Hi there, here's a question you probably haven't asked yourself lately. Can you still roll over easily?

No, I'm serious. Rolling might sound simple, but losing that ability is one of the first signs that we're losing real life strength, and it's one of the biggest risks to our independence.

Now, I was training my seniors class recently, and I had all the ladies lie down on the floor because I think it's a really valuable skill to maintain as they get older. But one of my 80-something-year-olds was unable to roll from side to side on the floor. Now, I already knew that she struggled to get up off the floor, so we make sure that she's got a little step there to get up, so that's all fine.

But I was really interested to see that she couldn't initiate the movement of going from side to side. And so she was given some homework to do at home to just try and deal with that.

Watch: Full-Body Rolling Exercises for Bed & Floor Mobility (11mins)

Press play or keep reading, either way, you’ll master this essential ADL move in under 10 minutes.

Ready, let's jump into the 'Mobility Exercises for Women 50+: Learn to Roll Again' lesson:

So in this post, I'll show you why rolling matters. Two exercises to rebuild that strength and a short five-minute workout that you can start today right from your floor or even from your bed. Let's roll.

Why Rolling Matters: Real-Life Examples

So you may ask me, why do we need to roll? What's so important about rolling? Why do we need that?

Well, it could be that you've had a fall, you've fallen to the floor, you lay on your back, and you have not practiced how to roll onto your side, to get onto your front, to crawl to the door to get help, so you just lay there. In this post, we'll show you floor mobility exercises to roll onto your front and get back up.

Many times I've gone up to ask people who've fallen, because they've had no fracture, and I'm wondering why they've laid there for two or three days until help came.

It's because I think they're often in shock, and they just do not know what to do, so they lay there. That could be life and death, so it couldn't be a good thing.

Now, you could have a great body, and you might have grandkids and great-grandkids that you just want to get on the floor with, and there's nothing better than rolling around from side to side with those kids.

It is so much fun, for them and for you, just being able to know that you can both, get down on the floor and get up again (If you struggle with that here's a full 'HOW TO' on that), and then play and roll around

The other thing that I get told all the time from people that have lost the ability to roll is that they lay in one position in bed all night, maybe on their back all night, struggling to sleep, because they've lost that ability to be able to roll from side to side.

And if you're a side sleeper like me, that would be tragic. I don't think I would sleep too well on my back all night. In this post, we'll show you bed mobility exercises so you can easily roll over onto your side in bed for a better more comfortable sleep.

So being able to roll is so essential.

Now, let's have a look at a couple of moves that we can do so we can keep you mobile and being able to roll side to side.

Exercises #1: Assisted Side Roll Progressions

Try These Floor & Bed Mobility Exercises. 

• So, the first one we're going to do is just simply lie on the floor.
• We're going to take one knee up and one leg down
• Now, being able to roll, let's just get that arm and see if we can come over
• So, this could be your first move, just trying to come over on one side with that arm and leg.

• Now, you may want to take this leg up to help pull you over and then bring yourself over
• But we're trying to get right over on our side. Same to the other side.
• We can bring this arm and push ourselves over so it's pushing our whole body over
• But we can also take up that leg and help ourselves come over

• You can even have this arm tucked in
• You can have the arm above you, but I find it just probably a bit easier to have that arm beside you
• And if we go for that side again, that leg comes up, the arm comes over, and we can try and pull our whole body over

Now, if you want to work that a bit more intensely, so you don't want to rely on the arm, you may need to do that at first, but then you can just roll side to side.

• So, take up those knees up
• and just see if you can roll your whole body to the left
• then to the right
• You may want to have a pillow under your head to support it. 

Now, if you want to make that a little bit harder,

• You can be lying straight on your back with legs out, I like to keep my arms in here
• but you can roll side to side with your legs out
• So, you're rolling all in one go, and you're not trying to roll part of your body, then rolling the other part of your body

If you want to make this a little bit harder, again

• You can take your elevate legs up
• So, we're rolling side to side
• You may want to have a nice mat under you if you're doing this, can really get into those hips
• And if you want to make this a bit harder to challenge yourself a bit more, just grab a weight and place it on your chest and roll

So, with this last one, what I'd like to get you to do with one of these rolling movements is to come right over.

• So, right over and right over to the side again
• If you're going to be down on the floor with grandkids, they don't want to do a half roll
• They want to do a full roll.
  

Remember, with all these rolling movements, the core is on, so belly button's pulled into the spine. And they will all help you to be the best you can be if you have a fall and need to roll over to get up off the floor. 

Exercises #2: Core & Plank Variations

Try These Floor & Bed Strengthening Exercises. 

We're simply going to be getting onto our front and do some core strengthening that will greatly assist you in being able to roll effectively.

• We're going to come down onto our knees and hands
• Then lower to the floor laying with elbows on ground
• Then, so the knees remain on the ground, pull up and just holding in a plank

• VARIATION: From there we can curl those toes under
• And bring your knees up into a full plank, and hold here. 
• Plus: It's not shown here but for an additional challenge as you progress in strength you can elavate further to no elbows on the ground, ie, arms out-stretched
• But for what you need to gain some core strength for rolling just staying here and holding in knees down plank
  
• NOTE: When hold the plank we're pulling the belly button in, which helps activate that core

• Don't drop the head down
• Don't drop the hips down
• Just holding a little way off the floor with our belly button pulled in and hold.
• See if you can hold there for a period of time

And those are our two exercises. Now, we're going to look at a short workout that we can work all those muscles to be able to continue to roll.

Workout: 5-Minute Repeatable Routine

Enjoy this rolling mobility workout, that Coach Sheree has put together, to compliment this Mobility Exercises for Women 50+: Learn to Roll Again post.

For a WARM-UP do some on the spot marching, with arms moving/swinging for 2-3 minutes before you start the workout. The warn-up intent is to simply get the blood flowing across your body and muscles.

This rolling mobility workout has been designed for those who that struggle rolling, and should they fall, or lying in bed, know they need to gain the strength and mobility to the gain freedom and independence they desire.

Final Thoughts

Now, if any of those exercises are way too hard for you, that might be fine. You might just have to stay with the roll side to side.

And in fact, when you roll, see if you can roll right over. So not just side to side, but taking that roll, if you can, all the way over and roll over again and all the way over. So there's a few ways you can be doing that.

Just rolling side to side, rolling all the way over, adding weight, lengthening the legs, taking them out, all sorts of ways. But have fun with it and let me know how you go with it.