Strengthen your calf muscles while you sit

If you do this exercise regularly, you’ll probably notice that everyday activities, such as walking briskly or climbing stairs, will become easier as your calf muscles become stronger. Exercise tubing increases the resistance to make this move more effective.

Karen Voight

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1 Sit on a mat and hold the handle of the exercise tubing in each hand. Bend your right leg, placing your right foot flat on the floor. Wrap the tubing around the ball of your left foot and straighten your left leg in front of you; keep a slight bend in your left knee. Position your upper arms at your sides, with your elbows bent close to your waist. (If the tubing tends to slip off your foot, create a loop by pushing one handle of the tubing through the other handle and place the ball of your foot through the loop. Wrap the extra tubing around one hand and use both hands to hold the tubing.)

2 Pull back slightly on the tubing, using your arms to create resistance. Slowly point your left toes forward by squeezing your left calf muscle.

Pause, then slowly return your toes to the starting position.

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Karen Voight can be reached at kvoightla@aol.com.