ll stop a little short, and then our body will adapt, and the shorter reach becomes our new maximum reach. This process continues until such a time as we are completely stiff.

So, never has “use it lose it” been so critical! With this in mind, here are 5 exercises to take your range of motion back to its previous levels:

1. Open the gate: stand tall holding a wall or similar support, shift your weight onto one leg, lift your other knee, and move it up, out to the side, and around in a smooth circle before placing your foot back down; keep your back upright throughout to gently mobilize your hips and wake up the surrounding hip muscles, supporting long-term hip joint health.
2. Dynamic hamstring sweep: stand with one foot forward and your heel on the floor, keep your front leg straight and your back knee slightly bent, then hinge down as you sweep your hands along your front leg and return upright; move in and out of the stretch in a controlled way to warm up your hamstrings before activity (but skip this one if you have sciatica, like we mentioned yesterday).
3. Overhead reach: sit upright away from a chair back with your feet flat on the floor, interlace your fingers or stack them together, reach your arms overhead, turn your palms upwards, and push gently towards the ceiling; this opens your chest, improves your shoulder mobility, and helps counter stiffness from ergonomically unfriendly phone use, poorly angled typing, and other daily bad posture habits.
4. Seated side bend: sit tall with your hands crossed over your chest, keep your head aligned with your shoulders, and slowly lean your whole torso to one side without lifting your hips, then return to center and switch sides; move slowly and with control to explore your spinal range of motion without forcing it.
5. Towel shoulder stretch: hold a towel overhead with one hand and grasp it behind your back with your other hand, keeping your back upright as you gently pull upwards to lift your lower arm until you feel a stretch in the front of your shoulder, then lightly guide your elbow forwards; hold comfortably, ease off slowly, and repeat on the other side to improve shoulder range of motion for everyday reaching tasks.

For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!