Mark: Hi. My name is Mark Watterson. I'm a physiotherapist who specialises in musculoskeletal injuries and neurological rehabilitation. My main passion in life is helping those recover from their stroke. I'm proud to bring you these activities in the videos you're about to watch.

Craig: In this set of activities, you will need a clear space on the floor. Before starting the warm up to this activity, it is very important that carers and family members watch the "Advice and exercises for carers" video.

Mark: OK, Green Group. This is your flexibility activity for your warm up. So what you need to be doing is you will be standing with a nice, strong, stable base of support with feet shoulder width apart. From here, we're going to march on the spot with high knees at the same time, we're going to warm up our shoulders up and down, like so. We're gonna do this for 60 seconds when you're ready. Here we go. And let's start. So high knees and raise those arms above your head. You may feel a little bit stiff. That's totally fine. Ease yourself into it and try and get your knees higher as time goes by. You may feel a little bit out of breath already. Perfectly normal. Control your breathing. This is you warm up. Keep doing what you're doing. We are halfway there. Keep going. Well done. Doing great. Nice and easy for your warm up. Keep those arms nice and high if you can. Full body warm up. Loosen up all the joints. Getting your heart rate going and warming up the muscles. Not long left now. Here we go. Five more seconds. Three, two, one. And relax. Keep yourself a few moments now to go through the coaching points for this activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. March with high knees whilst raising your arms above your heads and keep going for one minute.

Mark: OK Green Group. This is your first exercise for your flexibility activities. So what you wanna do, you wanna be standing once again, feet shoulder width apart, nice and firm and stable with your base of support. What you want to do next, Okay, is going to focus on our breathing as we try and stretch out our whole body. So from this position, we're going to breathe out, and as you breathe in, we're going to raise our arms to the ceiling. And breathe out there. On the next breath in, we're going to tilt your head back and stretch back with, like so and breathe out. Another breath in. And as we breathe out now, we're gonna come right down to the floor as low as you can and hold onto your ankles or your feet and hold yourself there. Deep breath in. Breathe out. On the next breath in, you're gonna bring yourself up to your thighs. You're gonna stick your bum out and you're going to stretch your chest out. And breathe out and breathe in. As we breathe out, we're going to slide back down and hold that stretch. Just maintain your breathing now When you're ready, we're going to come back up into the start position. Relax yourself and we're going to do that one more time. So again, nice deep breaths. Nice and controlled. So deep breath in as we raise our arms to the ceiling. And breathe out. Next breath in we tilt our head up and lean back. And breathe out. As we breathe in and breathe out, we go back down to the floor, feeling that stretch. Deep breath in again and breathe out. As you breathe back in, we're going to bring yourself back up to our thighs again. Rest ourselves there, stick our bum out, stretch the chest and control your breathing. Deep breath in. And on the next breath, let's go back down and let's hold it there. 10 seconds. Focus on your breathing, five, four, three, two, one and slowly bring yourself back up to the starting position. Give yourself a few moments now to go through the coaching point for this activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Breathe in and raise arms above your head, tilt your body back slightly to fill the stretch along your chest and tummy. As you breathe out, fall forwards by bending at the hips and allow your arms to hang near your feet or hold onto your ankles for support. Hold here and take two breaths. Feel that stretch along your back. Slide your hands to just above your knees, stick your bottom out and lift your head. You will feel your back lengthening. Fall forwards again and take two breaths. Slowly come back up to the start position.

Mark: OK, Green Group. This is your second activity for your flexibility. So you'll be standing once again, feet shoulder width apart, nice and stable with your base of support. What you gonna do, you gonna side step out of the right and then you're going to take a small step forward. With the leading foot, you're going to turn the foot out to the side a little bit. And from there we're gonna lunge into that leg where you're going to feel the stretch down the inside of your opposite leg. We're gonna hold that now for 15 seconds. Here we go. Use your arm if you like to support yourself, but just keep that leg straight and feel the stretch. Keep holding it there. Well done. You are going to feel this in this leg as well. Few more seconds and well done. Staying in this position, we're gonna raise the opposite arm up overhead, and we're gonna lean over now for another 15 seconds. Here we go. So now we're stretching out the side of our body. Here we go, well done. This is quite challenging, keep it up. Just a few more seconds to go. And relax. Bring yourself back down to the middle. Nice and controlled. And we're gonna do the same on the other leg. So with your left leg now, take a step out, take a step forward. That that leading leg turn your foot outwards slightly and lunge into it. Feel the stretch down the opposite leg. Hold it there for 15 seconds. Here we go. Support yourself if needed. Feel that stretch down the inside of your leg. Keep it going. Well done. Just a few more seconds. And relax. Same again. Opposite hand up and lean yourself over. Stretching out the side of your back. And 15 seconds. Here we go. Keep it going, nearly done. Keep that stretch. Really feel it. Loosening yourself up. Few more seconds. Here we go. And relax. Well done. Give yourself a few moments now to go through the coaching points of this activity that we have just shown you.

Craig: Take one leg out to the side and bring it slightly forward. Turn your front foot out to the side. Lunge forward into your front leg and feel the stretch alongside the inside of your back leg. Raise your opposite arm above your head and lean over towards your front leg. Hold for 15 seconds. And then repeat on the opposite side.

Mark: OK. Green Group. This is your last exercise for your flexibility. That's what you need to do is get yourself safely on the floor. Starting on your knees. From here, you're gonna get yourself onto all fours, placing your hands on the floor and bringing your knees back. You must ensure that you have your shoulders directly above your hands so that you are not taking the weight into your joints. It's going into your shoulder. So you're nice and firm. From here, you're going to focus on bringing your back or your spine to the ceiling and giving it a nice arch. Just like so. From that position, you're gonna come back to the middle, like so. And then you're gonna arch your back and tilt your head up like so. And then you're gonna go back to the position, like this. We're gonna do that five seconds each time. Here we go. So, arch your back up. Big stretch. One, two, three, four, five, back in the middle. And arch your back up, one, two, three, four, five, back in the middle. And arch up, one, two, three, four, five, back in the middle. And arch your back. Stick your bum out. One, two, three, four, five, back in the middle. One more time. And one, two, three, four, five, back in the middle. Last one: one, two, three, four, five. From this position, bring your hands forward. Keep your knees where you are and fall back into your bum, stretching out your shoulders and your back and fall backwards. Hold this for 10 seconds. Here we go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and 10. Bring yourself back up. Bring your arms back and relax. Give yourself a moment there to go through the coaching points for this activity we have just shown you.

Craig: Get safely on your hands and knees on the floor. Ensure your shoulders are in line with your wrists and that your hips are in line with your knees. Round your back, moving your spine towards the ceiling and hold for five seconds. Now arch your back, taking your tummy towards the floor and hold for five seconds. Repeat this three times.

Mark: Hi, my name is Mark Watterson. I'm a physiotherapist who specialises in musculoskeletal injuries and neurological rehabilitation. My main passion in life is helping those recover from their stroke. I'm proud to bring you these activities in the videos you're about to watch.

Craig: In this set of activities, you will need a chair or work top to support your balance and a wall. Before starting the warm up to this activity, it is very important that carers and family members watch the "Advice and exercises for carers" video.

Mark: Okay, Amber group. This is your warm up for your flexibility exercises. So, for this, you will need to be standing. Now to make yourself feel a bit more secure or supported, you can use a surface to lean on to if you need to. For this demonstration, I'm just using a chair. If you wish to use a kitchen countertop or a table surface, that's perfectly fine. What you're gonna do then, give yourself a nice, strong base of support. Shoulder width apart feet. Find your balance. Make sure your weight is distributed evenly between your legs, and we're just gonna march for 30 seconds, trying to get the knees as high as we can, up to our waist. So let's give that a go. 30 second march. Here we go. And go. Nice high knees. Find your balance, your support's there if you need. If not, then try and do it without. Maybe focus on a target in the background to help with your balance. Nice and controlled in your own pace. And get those knees high up. Few more seconds and relax. Use the support if you needed to steady yourself as you give yourself a little rest. We're going to do that one more time. Only this time, we're going to step forward and we're going to step back again. Use the support if you need to, just to begin with. If you feel confident, then don't use the support. Here we go. Another 30 seconds. Only this time stepping forward and back. And away we go. And step forward and back. And forward and back. So right foot, left foot. One, two. Keep it going. Well done, keep the knees high. One step forward and one step back. Support's there if you need it or if you're getting tired. If not, take your hand off. Make sure you're safe. Few more seconds. And relax yourself there. Give yourself a few moments now to go through the coaching points of this activity that we have just shown you.

Craig: Stand tall with your feet hip width apart. March with high knees for 30 seconds. Hold on to the back of a chair or work top if you need to steady yourself. Step forwards and backwards in a marching motion. Again hold a support if needed to study yourself and do this for 30 seconds to

Mark: Okay, Amber group. This is your first exercise for your flexibility group. So what you need to do now you need to be standing once again and you have your stable surface or support to assist with your balance, if you need that. Again, I'm just gonna use a chair for this demonstration. Feel free to use whatever you feel comfortable with. So we're going to stretch out our calves today. Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're going to face towards the stable surface that we're using. Okay. We're gonna grab hold of the object and you're going to take a step back of one of your feet, doesn't matter which one, as long as you're safe, okay? And you're going to make sure that the back heel of the foot that is behind you is in contact with the floor. From there, you're going to bend the knee of the leg that's forward, and you're going to stretch it like so into this lunge position. You're going to feel the stretch down the back of your leg. You want to hold it there for 10 seconds. Let's do that now. Four, three, two, one and relax. Bring yourself back up and repeat it with the other leg. So bring it back. Keep the heel on the floor, bend this knee, lean into it, use the support and hold it there. Here we go for another 10 seconds. And ten, three, two, one, and relax. Bring yourself back up. Give yourself a minute to rest. we're going to do that one more time. With a little progression, we're gonna bring our feet closer together. So if you're ready, if you're comfortable, get back into that position. Only this time you're going to bring the foot that's going behind you right behind the opposite one. So both both your toes and feet are facing forward behind each other. Push that heel back down into the floor. And lean into your leg. Let's hold it there, 10 seconds, here we go. four, three, two, one and relax. Bring yourself back up and repeat with the other leg. Bring it behind you. Keep the heel down. Lean into that opposite leg. Here we go. Final 10 seconds for your stretch. Four, three, two, one. And relax. Bring yourself back up. Well done. Give yourself a few moments there to go through the coaching points for this activity that we have just shown you.

Craig: Stand with a chair or work top in front of you to aid your balance if needed. Take one foot backwards make sure your heel is in contact with the floor. Bend your front leg until you can feel a stretch in the calf of your back leg. Hold that stretch for 10 seconds and then repeat with your other leg to progress. Bring your feet a bit closer together and repeat the activity.

Mark: Okay Amber Group. This is your second exercise now for your flexibility category. So you will be standing once again and you will need a chair or something stable at your side for your support. Only this time you want it on your stronger side. So you've got that to balance yourself as you do this exercise. So nice. Stable feet, shoulder width apart. Okay. What you gonna do with your stronger on, you're gonna rested on that surface, ideally a chair so we can slide up and down. And what you're gonna to focus on is sliding your hips and your hand down to that side for the stretch. Bring it back up, and then you're gonna slide your hand down the chair. So you've got that support stretching out your weaker side. We're going to do that for 10 seconds. Here we go. So let's head over now to one side and hold it for 10 seconds. Five seconds to go. Two, one and relax. Bring yourself back up. Now we're gonna go to the other side, using the support. Feel the stretch and hold it there. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one. And relax. Bring yourself back up. But to do that one more time, but we'll try and increase the stretch. Now you're just gonna go a little bit wider with your feet and we're gonna do the same again. So other side and slide your hand down. Let's hold it there for 10 seconds. Keep going. Five seconds to go, four, three, two, one and up we go. And last one to the other side. Slide your hand down the support. Greater stretch. 10 seconds. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. And relax, bring yourself back up. Give yourself a few moments now to go through the coaching points for this activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Stand with a chair on your stronger side and place your stronger hand on the chair. Slide your weaker arm down your weaker leg, towards your knee. Hold here for 10 seconds. Repeat on your stronger side by sliding your hand down the back of the chair towards the seat. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat again but try to widen your feet so you get more of a stretch down the side of your body.

Mark: Okay, Amber group. This is your third and final exercise now, regarding your flexibility. So what you need to be doing, is you need to be standing close to a wall. If you feel a bit insecure, you can have a chair or support by you at mid height. If not, you can always use your stronger arm to balance yourself on the wall. So what you want to do. Just give yourself a nice, wide, stable base of support, and what you need to do is with your weaker arm, is you want to try and get as much wrist extension as you can with the fingers also extended. Now, some people might find it difficult to extend the fingers and the wrist. Just ease yourself into it. If you do struggle to get full extension of the wrist and fingers, then just work with what you've got, as long as it's pain free and within your comfort zone, that's fine. So if you do struggle to get that extension, you want to support your hand onto the wall like so. Okay. And you're gonna put your stronger hand on the wall also, and you're just gonna lean into your arms. And as you can see, we're trying to create that wrist extension, and we're just going to hold it there. So we're stretching out the muscles in the forearm there. Okay. Now, for those who do have an extension in the fingers and the wrist, what you want to do is try and get your palm nice and flat. With your weaker and stronger arm and again, we just want to hold it there, a little bit of weight into the arms that are bent, and we're going to hold it for 20 seconds. Here we go. Try and be even and balanced through both arms. Make sure you're not in any pain or discomfort. You will feel some tightness. That's perfectly fine. And it should start to ease up. Okay, a few more seconds. And relax yourself there. If you need to control your arm down, give yourself a few minutes to rest. And we're going to do that one more time. Okay? Little progression, if you wish to is we're going to get their arms back in there, if we can. Full extent of the fingers and the wrist again. If you can achieve that, that's perfectly fine. This time you're going to place your arms back on and what you wanna do, maybe just take a little step back so your arms are straight and then keep the elbows locked and then lean into your hands for a greater stretch. Here we go. Last stretch. 20 seconds. Here we go. You're trying to keep your elbows locked and just slow lean your body weight into your hands. Again, work within your range. Make sure it's pain free. A few more seconds. And relax there. Give yourself a few moments now to go through the coaching points for this activity that we have just shown you.

Craig: Stand facing the wall with your feet wide to make you stable. Try to get both hands flat to the wall. If you cannot straighten your fingers, that's OK, try to get your palms as flat as you can. Hold here for 15 seconds. To progress, step further away from the wall and hold for a further 15 seconds. Please ensure that whilst doing this exercise you are pain free.

Nicole: Hello. I'm Nicole Lavin. I'm a specialist neurological physiotherapist, and I specialise in stroke rehabilitation. I have over 20 years experience working with stroke survivors following them through their journey from the acute stages, right the way through the rehabilitation process up until discharge. I feel absolutely privileged to be here today, working with A Stroke of Luck in collaboration with the Stroke Association to bring you these activity videos. I hope you enjoy.

Mark: Hi, my name is Mark Watterson. I'm also a physiotherapist who specialises in musculoskeletal injuries and neurological rehabilitation. My main passion in life is helping those recover from their stroke. I'm proud to bring you these activities in the videos you're about to watch.

Craig: In this set of activities, you will need a pillow, your chair or wheelchair and your carer or family member. Before starting the warm up to this activity, it is very important that carers and family members watched the "Advice and exercises for carers" video.

Mark: Okay, Red Group, this is your flexibility exercise, which will be your warm up to start you off. You will need a carer or a family member with you throughout this exercise. So we do suggest that you look back at the advice and guidance videos for carers before you begin. So for this warm up, you need to be seated in a chair. If you can, you need to be unsupported, sitting up tall, engaging your trunk and core. If you struggle with that, that's perfectly fine. Use the support of the chair throughout. However, do as much as you can stay unsupported, even if it's just a few seconds. So with the arm already supported in a pillow, you're gonna keep up there to ensure that the shoulder is in a nice, stable position. Okay, carers or family members, you're gonna get yourself down. You're going to support the weaker leg. Okay, by placing your hands underneath the knee and you're going to straighten out the weaker leg just to the point where they feel comfortable, they shouldn't feel stretch already. Don't force it into pain again, at a position and at a range where they're comfortable. Then what you're gonna do. You gonna ask your stroke survivor to hold on to her weaker hand with her stronger hand, and you're just gonna slowly slide forward to a comfortable position where the just about feel the stretch underneath their leg in the hamstring. This may be a small movement. That's totally fine. Go within your limit where you're pain free, you will feel slight discomfort because this will be a stretch. And what you want to do is hold it there. So if you bring yourself back, we'll go for a 15 second stretch now. Away we go. So bring yourself forward. Just hold the where you can feel it. but you're comfortable. Carers, don't try and force this leg out. Just keep it there. Okay. Well done. Carers, you're going to put the leg back down on the floor. Then you're gonna ask your stroke survivor to keep hold of your hand. Extend your stronger leg in the air and same again, you're gonna lean forward until you feel the stretch. What we'll do is we'll hold that now for 15 seconds. Again, you may find you have a bit more range of movement with the stronger side. That's perfectly normal. Just go towards that limit where you can feel it working. And well done. Put the leg down. Moving up into your trunk now. You're going to remove the support of the pillow from the weaker arm. Carers, family members, we're going to keep the arms supported and you're going to support at the forearm, like so. You're gonna drop your arms over the edge and you're gonna tilt side to side, stretching out your trunk to your limit, and we come back. Then going to come over to this side, ensuring that the arm is supported throughout, especially as she comes back up. You're not pulling the arm, you're not dragging it. You're lifting it up with her to get that full stretch down the sides. We're going to do that now for 30 seconds. Away we go. Try not to go too far. Just a nice comfortable limit. Again carers, make sure you are not pulling this arm. It is snug right up in that shoulder. Make sure you're safe and feel comfortable, pain free. And relax there. Gonna to place the arm back on, and gonna to ask your stroke survivor to support the arm again. And we're gonna do one more set of each. So carers, back on the floor, hands underneath the leg. Lift it up to the point of the stretch and ask your stroke survivor stretch forward. 15 seconds. One more time. You might find you have a bit more range of movement now. After your first stretch. And relax. Back you go. And same again now with a stronger leg. Lift it up, and lean yourself forward. If your stroke survivor feels a bit uncomfortable leaning forward, you can always support them like so. So they feel a bit more stable. And back you go. And then carers, we're going to return to the weaker arm. Support it behind the arm, at the forearm, hands over the side. We're gonna tilt for 30 seconds. Away we go. Keep that arm supported nice and snug in that shoulder joint. Lift it up. As she goes over to her stronger side. Carers, make sure you're in a nice, stable position, not bending your back, keeping it nice and [indecipherable]. There you go. Give yourself a few moments now to go through the coaching points from this exercise we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit in your chair and support your weaker arm with a pillow. Try to sit away from the back of the chair. However, if this is difficult, rest back. Straighten your weaker knee. Your carer will help you to do this. Only straighten as far as your leg will allow. Slide your hands forwards so that you bend slightly in the middle until you can feel a stretch in the back of your leg. Use your stronger hand to assist your weaker hand, but do not pull your arm. You may feel slight discomfort when performing this stretch, which is normal. Hold for 15 seconds. And then repeat with your stronger leg. Now reach down to the side towards the floor or wheels of your chair. Start towards your stronger side and then to your weaker side. Your carer will support your weaker arm as you do this and also help you to return to the middle. Your carer must not pull or push your arm. Do not move too far, just as far as is comfortable. Repeat for 30 seconds. Rest and then repeat the whole warm up again.

Mark: Okay, Red group. This is your first exercise for your flexibility. So you will be seated in your wheelchair or a chair, and you will need a carer or family member with you to help you with this exercise. So what you wanna do, you want to have your weaker arm supported by a pillow, and what we're trying to do is try to straighten out that weaker wrist and hand and trying to get some nice extension so you can increase the movement and release some of that tone down your weaker arm. So to do this, you can ask your carer to come in, handle the weaker hand, try and lift the thumb up slightly and get your hand into your fingers. So you bring about that wrist extension then as the stroke survivor to place their hand, their stronger hand, palms together like so. So the fingers are nice and flat against each other. From there, you're gonna block the wrist of the weaker arm and you're gonna support the weaker elbow to prevent the arm from moving. And, you're then, from here, we're going to go back and forward like so. And we're gonna hold it for two seconds, and then we're gonna go in the opposite direction, to which you may need a bit of support as you bring it across. And back into the middle to finish off. We're gonna do five reps on each side. Away we go. OK, one. Two. Well done and bring it across. One two, well done. Block the wrist, bring it back over. One, two, well done. Assist with the movement. One, two. Well done. Carry on with the blocking. Well done and assist with the movement. Don't force it. Don't pull it, just enough where we're slowly stretching out the wrist and increasing that range of movement. There you go and back again. One, two. Well done. One, two. Well done. One more, each side. And one, two, well done. Place the arm back down on the bed, supported by the pillow. Give yourself a few moments now to go through the exercises and the coaching points that we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit in your chair or wheelchair with your weaker arm supported on a pillow. Your carer will help you to open up your weaker hand. Bring your stronger hand over to your weaker hand and try to place palms together. Try to get your fingers as straight as possible, but don't worry if you are unable to do this fully. Move your hands backwards and forwards assisting your movement with your stronger hand. Do not push past any pain or resistance. Repeat five times in each direction.

Mark: Red group. This is your second exercise now for flexibility. Once again, you're gonna be in your chair or your wheelchair, and you will need to carer or family member to support you throughout this exercise. Once again, feel free to look back at the guidance for carers exercise video that we did before. So what you gonna do? You gonna have your weaker arm supported on a pillow. Okay. And you're gonna ask your carer to support just above the elbow, ensuring that the shoulder is supported and not dragging down. You're gonna ask your stroke survivor to grab hold of their weaker hand, like so. You're gonna bring that up to your mouth, okay? And you're gonna bring your arm outwards palm up until you feel the stretch or your limit. Once you feel your limit, don't force it into pain. Don't try and extend into a position where it's uncomfortable. Just relax there and bring it back up to your mouth. Carers are supporting at the, just above the elbow the whole time as the stroke survivor goes through the movement. Also for carers, once they've reached their limit, and regarding there's no pain, you can just provide a little bit more extension just for the greater stretch in that bicep. And if they need to, you can assist them up. But they should be OK with that. We're gonna do five reps of them, but we're gonna hold it for 10 seconds at the very end. So here we go. We're going to support, stretch it to the limit, a little bit extra and hold. And there's 10. Let's bring it back up. And nice and slow, let's extend the wrist and the elbow and hold. And again bring it back up and back down. Each time you might find you've got a bit more range of movement and it's less uncomfortable. 10 seconds again. And for your fourth rep, here we go, 10 seconds. And last one. Well done. Big stretch. Final 10 seconds. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and relax. Give yourself a few moments now to go back through the coaching points for this exercise you just watched.

Craig: Sitting in your chair or wheelchair with your weaker arm supported on a pillow. Hold your weaker wrist with your stronger hand. Bring your weaker hand towards your mouth, try to get your fingers to touch your mouth. Slowly take your hand back towards the pillow, trying to get the back of your hand to touch it. Only move as far as your arm allows and do not push past any pain or resistance. Hold for 10 seconds. Your carer will support your weaker arm throughout and assist you if needed. Repeat five times.

Mark: Red Group. This is your third exercise now for flexibility. Once again, you're gonna be sitting in your chair and you will need a carer or family member with you. If carers feel like they do need a bit of guidance with handling for this exercise, you can look back at the exercise and guides videos already provided. So you're already sitting in your chair. If you can, you want to sit yourself unsupported. If you struggle with that, that's fine. Get your carer or a family member to place a pillow length ways behind your lower back so you feel like you are away from the back support of the chair. What you're gonna ask your stroke survivors to do is move your stronger arm and support your weaker arm underneath the elbow, so it's protected like so. The elbow is supporting the shoulder. What you're gonna do from here is you're going to tilt to the side, bring yourself back. And almost like a circle to work on the flexibility of your trunk. So what, you're want, bring yourself back around nice and slow and forward in this sort of movement. Carers or family member, to make your stroke survivor feel a bit more safe or secure. You can place your hand just on the chest and on the lower back, and you can just guide them. And just make them secure specifically when we come forward to get that stretch into their lower back. You're not doing the movement for them. You just guiding them. And what we want to do is five reps one way, then five reps the other. So we'll do that now. Here we go. And here there is one. And two, nice stretch. And what you want to try and imagine is increasing those circles each time. There we go. And we're gonna go five the other way. That's one. And two, three, four, last one. And five. Give yourself a moment there to look back at the coaching points for this exercise we've just shown you.

Craig: Sitting tall in your chair and, if possible, away from the back of the chair. Use a pillow at your lower back to help with this. Hold your weaker arm and support it under your elbow. Try to move your body in a circular motion. Your carer can support your body to make you feel more confident whilst you do this. Do five circles in one direction and then five in the other.

Nicole: Hello. I'm Nicole Lavin. I'm a specialist neurological physiotherapist, and I specialise in stroke rehabilitation. I have over 20 years experience working with stroke survivors following them through their journey from the acute stages, right the way through the rehabilitation process up until discharge. I feel absolutely privileged to be here today, working with A Stroke of Luck in collaboration with the Stroke Association to bring you these activity videos. I hope you enjoy.

Mark: Hi, my name is Mark Watterson. I'm also a physiotherapist who specialises in musculoskeletal injuries and neurological rehabilitation. My main passion in life is helping those recover from their stroke. I'm proud to bring you these activities in the videos you're about to watch.

Craig: In this set of activities, you will need a chair, a pillow and your carer or family member. Before starting the warm up to this activity, tt is very important that carers and family members watched the "Advice and Exercises for Carers" video.

Nicole: Okay, red group. This is your stamina warm up activity. And for this activity, you will need your carer or family member to assist you. It is important that your carer or family member has watched the advice and guidance video for carers before taking part in this activity. Okay, so the warm up, we're going to start with marching. Okay, so your strokes survivor needs to be sitting in a chair or wheelchair, sit up as tall as possible, and if needed, you can have a pillow to support the weaker arm. We're going to start with a 30 second march. Okay, so stronger leg, just lifting it up off the floor. Okay, Try to get your hip hop high and back down again. And, carer, you're going to facilitate the lift of the weaker leg, so you'll need a hand underneath knee and perhaps around ankle or foot, and you're going to lift and down. Okay, so we're going to do that activity for 30 seconds for the first part of the warmup. Are we ready? Okay, so hands in position. Ready when you are, off you go. That's it. Good. Just go at your own speed. It doesn't matter how many you do. It's just trying to get you warmed up for 30 seconds. If your stroke survivor can join in, in the weak, with the weaker leg, that's brilliant. Okay, keep that going. 30 seconds. The last couple, okay and rest. Okay, so that's part one of your warm up the second part of your warm up, we're still working on lower limbs. Okay, So what you're going to do with your stronger leg, you're going to kick it out so that your leg's, your knee's straight, Okay. And then bring it back. Let your heel touch the floor, and you're going to facilitate the weaker leg, Okay, So same exercise. Bringing it down, back, touch the floor. As soon as that touches, that one goes back out. We're going to do that five repetitions each side. Are we ready? Off you go. Straight down, up and down. That's two. Up, and down. Okay. Thinking about your handling where your facilitating so again, around the knee and foot and ankle. Okay. And again, joining as much as you can. Last one. And last one on this side. You might not get the full range. Just work within what range is available. Okay, The last part of the warm up activity. Okay, Is looking at your upper body. So for this activity, you're going to be working your stronger arm first of all, trying to straighten out your elbow, bringing it up to shoulder height. Okay, 'bout there and then back down again. And we're going to do the same on the weaker arm. Okay? Again, we're going to do five repetitions. Carer handling, you need to support shoulder. Okay. And around wrist to take the weight of the arm. Okay. So stronger side first. Up, down. Up, and down. Up. And down. Straighten out as much as you can. Take the weight of the arm and down. That's two Three. And three. And again, you might not get the range, and it should not be working within any pain. So just go within your available range of movement. And final one. Okay. And rest. Okay. And well done. That's your warm up complete. We're just going to take a short pause there so you can go over the coaching points for the activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit in your chair as tall as you can and support your weaker arm with a pillow. March your legs while sitting in the chair. Start with your stronger leg and then move to your weaker leg. Your carer will assist your weaker leg to do this but join in as much as you can and keep marching for 30 seconds. Now straighten your stronger leg and then bend your knee to bring your foot back to the floor. Then repeat with your weaker leg. Your carer will help your weaker leg to do this. But again, join in as much as you can. Repeat five times each side. Straighten your stronger arm and bring your arm up to shoulder height. Repeat with your weaker arm with your carer assisting you to do this. Do not move past pain or restrictions. Repeat five times with each arm.

Nicole: Okay, this is exercise one for the Red Group for stamina exercises. Okay, for this activity, you need to be sitting in your wheelchair or chair, okay? And you're going to be doing some upper limb movements with a little bit of trunk rotation. Um, your carer or family member needs to be supporting the weaker arm. Okay, so we're going to take the support if there is any support in place out for this activity, just so you get a little bit more trunk rotation. You want to stand with a wide base, so you're taking the weight of the arm. Okay, so with your stronger arm, make a fist, okay? And bring it out to punch across your body, bringing in some rotation activity there. And whilst your stroke survivor is doing that, you are supporting the weight of the weaker arm. Then we're going to do it on the weaker arm. So you may need to support elbow and shoulder with one hand whilst you facilitate them making the fist. Okay, make the fist we're going to bring get round and across the body. Really bend your knees and really give it a good stretch around. Okay, bring it back to the start position. Take the weight of the elbow. So you support your shoulder, and then where possible, try to un-grip the hand and fingers. This might be difficult if there is any increased tone or spasticity in the hand. But do what you can to get a bit of a stretch. So we're taking it through the available range. Okay. For this exercise, we're going to do it for 30 seconds alternate. Are we ready? Off we go. Strong side first, all the way round. Make the fist, across, back. Open. Well done, keep that going. Get as much rotation as possible and out. Good. Make that fist, round we go. And relax. We'll take a short pause there so you can go through the coaching points for the activity that we have just shown you.

Craig: Sit in your chair. Your carer will help you to move your weaker arm. But do try to join in. Make a fist with your stronger arm and punch across your body, turning your body as you do this. Now, do this with your weaker arm. Your carer will help you to make a fist and move your arm across your body. Do not push past pain or restrictions. Repeat with alternate arms for 30 seconds.

Nicole: Okay, Red Group. This is your second exercise of the stamina stamina group. Okay. And for this activity, your stroke survivor needs to be in sitting in the chair or wheelchair with the weaker arm supported if required. This exercise is actually going to be working on the lower part of the body. Okay, we're going to work on similar activity to what we did in the warm up. So you're going to have the knee straightening out, okay and tapping down. And when the heel hits the floor, the opposite leg, so the weaker leg, you're actually going to lift up towards the roof and down. As this heel taps down, you're then going to go back into another cycle. So it's knee out, down, hip up down, knee out, down, hip up, down. We're going to do this activity for one minute, okay? Carer or family member, you need to take the weight of the leg. Okay? So your hand will be underneath the knee and again around foot and ankle. Okay? And I'll show you as we're going through this how to handle the limb. Okay. Are we ready? One minute. Off you go. So kick the knee out. Heel down. On heel down, up. Down. Out, so you're taking the weight, down. Up, down. Out, down. Up, down. Out, down. Up, down. Keep that going. Out, down. Up, down. Out, down. Up, down. Keep this going for one minute. Okay? And if you're stroke survivor can join in with the weaker leg. That's excellent. Out, down. Up, down. Out, down. Up, down and rest. Okay, let's take a short pause there so you can go over the coaching points of the activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit in your chair with your weaker arm supported with a pillow. Straighten your stronger knee and then bring your foot back to the start position. Bring your weakening up towards the ceiling and then take your foot back to the floor. Next, straighten your weaker knee and then bring your foot back to the start position. Lift your stronger knee up towards the ceiling and then take your foot back to the floor. Your carer will help your weaker leg to do this, but join in as much as you can. Repeat this sequence for one minute.

Nicole: Stamina Red Group Exercise three. Okay, Red Group. This is the third and final exercise from your stamina set of exercises. Your stroke survivor will be in the chair or wheelchair, and if they can sit forward and place a pillow or some support across the lower part of their back, just to give them a little bit of feedback throughout this exercise. Carer, you need to be stood on their weaker arm and this is a trunk exercise. So we're looking at stability and stamina, and we're looking at symmetry of movement as you're moving through the exercise. So carer, you're handling is going to be around wrist and supporting shoulder. OK, hand on the lap if it can. Okay. And you're going to work in symmetry if you can. Okay. To take your hands down, slide them down past the knees, so bringing your head down and then you're coming back up until you feel back in contact with the pillow support at the back of the chair. It is really important that the carer handling here does not pull the arm. You are literally going trying to get the symmetry of movement with the stronger arm. Okay, we're going to do this for 30 seconds. It's not a race. Take your time, okay? And we're looking at control of movement and symmetry. Okay, ready? Off we go. So supporting down, don't pull the arm and then helping facilitate back up all the way back. Good. And again. And it's important that this activity is done slowly and controlled, okay? And not rushed. And carer as you move forward, okay facilitate the arm. You're transferring your weight from one leg to the other. One more and back up. Let's take a short rest, and we're going to repeat that again for another 30 seconds. So when you're ready? Okay. Are we ready? Off we go. So slide down, just past the knees if you can. Okay, and back up. You should not be working into any pain whatsoever. So in a comfortable range. Down, back up. And as you come back up, try to get that symmetry. Stay in the middle. Good. And last one. Back up. Okay, let's take a short pause there so we can go over the coaching points of the activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit in your chair with a pillow behind your lower back. Your carer will support and assist your weaker arm as you do this activity. If able, rest both hands on your thighs. Slide both hands down to just pass your knees and then sit back up and rest again in the chair. If you find it difficult to sit back up, slide your hands to your knees. Your carer must not pull your weaker arm during this activity. Do this for 30 seconds. And then rest and repeat.

Nicole: Hello. I'm Nicole Lavin. I'm a specialist neurological physiotherapist, and I specialise in stroke rehabilitation. I have over 20 years experience working with stroke survivors following them through their journey from the acute stages, right the way through the rehabilitation process up until discharge. I feel absolutely privileged to be here today, working with A Stroke of Luck in collaboration with the Stroke Association to bring you these activity videos. I hope you enjoy.

Craig: In this set of activities, you will need: two cans of tinned goods, a chair or worktop, a wall and stairs. You may also need your carer or family member. Before starting the warm up to this activity, it is very important that carers and family members watch the "Advice and exercises for carers" video

Nicole: Amber Group. Welcome to your warm up for the stamina series of activities. For this activity, you will need some support on your strongest side. And this is just fingertips support for your balance. This activity, you will be doing some marching and mini squats. So with the marching, we want you to focus on getting your knees high, like this. And with the mini squats, a nice wide base. So your feet wide, back nice and straight and a small bend. So we're not looking at getting right down to the floor. We're just looking at the control. Okay, so we're going to do the marching first. And then the mini squats 10 of each. Ready? Off we go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Wide base now feet wide apart. Fingertips support. Keep your back straight. One, two, tighten here, if you can. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight. You might be starting to feel it a little bit. Nine. Last one and 10. Well done. We're going to take a short pause now so you can go through the coaching points of the activity we've just shown you.

Craig: Stand with a chair or worktop on your stronger side. Just use your fingertips to help balance yourself. March with high knees 10 times. Then stand with feet a little wider and then squat 10 times. Keep your back straight and tighten your tummy as you do this.

Nicole: Okay, Amber Group. This is your first activity in the stamina series. And for this activity, you could do this at the bottom of a staircase. If you've got stairs at home. If you don't have stairs, you can do it without the step and just follow the sequence of what we're doing with your legs. So if you are doing it on the steps, you just actually doing it on the bottom step. So we're not ascending the stairs at all. Just the bottom step. Okay. If you've got a handrail, hold on. Okay. And the idea is, you're going to go up, stepping up onto the step with your strongest leg first. So you need to make sure the full foot is on the step. Okay, Put your weight through your strongest foot and bring your weakest foot up to join it. Okay. From there, you're going to step back down, going backwards with your weakest foot first. So down, down. So if you don't have a step or stairs in the house to do this or you don't have a handrail to support for your stability. You can just do it, the stepping motion without the step. We're going to do this for one minute. Are we ready? Off we go. So strongest leg. Weakest leg. Weakest leg, strongest leg. Get that rhythm. And keep this going for one minute. Make sure your full foot is fully on the step. Now, as you've got a timed element to this activity, you can use that for a bit of feedback. Or set yourself a goal. Keep going. You're doing really well. Last few seconds and rest. Well done. Take a short pause there to go through the coaching points for the activity we have just shown you.

Craig: Stand at the bottom of stairs and hold onto a handrail. Bring your stronger foot onto the step, and then step onto step with your weaker leg. Step backwards towards the floor with your weaker leg first, and then bring your stronger leg down to meet it. If you do not have any stairs, then repeat the sequence by pretending to step up and down onto a step, holding a worktop or back of chair with your stronger hand for balance. Repeat for one minute.

Nicole: Hi, amber group. This is your second activity of the stamina series. So you need to stand shoulder width apart from the wall, facing the wall. And if you do need some support, you could have the back of a chair at the side of you. You want to face the wall, stand shoulder width apart, feet pointing forwards, and what we're going to do for this activity is a wall press up. So the ideal position is with your stronger arm out at shoulder height, with your hand flat against the wall as I'm showing you there. With your weaker arm, if you can't get the height or you can't get the hand flat, do it at whichever position is comfortable for you. So if this is a fist position and it's low, this is fine also. But for the purpose of the demonstration, I'm going to bring the arms up together so they're equal. So we're going to bring arms up, arms up, hand flat if you can get it, at a comfortable height, and from that position you're going to keep your feet still, but take your nose towards the wall. Bending at the elbows, making sure the elbows are straight down in front of you and not coming out to the side, like so. Okay, so we're going to try to do this activity now for one minute. It is not a race. We're not looking at repetitions. We are looking at stamina and control. Okay. Are we ready? One minute, off we go. So bend, nose to the wall and try to push through your arms to straighten out your elbows. And again, down nose to the wall and push through your arms to straighten out your elbows. Keep that going, you're doing really well. Nose to the wall. And again. Almost there. Okay. And relax. Well done. Let's take a short pause there so we can go through the coaching points of the activity you have just seen.

Craig: Stand facing a wall with your feet shoulder width apart. You can have a chair to your side for support, if necessary. Bring your stronger hand up to the wall in line with your shoulder. Make sure your hand is flat. Bring your weaker arm into the same position. If your arm cannot move this far, allow your arm to rest against the wall in a comfortable position. This may be at a lower height and or with your hand in a fist instead of flat. Bring your nose towards the wall by bending your elbows and then push away by straightening them. Try to keep your elbows in close to your body as you do this. Repeat for one minute. This is all about control, not how quickly you can do the activity.

Nicole: Okay, amber group. This is your third and final activity from the stamina series, and for this activity you'll need some small weights or tins, tins of beans, soup, anything. Just a small weight in either hand. Now, if you do struggle with your grip or you can't, you don't have the strength in your weaker side to grip something. It's absolutely fine to have nothing on that side, but keep the weight on your stronger side. Now for this activity, we need your sitting forwards in the chair, if possible, not taking up the back support of the chair or wheelchair and your feet firmly on the ground. You need to sit up nice and tall, and tighten your tummy button in. Okay. And for this activity you're going to raise one leg and the opposite arm. So it's a little bit of coordination as well. So I'll do a demonstration first of all. So we're going to go right knee up, left arm up. Okay? And then slowly lower down. And then left knee up and right arm up. Okay. With this activity, you must not work through any pain. No shoulder pain. And just go within your comfortable range. So if you're only raising it to here, that's absolutely fine. Okay, so we're gonna go for a full minute. There's no race. Just take it at your own pace. Are we ready? Off we go. So knee up. Arm up. Down. Knee up. Arm up. Down. Knee up. Arm up. And down. Keep this going. And what's important is that as you're lifting your leg, you don't lean backwards. So you use the back of the chair as a reference point. And if you're coming into contact with the chair, you need to bring yourself forward again. Okay? To really work your core stability. So it's not just about the lifting. It's all about the control on the upward movement and the downward movement. Keep that going. And relax. Okay. So take a short pause, and then we're going to repeat it. Another round. So for a full minute, take as much rest as you need to in between. And then off we go. So knee up. Arm up. Down. Knee up. Arm up. Down. Knee up. Arm up. And down. Keep this going. And what's important is as you're lifting your leg, you don't lean backwards. So you use the back of the chair as a reference point. And if you're coming into contact with the chair, you need to bring yourself forward again. Okay? To really work your core stability. So it's not just about the lifting. It's all about the control on the upward movement and the downward movement. Keep that going. And relax. Okay. Well done. We'll take a short pause there so you can go through the coaching points of the activity we have just shown you.

Craig: Sit nice and tall in a chair. Hold a small weight in both hands if you are able. If holding an object in your weaker hand is difficult, do this activity without the weight. Raise one knee up towards the ceiling and at the same time, raise your opposite arm up above your head or as far as you can. Do not push past any pain or resistance. Now raise your other knee up and arm at the same time. Repeat for one minute. Have a rest and go again for another minute. Try not to lean backwards against the back of a chair as you do this activity.

Nicole: Hello. I'm Nicole Lavin. I'm a specialist neurological physiotherapist and I specialise in stroke rehabilitation. I have over 20 years experience working with stroke survivors following them through their journey from the acute stages, right the way through the rehabilitation process up until discharge. I feel absolutely privileged to be here today, working with A Stroke of Luck in collaboration with the Stroke Association to bring you these activity videos. I hope you enjoy.

Mark: Hi, my name is Mark Watterson. I'm also a physiotherapist who specialises in musculoskeletal injuries and neurological rehabilitation. My main passion in life is helping those recover from their stroke. I'm proud to bring you these activities in the videos you're about to watch.

Craig: In this set of activities, you will need: two cans of tinned goods or small weights like dumbbells. Before starting the warm up to this activity, it is very important that carers and family members watch the "Advice and exercises for carers" video.

Nicole: Ok, Green Group, this is your warm up for the stamina section. So for this section, we're going to do some high knee marching, really fast, as fast as we can go. 15 seconds. And then we're gonna go straight into fast feet. So short, shallow, marching fast feet for 15 seconds. We're going to pause, and then we're gonna repeat it. So it's a whole one minute warm up with a pause in between. Are we ready? So 15 seconds high. Knees ready. Off we go. Get your arms going as well as you can. Really get those knees up as high as you can. Keep going. 15 seconds. Three, two, one and then straight into fast feet. Keep it low. Keep it fast 15 seconds. Keep that going. Fast feet. Keep going. Three. Keep going. Try not to slow down and stop. Okay? So if you're feeling a little out of breath, take a pause before you do the next repetition. Okay? If you're feeling any lightheadedness at all, take a longer pause. Or just leave it at one repetition for the warm up. Okay? When you're ready, let's go into the second repetition. Are we ready? So 15 seconds high knees. Ready? Off we go. Get your arms going as well. If you can really get those knees up as high as you can. Keep going. 15 seconds. Three, two, one and then straight into fast feet. Keep it low. Keep it fast. 15 seconds. Keep that going. Fast feet. Keep going. Three. Keep going. Try not to slow down and stop. Okay? Let's take a short pause now so you can go over the coaching points for the activity we've just shown you.

Craig: March with high knees for 15 seconds. Move your arms as you move your legs. Now move fast feet, as if you're sprinting for 15 seconds. Pause and catch your breath. Repeat the whole activity. If you become dizzy or short of breath, sit and rest.

Nicole: OK. Green Group. This is the first activity of the stamina series. You need to stand nice and wide, okay? And we are going to be moving your arms and legs and getting your heart rate going with this activity. So you're going to be bringing your knee up quite high like this, but at the same time as raising your knee up, you're going to bring the opposite arm up to the roof. Now with this activity, don't work through any pain or any restrictions. Just go within your range that's available to you. And we want to get your heart rate up on this. So we do want you to do it at speed for one minute. Are we ready? Off we go. So arm, leg, down. Arm, leg, down. Keep that going. Okay. I'm going to pick up the speed, if you can. Keep picking it up, like that. You can put in a little bit of a jog. Keep that going. So it's opposites for one minute. Well done. You're over halfway now. Keep going. About 15 seconds to go. Well done. Okay. And rest. Well done. Let's take a short pause so you can go through the coaching points for the activity we've just shown you.

Craig: Stand nice and tall. Bring one knee up towards your chest and at the same time raise your opposite arm towards the ceiling. Swap over and repeat with the other arm and leg. Try to do this at speed to get your heart rate up, but go at a sensible pace. Keep going for one minute.

Nicole: OK. Green Group number two activity in the stamina series. For this activity, you need to stand nice and tall with a wide base with your feet pointing forwards. And we're going to do what's called a sumo squat. So for this activity, you're going to lift one foot out to the side, quite wide. Keep your toes pointing forwards. And once you've got that widened base, you're going to squat at that point. Keeping your back nice and tall and your tummy tucked in. Squat down, you might feel it burning here in your thighs. Come back up, back to the middle and then the opposite direction. So out wide, feet pointing forwards, down till you might feel that little burn, back up, in. Okay. Are we ready to go? We're going to do this activity for a full minute. Off we go. Out, down, up, in. Out, down, up and in. Keep this going, nice and controlled. There's no rush with this because we're looking at stamina. You might give yourself a little bit of a challenge to try and go that little bit lower on each repetition. Keep your back nice and tall, and your tummy tucked in. You're doing really well. We've got about 15 seconds to go. Push it. Push down. Push, push, push. Last one. Well done. Let's take a short pause there so we can go through the coaching points for the activity you have just seen.

Craig: Stand tall with a wide base and toes pointed forwards. Step right leg out to the side. Perform a squat and then step right leg back to meet left. Now repeat with left leg out to the side. Keep going side to side for one minute. Remember, keep your tummy tucked in. You can always challenge yourself by squatting lower.

Nicole: Ok Green Group. This is your final activity for the stamina series. This is a challenge for you, and this is known as a Burpee. So for this activity, you're going to stand with a nice wide base like Mark's demonstrating. You're going to squat down to the floor, putting your hands on the floor like he's demonstrating now. And you're going to step your legs outwards behind you so that you go into a plank position. From there, you're going to step back forwards into this floor squat, and then you're gonna come back up into a stand. And if you can, a jump at the end. Okay, so we're going to do this now, as quick as you can for 30 seconds. Are we ready? Off you go. Down, back, back, in, in, up, jump. Well done, keep that going. If you're finding this particularly easy, you can add in a further jump to go back. So Mark will demonstrate now. So down, jump back, jump in, up and jump. And rest. Well done. Let's take a sharp pause there to go through the coaching points for the Burpee activity we've just shown you.

Craig: Squat down and place your hands on the floor. Step your legs out behind you to make a plank position. Bring your legs back in towards your hands, one at a time. Stand up tall and jump. Do this as quick as you can for 30 seconds. If this is too easy, when in squat position, jump your feet backwards to make the plank position and then jump them back to squat position.

Nicole: Hello. I'm Nicole Lavin. I'm a specialist neurological physiotherapist, and I specialise in stroke rehabilitation. I have over 20 years experience working with stroke survivors following them through their journey from the acute stages, right the way through the rehabilitation process, up until discharge. I feel absolutely privileged to be here today, working with A Stroke of Luck in collaboration with the Stroke Association to bring you these activity videos. I hope you enjoy.

Mark: Hi, my name is Mark Watterson. I'm also a physiotherapist who specialises in musculoskeletal injuries and neurological rehabilitation. My main passion in life is helping those recover from their stroke. I'm proud to bring you these activities in the videos you're about to watch.

Craig: For these activities you will need a bed, a pillow or towel. Before starting the warm up to this activity. It is very important that carers and family members watched the advice and exercises for carers video.

Nicole: Hi, red group. This is your warm up for your stability section of activities. For this activity your stroke survivor needs to be lying down, preferably on the bed, with their weaker arm supported by a pillow or rolled towel. And we're gonna work through three exercises within this warm up. So the first one is quite simple just taking up the support of the bed and just literally asking your stroke survivor to squeeze their bottom cheeks. So trying to squeeze the bottom cheeks together. So if you want to do that for me. You might see a little bit of movement like that and release. So that's the first one. The second one, you're going to bend the knees up, so you're stronger side first, and then carer, you might need to come in to support the weaker leg. Okay, so because you are handling the leg and supporting and stabilising, we do recommend that you watch the advice and guidance exercise video for carers that we've done previously. From that position, you will be stabilizing the weaker leg, and you are redoing that bottom squeeze. Okay, so squeeze again in that position and release, and we're aiming to try to squeeze the right bottom cheek and the left bottom cheek together at the same time. The third part of the warm up is staying in this position. Okay. And you need something for some feedback. Okay, So you might use a rolled up towel. I've got a beanbag here. Anything just small to place under the lower back of your stroke survivor. So we're going to squeeze that underneath. You might do this with the legs straight, if you haven't got the stability, we're gonna pop that underneath, okay? And then legs back up. Um, legs back up. So now your stroke survivor has a point of contact in their lower back. And with the third part of the warm up, you're going to ask them to squash that the piece that you put under the lower back and tighten up their abdominals, keeping their neck in contact with the pillow at all times. So we're going to go through the whole warm up. We're going to do 10 repetitions of each activity. So let's go back to the start, now that you've seen the examples. Lower down, take that out. Okay, so are we ready? Activity one. Squeeze and release. So tighten up and release, one. And again two. And again Three. You might want to put your hands onto the bottom of your strokes survivor, just to provide a little bit of feedback and just ask them. Are they squeezing at the same time and same rate. Keep that going. Do it at your own pace. One more and relax. Well done. Okay, so the second part of warm up, knee up facilitate the weaker leg. So underneath the knee, bending up, trying to make sure the knees and feet are in line and you might be stabilising that leg. Okay. Same activity again. Squeeze and release. Ready. Off you go. Squeeze and release. Squeeze and release. Keep that going for 10. Good. And your role of as a carer family member is to stabilise this leg. Well done. Okay. Keep going for 10 and relax. Well done. Straighten out your leg down and then facilitate the weaker side down. And now onto your final component for this section. So get your piece of material, rolled up towel, Slide it underneath the lower back. Okay. To provide the feedback and then from that position, legs up again, taking the weight of the weaker leg and stabilising. Are we ready? So you're going to squash the item under your lower back with your tummy trying to pull your tummy bottom back down into the item. Off we go. So tighten up and relax. And again, make sure you don't lift your head up off the pillow. And you're just looking for that tilting motion at the pelvis there. Keep going for 10. Well done, keep this leg stabilised in line with the other leg throughout and just go at your own pace. Okay, well done. Let's relax the legs, okay? And take a short pause there to go through the coaching points for the activity we have just shown you

Craig: Lie on your bed with a pillow or rolled towel under your weaker arm. Squeeze your bottom cheeks together. And repeat 10 times. Now bend your knees so that your feet are flat on the bed. Your carer will assist your weaker leg to do this, to keep it in position. Squeeze both cheeks equally. And repeat 10 times. Now place a rolled towel under your lower back. Your carer again will help you to do this. Tighten your tummy and squash the towel with your lower back. Repeat 10 times. Try to keep your head and neck in contact with your pillow as you do this exercise.

Nicole: Okay, Red Group. This is the first activity in the stability series. Your stroke survivor needs to be laying down, preferably on the bed with their heads supported with a pillow. And their weaker arm supported with pillow or rolled up towel. Ideally, you need to be stood at the head end of your stroke survivor, and we're going to be looking at tightening up the abdominal muscles, the lower abdominal muscles in this activity. It's a lot of control, okay? And we're looking at a small movement, where you're going to facilitate to try and get some symmetry. So carer or family member, your hands need to be on the shoulder blades of your stroke survivor. So you will be sliding your hands underneath, like so. And for this activity, bend your knees. Okay. And you're going to ask your stroke survivor to lift their head up off the pillow, tighten the lower apps and back down. Okay, so that is the activity that we're going to do. And your role is to keep hands on shoulder blades. Okay? And you're not pulling. You're not pushing. You're just giving some feedback and trying to get some stability there. Okay. Are we ready? Off we go. Up we go. Breathe out and breathe in and lower. That's one. And again, out. Just go as far as is comfortable. And you just feel it in your lower abdominal muscles and last one, out and breathe in. Rest. Okay? And we're going to do another two sets of those when you're ready. Okay. Ready? So off we go. Up. And down. Up. And down. Final one. Up and down. Okay, take another short rest. We'll do one more set. It's important that you as a carer or family member keep your hands in this position and don't move them around the head or neck or shoulders. So you're keeping them over the shoulder blades. Okay, We're gonna go now for the last set. Ready? Off we go. Up and down. And up. And down. Final one. And down. And relax and take a short pause. Now to go through the coaching points for the activity we have just shown you.

Craig: Lie down on your bed and ensure your head and weaker arm are supported with a pillow or towel. Your carer should stand at the head end of your bed and place their hands on your shoulder blades to support you. Lift your head as much as you can off the pillow, as you breathe out. Only lift as far as you are able to. And then return your head to the pillow. You may only be able to lift your head a little, which is great. Just do as much as you can. Your carer should not move their hands from your shoulder blades. Repeat this three times. Then rest and repeat the whole thing another two times.

Nicole: Okay, Red Group, this is stability exercise two. And for this activity, your stroke survivor needs to be lying on the bed with weaker arm supported and a pillow supporting the head. And for this activity, we're going to go into what's called a bridge position. So you'll ask your stroke survivor to bend the stronger leg up, put the foot flat on the bed, and you're going to support like you did in the warm up under the knee. Bend, Okay, to try and get them in line. You may then need to support the weaker leg there. Okay to stop it falling out. If there's any instability there around the hip. So you're going to keep the leg in that position in alignment and you're going to ask your stroke survivor to lift the bottom, tightening up up off the bed. So we're going to lift as high as they can. And what you should be looking for is symmetry. So making sure one side doesn't lift more than the other, hold it and then slowly, lower back down. So the downward movement on this activity is as important as the upward movement. So we're going to go for three repetitions. Okay, so we're ready. We're going to tighten up and lift. Try to keep it symmetrical. One, two, and three and lower. Slowly lowering, trying to get some control. Okay. If your stroke survivor is struggling with this and there is some obliquity in the pelvis, you can actually come in and support the leg with your shoulder to give them a little bit of feedback with your hand here. So, for the last two repetitions, I'll do it this way for you. You ready? Lift and lower. Good. And again, lift and lower. Well done. Okay. And relax. We're now going to take a little pause, and then we're going to do another set of three. Okay. Are we ready? So support the leg and lift and lower. That's one. And again. Lift and lower. Two and last one and lower. Okay, well done. We'll take a short pause now so you can go through the coaching points of the activity we have just shown you.

Craig: Lie down on your bed and ensure your head and weaker arm are supported with a pillow or towel. Bend both legs up so that your feet are flat on the bed. Your carer will support and assist your weaker leg. Throughout this activity, your carer will attempt to keep your weaker leg in position and your knees in line with one another. Lift your bottom up off the bed. Try to keep both sides in line with one another, making both sides work equally. If this is difficult, your carer can assist your weaker hip by giving it some feedback with a hand underneath your bottom. Repeat this three times. And then rest and repeat again.

Nicole: Okay, Red Group. This is the final activity of this series. So your stroke survivor will be in lying still and we're going to take some of the elements of the other activities that we've done and combine them together in this one. So what we're going to do for this one is we're going to bend the knees up, so you get your stroke survivor to bend a stronger leg up into that position, foot flat on the bed. And again carer or family member, you're going to help support this leg. Bring it up so that it's actually in line with the other one and keep it there. So it's nice and stable. Now we're going to do a head lifting movement like what we did in the warm up. But with this you're going to include the upper body so you can ask your stroke survivor to support the weaker arm okay across the body like that and we're going to ask them to slide the hands up towards the knees. OK, so we'll demonstrate the activity. So it's a sliding movement, and as you slide your head should lift away from the pillow and slowly lower down. It is important to stress that you are not pulling the arm at this point. You're trying to slide towards your knees. Okay. So carer family member you're supporting the leg. Are we ready? Off we go. So slide up as far as you can go just within your comfortable range and slowly down. Remember to breathe as you raise. Ready? Breathe out, reach forward and slowly lower. And one more. Okay, so sliding, not pulling and slowly lower and rest. And you should feel that in your lower part of your tummy, your lower abdominal muscles. Okay, if you're feeling it in your neck, don't go as high. Are we ready? Last set of three. Off we go. Slide, just to where it's comfortable. And down, that's one. And again, that's two. And final one that's three and relax. And with this activity, it doesn't actually matter if you don't get as high as what our model did there. As long as your neck is lifting from the pillar when you're doing the activity. Okay, so we'll take a short pause so we can go through the coaching points for the activity you have just seen.

Craig: Lie in the same position as in the previous exercise. Support your weaker arm across your body with your stronger arm. Slide your hands up towards your knees. As you slide your hands, your head may lift off the pillow. Slowly return back to the start position. Remember to breathe out as you slide your hands towards your knees. Breathe in as you return to the start position. And do not pull your weaker arm throughout this activity. Repeat three times. And then rest and repeat again.

Nicole: Hello. I'm Nicole Lavin. I'm a specialist neurological physiotherapist, and I specialise in stroke rehabilitation. I have over 20 years experience working with stroke survivors following them through their journey from the acute stages right the way through the rehabilitation process up until discharge. I feel absolutely privileged to be here today, working with A Stroke of Luck in collaboration with the Stroke Association to bring you these activity videos. I hope you enjoy.

Nicole: Okay. Amber Group, this is your stability warm up. So for this activity, you need to be seated in your chair or wheelchair. And again if you can possibly try to sit away from the back of the chair so that you're making your trunk and core work a little bit harder. And for this activity, if you could get somebody to place a pillow underneath your feet. Causes a little bit of an instability in your feet and ankles, so it makes you work a little bit harder. All we're going to do for the warmup, we're going to push your feet down into the pillows. I'll demonstrate that now. So you're pushing downwards into the floor. Okay, so there's not an awful lot of movement there, but you will feel it tightening up in and around your bottom and your upper part of your legs. So you're going to push down and relax. And what I'd like you to try and do at the same time is to try and bring your nose forwards. And if you can bring your nose forward over your toes, keep your arms supported on your lap. Okay. So we're going to do that for 10 repetitions. Are we ready? So pushed down. Lean forwards. Come back and relax. That's one. Push down, lean forwards. Come back and relax. Keep that going, so down. Forwards, back and relax. Down, lean forwards, back and relax. Down, forwards, back and relax. So we're halfway through keep going. So push your feet down into the pillow, lean your nose forward over your toes if you come. Back and release, keep going. Doing really well, last few to go. Last one. Push down. Really get your nose forwards, back and relax. Well done. Okay, so take a short pause there to go through the coaching points of the activity we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit in a chair or wheelchair and try to sit away from the back rest. Place a pillow under your feet. Support your arms on your lap. Push your feet down into the pillow whilst moving your nose forward over your toes. Return to start position and repeat 10 times.

Nicole: Hi Amber group, this is the first activity in the stability series, and for this activity you need to be seated facing a wall but far enough away from the wall to do some reaching and challenging of your stability. So sit in your chair or wheelchair. Okay? With your weaker am supported. Now for the purpose of this activity, we've actually put some post it notes on the wall, but you can just reach to any sort of target in front of you. So for the first part of the activity you're going to be using your stronger arm, okay, to reach for the targets and come back to the middle and get your alignment back. So making sure you're in the middle with the weight on your right side of your bottom and your left side of your bottom and trying to get that equal. So I'll demonstrate that now for you. So you're going to face your target. You're going to reach forwards with your stronger arm, touch the target, come back, to the middle and keep your alignment. So you're not actually going all the way back to the back of the chair. Okay, you're keeping away from the back of the chair. So we're going to do some repetitions with your stronger arm first, and then we're going to repeat it with the weaker arm. When we do the weaker arm, you will need to support it with your stronger arm. So we'll go through stronger side first. Are we ready? Off we go. Reach. Come back to the middle. Make sure you're in the middle. Reach, back. Reach, back. Reach, back. So you can see for the purpose of the demonstration here, we've put the post-it notes on the wall in a clock shape. So we're getting some across body reaching going on there, and that's important for stability. Vary it. So some high and some low. High. High across body, back to the middle. And low, back to the middle. So we're going to repeat some of this now, using your weaker arm And for this activity. As I said before, you need to support it with your stronger arm. I take the pillow out, okay. And when we do this, you might, you're only working within the pain free range, so you might not actually be able to do some of the high ones. So we'll start low okay? So reach forwards. Just go within the pain free range and do not pull your arm. Okay? You are supporting the arm. Come back to the middle. Okay. And again, out. Back to the middle. Out, back to the middle. Try some across body movement. So we're getting, challenging stability a little bit more. Out. And back to the middle, but it's important not to pull the arm and just support the arm. Keep that going and relax. We'll take a short pause now to go through some of the coaching points for the activity you have just watched.

Craig: Place some targets onto the wall in front of you. This could be pictures, photos or post-it notes. Sit in a chair a little away from a wall whilst facing it. Do not sit too far away, just enough to challenge yourself whilst reaching. Initially, have your weaker arm supported with a pillow. Use your stronger arm to reach for the targets and then come back to the start position, ensuring that you have weight equally through both bottom cheeks. Try to reach to both left and right and high and low. Now try to reach with your weaker arm supporting it with your stronger hand. Do not pull your arm and do not push past any pain or resistance. You may not be able to reach some of the higher targets, but that's okay, do what you can.

Nicole: Hello, Amber Group. This is stability exercise number two. So for this activity, you need to be seated on the chair. Try and sit forward on the chair so that you're not taking up the back support. Okay? And you need a water bottle. Now you can determine how much water you put in the bottle. And the more water that's in it, the harder it will be. So, for your weaker arm, you might want a bottle that's just half full, for example. And this is working on core stability, so I will demonstrate the activity first. You're going to sit up tall, tighten up your muscles like what we've done in the warm up. You're going to reach down. Reach right down to your water bottle. Bring it back up towards your mouth, align yourself cross over, hand to hand, and then lower it at the opposite side. Okay, let go, come back to the middle. Okay, so we're going to do 10 repetitions, so it's five on each side. Are we ready? Off we go. Okay. So reach. Lift up to the middle. That's one, cross over. Lower control it down. Let go, back to the middle. That's two. Reach. Bring it up. Cross over, lower. Keep that control as you're lowering. Down back to the middle. Okay, Keep going. You're doing really well. That's it. Excellent. To the middle, cross over. And down. Okay, back to middle. Okay, we've got four more to go. Let's go, down, across, and down, back to the middle. Okay. Last two. Really keep that control. Keep that tummy tightened and down, come back to the middle. Okay, Straighten up. Tighten up. Keep your breathing nice and relaxed. And pause. So we'll take a short pause there to go over the coaching points for the activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit forwards in your chair, trying to sit away from the back rest. Tighten your tummy muscles. And reached down to the side to pick up a bottle, return to sitting in the middle, bring the bottle up to your mouth. Take the bottle with your other hand and reach down to place it by your foot. Repeat this five times on each side. Remember to sit up tall when returning to the middle and control the movement when reaching to the side.

Nicole: Okay, Amber Group. This is your final activity in the stability series. We're going to combine some of the activities that you've already done in this series so far. So you need to be sitting forwards in your chair, again not taking up the support, and a pillow underneath your feet. And this is to provide a little bit of instability. Your feet need to be positioned on the pillow back behind your knees. So if you're looking down at the pillow, your feet are behind your knees. Okay? We're going to combine the activity that you've done earlier with the targets on the wall, with some reaching, with some side reaching, okay. And what we're looking for with this is a nice controlled movement coming back to the middle after every repetition. Okay, so we're going to clasp hands so that you can support your weaker throughout the activity. And remember, do not pull the arm. Okay, off we go. So we're going to reach forward, take your nose over your toes and come back nice and slow and controlled, coming back to the middle. Now we're going to reach towards our stronger side and come back to the middle. And across to our weaker side, back to the middle. And it's this midline that we're looking for each time. Reach forward, back to the middle. Over to your stronger side, if you can go a little bit higher and there's no pain and you have the movement, take it a bit further. And to the weaker side. We're going to take it a little bit further by side bending to a target. So really reach down, see if you can tap the target. Push yourself back up, back to the middle. Now to the opposite side. So side bend, you're coming forwards and side. Tap the target. Push down through your feet on the pillow, back to the middle. Let's repeat. Down, to the target. Push through your feet. Come back to the middle. Down to the target again, back to the middle. Let's do one more repetition either side. Down, to the target, back to the middle. And final repetition, down, to the target, back to the middle. Let's take a short pause there so you can go through the coaching points for the activity we have just shown you.

Craig: Sit facing the wall, as you did in the first exercise, but with a pillow under your feet. Place your feet behind your knees. Place targets on the wall and have water bottles each side on the floor. Clasp your hands or support your weaker arm throughout this activity. Reach in front of you to the wall, towards your stronger and then weaker side, returning to the middle each time. Repeat the sequence three times. Then reached down to the target on the floor to your stronger and then weaker side, coming back to the middle each time. Repeat three times each side.

Nicole: Hello. I'm Nicole Lavin. I'm a specialist neurological physiotherapist and I specialise in stroke rehabilitation. I have over 20 years experience working with stroke survivors. Following them through their journey from the acute stage is right the way through the rehabilitation process up until discharge. I feel absolutely privileged to be here today, working with A Stroke of Luck in collaboration with the Stroke Association to bring you these activity videos. I hope you enjoy.

Nicole: Ok, Green Group. This is your warm up for the stability exercises. So for this warm up, you need to be sitting on the edge of a chair, try to get yourself into, like, a perch position. So you right on the edge. Pull your feet back behind your knees and to start with you going to do what's called an isometric contraction. So this means you are contracting your muscles without actually seeing a lot of movement. So for this, we're going to be working on your bottom and into your legs. So all I want you to do is to push your feet down into the floor and tighten up your tummy. Okay, so there won't be a lot of movement, but you will feel it in and around your bottom. So let's do that together, okay? So push down into the floor and relax. And again push own into the floor and relax and let's go for ten. So we've done two. Okay, push down and relax. And again, pushed down and relax. So that's four. Down and relax. You won't see a lot of movement with this, but you will feel it. Down and relax. Okay. And again, push down and relax. Three to go. Push down and relax. And final two. Push down and relax. And last one. Push down and relax. Now, for the second part of your warm up, you need to move from this position into standing, so come up into a standing position. And once you're stood, I want you to put your feet together so as close as you can get them together. Okay? Stand really tall. Tighten up your core by pulling your tummy button in, okay? And I want you to stand really still on the spot for one minute and you're going to analyse your own movement at this. For your warm up. Ready? Off you go, a one minute. Okay, One minute seems an awful long time when you stood still not moving. But for this activity, you need to make sure that you're not cheating by leaning on the chair behind you. Standing really still. Keep your breathing. Don't hold your breath. Okay. Keep nice and still. And you might notice that you've got a little bit of a sway, but this is quite normal. Okay, so if you do notice that you're swaying, try to gauge, are you swaying forwards and backwards or side to side? So your analysing what's happening when you're just in steady standing. Okay. Keep that going. You might feel twitching around your ankles and again this is normal. This is your ankle reaction to stabilise yourselves. Okay. And relax. Okay. So you might come back out into stepping back out just to get your stability back. Well done. That's the warm up complete. So we'll now go to a little pause so you can go over the coaching points for the activity in the warm up that we've just shown you.

Craig: Sit on the edge of a chair. Push down into the floor and then relax. And repeat this 10 times. Then stand and bring your feet as close as you can. Tuck in your tummy and stand for one minute. Think about how you're standing. Try not to lean on the chair with your legs that's cheating. When your minute is up, stand at ease by taking your feet apart.

Nicole: OK, Green Group. This is your first exercise of the stability um section. So for this activity you need a chair or kitchen work top because it's going to challenge your balance and stability. We're moving on from the warm up activity that we did. It's a similar activity, so you're going to be self analysing your balance mechanisms. Okay, so for this activity ideally, if you can stand barefoot, this is better. But if you do need footwear or ankle supports, that's fine. So what I want you to do is to take the support of the chair or kitchen work top whatever you've got there to support you and put your feet close together. Now because we are challenging your stability, it is important to do this with some support on your stronger side. Once you have got your feet together, Okay? What we want you to do is to close your eyes and you're going to close your eyes for one minute. So as soon as you've closed your eyes, you're starting a timer or somebody else can start a timer for you for one minute, okay? And start to analyse if there's any sway forwards backwards, side to side, just like in the warm up. So to challenge yourself further, take your hand off the support. Okay? Just hover it above the support. So you know where it is if needs be. Keep it going for one minute. You're doing really well. If you do struggle, you can pop your hand back onto the support, okay? And you are self analysing, so try to notice. Are you going forwards backwards, side to side? Is it one way more than the other? Okay, is it more than what you did in the warm up? If at any point, you do need to step to recover or to save yourself, this is fine. Step out, step back, step forward. This is normal. Okay. Try, if you can, to work towards one full minute, keep that going. You're doing really well. Well done. That was excellent. Let's take a short pause now to go through the coaching points for that activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Ideally stand barefooted, but if you need your foot supports or shoes for ankle stability, then please do use them. Gently hold the back of a chair or work top with your stronger hand. And close your eyes and stand for one minute. Think about what your body is doing whilst you're standing as still as you can. To challenge yourself, take your hand away from the support. If you feel too wobbly, you may need to step a foot forward, backwards or from side to side to prevent you from wobbling further. Aim and work towards standing for one full minute without holding the support or stepping your feet.

Nicole: OK, Green Group, this is stability exercise two. Again in standing at kitchen work surface, the back of sofa, back of chair, something just so you've got some support on your stronger side. Okay, stand again, if you can do it barefoot, it's better. However, if you've got any foot orthosis or need foot supports, wear them that's fine. So for this exercise, we're going to go into a tandem stance which basically means one foot in front of the other. Now, ideally, you want to try and get one directly in front of the other one. But if you place it a little bit further apart, like so, that's fine. Okay. For this exercise, I'm going to show your one, one foot directly in front of the other. Okay? Standing with your hands on support until you get into position. And once you're in position, we'll want to see if you can hover your hand again above the support and time for one minute. Okay. Now, as you can see there, my leg is unstable and this is normal, and you will find that you've got one one way better than the other. We'll see that in a minute when we swap legs over. So we're going for a minute. And as the time goes on, you might feel it's a little bit more unstable, a little bit more rocking, a little bit more shaking within the ankles. But again, this is a normal ankle strategy reaction for your balance. Okay. If you feel too unstable, you can pop your hand back onto the support to give you a little bit more support. But if you can challenge yourself, try to keep it hovering above. So keep that going, you're doing really well. A minute seems a long time when you stood quite still, but keep it going. Try not to hold your breath. Breathe as normally as you can. Okay, three, two one and relax. Hand down, step back onto a comfortable stepping position. And then change your foot foot positioning. So the opposite leg is in front. Once you've got that position again, if you come directly in front of the other, take your hand off for support and off we go timing for one minute again. Okay, and like I said earlier, you will have one way that you feel more stable than the other, and that is quite normal. And you should be able to see my ankles are wiggling and wobbling all over the place. And it's really working my stability. If you feel really unstable again, you can put your hand down. Okay. For support. Try to keep challenging yourself. You can even tap it if needs be. As time goes on, it'll get harder. If your legs getting a little bit more tired, but you do really well. Keep that going. Keep it going. Five seconds. Three, two, one. Hand back down. Step back out. Find your stability again. Excellent. Now, if you have found that particularly easy, okay, you can take it a little bit further. So you can go back into that position and providing you've got surface to support. Yeah, the kitchen surface or back of two chairs like we have here, back of a sofa. You could actually take it into a walk. So one foot directly in front of the other. Okay? And you could just walk the length of your surface. Okay? But that's only if find the first exercise particularly easy. Okay, We're going to take a short pause now, so you can go over the coaching points of the stability exercise we've just shown you.

Craig: Stand barefooted, if possible, with the support on your stronger side. If you do need footwear or ankle supports, please use them. Stand with one foot directly in front of the other. Gently let go of the support and stand still for one minute. You will wobble. This is normal. So hold the support if you feel you need to. But do keep trying to challenge yourself. Switch positions of your legs. Stand for another minute, again challenging yourself throughout. If this is really easy, walk along the length of your supporting surface, placing each foot directly in front of the other.

Nicole: OK, Green Group. This is your stability exercise three. Your final exercise of this category. And for this you do need some support again, just like the previous activity. So the back of the chair, kitchen work top, anything you've got just for stability and to maintain safety through doing this exercise. So you're going to turn actually to face your your support this time, okay? And it should just be fingertip support so that you are really challenging your stability. You're going to transfer all of your weight onto your strongest leg. Okay. So into a single stance. So you just stood on one leg to begin with. Hands, fingertips are still on your support, okay? And then what you're going to do is you're going to challenge your stability further by going up onto your toes. And at that point there, you'll feel it a little unstable. Keep it there. And can you try to clap your hands three times? So, one, two, three and down. And you can see you might get a little bit of a wobble there, and that's quite normal. Okay, You're now going to do it onto the weaker leg. So again, hands onto your support for stability. Transfer all your weight onto your weaker leg. Okay. Make sure you're comfortable there and then move up on your toes. And then when you're ready, clap one, two, three and down. Again, you will find that you've got one way much better than the other. If you do find this particularly easy, okay? When you go up onto your toes, so on one leg and onto your toes, you can shut your eyes to make it more of a challenge. And for that you can keep your eyes shut and hands on and just count to three. Or, again, if you if you feel you really want to challenge, you can shut your eyes and try and do the clap. Okay, that is quite a challenge. Now let's take quite a pause there to look back at the coaching points for this activity that we've just shown you.

Craig: Turn to face your support, only allowing your fingertips to touch it. Stand on your stronger leg. Raise up onto your toes and then clap your hands three times, taking your hands back down to the support between each clap. It's normal to wobble when you do this. Now stand on your weaker leg and repeat the activity. If this is too easy, when you raise up on your toes, close your eyes and count to three. Or for an even harder challenge, clap your hands whilst your eyes are closed.

Mark: Hi. My name is Mark Watterson. I'm a physiotherapist who specialises in musculoskeletal injuries and neurological rehabilitation. My main passion in life is helping those recover from their stroke. I'm proud to bring you these activities in the videos you are about to watch.

Craig: In this set of activities, you'll need: a chair, weighted objects such as bottles of water, a tin or light dumbbells and a space on the floor. Before starting the warm up to this activity, it is very important that carers and family members watch the "Advice and exercises for carers" video.

Mark: OK, Green Group. This is your warmup exercise for your strength exercises. So what you want to be doing is standing with shoulder width apart feet, so you're nice and balance. If you want to feel a bit more secure, you can have a chair or stable support next year in case you need to. Otherwise, if you're feeling quite secure within yourself, feel free to be standing. All you're gonna do from here is you're going to march on the spot with high knees, finding your balance to start you off. At the same time, we're gonna swing our arms back and forward like a march. We're going to do this for 60 seconds. Away we go. Keep your balance throughout. Get your arms nice and high. This is your warm up. Don't forget about the knees. Well done. Focus on your breathing. And maintain your balance throughout. Again we want to warm up all our joints within the 60 seconds. You might find that 60 seconds is a challenge as we are moving all four limbs and involving a lot of cardiovascular. So make sure you do pace yourself throughout. And relax there. Give yourself a moment to go through the coaching points from the exercise we have just shown you.

Craig: March on the spot, bring your knees up high. At the same time, swing your arms gently to begin with and then swing them above your head. Do not move your arms passed pain or restriction and keep going for 60 seconds.

Mark: OK, Green Group. This is your first exercise for your strength category. So what we're gonna be doing, we're gonna be doing a lunge. You're gonna stand nice and tall on your feet, shoulder width apart for balance. If you need a support and surface there's chair for this exercise, feel free to use it. If not, make sure you're safe throughout. So what you want to do. Standing supported. You're going to take a step forward with your stronger leg. From there, we're gonna lunge down and we're gonna come back up into our starting position. Then the next stage is to go with the opposite leg. Down, and push up like so. So if you do feel like you're a bit weaker on the weaker side, that's what the support and surface is for, to get yourself back up. We're gonna do 10 reps now and we're gonna repeat that with a little break. Here we go. One, two, three, four, five, six. Keep your balance throughout. Seven, eight, nine and ten. Give yourself a minute. Catch your breath and relax. You should be starting to feel the effects of it towards the last few reps. Whenever you're feeling ready, let's go for your final set. 10 reps again and one. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten. Give yourself a few moments now to look back at the coaching points of this exercise we've just shown you.

Craig: Stand nice and tall. Take a step forward with your stronger leg and bend at the knee to lunge forward. Return to start and repeat with your weaker leg. Repeat with alternate leg 10 times. Have a support on weaker side for balance if needed. Rest and repeat.

Mark: OK Green Group. This is your second exercise now for your strength workout. So, what you want to do. Get yourself down on the floor, starting on your knees and we're gonna perform a plank. So in order to do that, you're getting to stretch your arms out. So you're resting, resting on your forearms. Then what you're gonna do is try and kick your legs out. Straighten your legs, keep your back straight and rest on your tiptoes. You might find this quite hard. So if you struggle, you can start with your knees on the floor trying to keep your midsection off the ground for as long as you can. If it's too easy for you, we're going to start off the ground and we're gonna hold it for 20 seconds. Here we go. Key thing to remember: Make sure your bum isn't in the air. Make sure it's not too far down. Nice in the middle, keeping your tummy nice and strong. Focus on your breathing. And try and relax. Few more seconds. And relax. Give yourself a minute there, and we'll do that one more time. Again if you struggle to maintain the whole time, do what you can. Drop onto your knees complete the 20 seconds. Uh, make it easier on your knees if you can. Here we go. We're gonna try that one more time. Back up and hold it for 20 seconds. Keep your back nice and straight. You will start to feel this in your tummy now. And relax. Drop yourself down to your knees. Get yourself up. Nice and controlled. Give yourself a few moments there to go through the coaching point from this exercise we've just shown you.

Craig: Come down to the floor on your hands and knees. Place your forearms to the floor and take both legs out straight behind you and rest on your tip toes. If this is hard, place your knees onto the floor but try to keep your tummy off the floor. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Remember: keep your tummy tucked in back straight, your bottom down so that you are as straight as a pencil. Rest and repeat.

Mark: OK, Green Group. This is your final exercise for your strength category. What you'd be doing is a full body exercise with some weighted objects in your hands. So you can start off nice and light with any household objects. As you can see, I've got some tins here, and you can progress this, progress this if you like, with some dumbbells or maybe a litre bottle of water in each hand, whatever you have available. So starting position, standing up, shoulder width apart feet. Okay, I'm gonna hold onto your cans in your hands and you're gonna squat down, keeping your back straight, almost as if you're trying to touch the floor. You're gonna push yourself back up at the same time, bring the weights up and press above your head and back down, and you're gonna go back down to the floor. We're going to do this for 10 reps. Here we go. So, down to the floor, up and one. Down to the floor. And two. Keep your back nice and straight. Three. Even on the way down. And press four. Down five. Halfway there. Six, seven, eight, nine and ten. And relax there, give yourself a moment. There's your first set down. Little progression, like I said, you can make the weights heavier if you feel you're at that stage. So we're going to do that now. We've just increased the weight. Whenever you're ready we're gonna do your final 10, 10 reps. Here we go. Bend your knees, press and back down. There's one, and two, and three, and four, and five, six. Nearly there, keep going. Seven. Eight, make sure you keep your back nice and straight. Nine and ten. Give yourself a few moments now to go back through the coaching points for this exercise, you've just watched.

Craig: Squat down, keeping your back straight whilst holding a weighted object. When the weights touch the floor, stand back up and raise your hands to shoulder height and then raise them above your head. Do NOT push past pain or resistance. Repeat this 10 times. Then rest and repeat. To progress you can make the weight heavier.