Why Squats Are Actually Wrong for Adults Over 557 min read

Seated Marching Targets More Than Most People Realize

Seated marching looks deceptively simple — you’re just alternately lifting your knees while seated. But the muscles it activates are among the most important and most neglected in older adults. The hip flexors, which run from the lower spine through the pelvis and attach to the upper thigh, are critical for the walking motion. They weaken significantly with prolonged sitting and age-related disuse. Bickerstaff describes seated marching as “a fantastic low-impact exercise that strengthens both your hip flexors and upper thigh muscles while also improving balance and coordination.” Because the movement mimics the mechanics of walking, the strength gains translate directly to real-world mobility. The coordination benefit is also meaningful — alternating left and right in a rhythmic pattern challenges the nervous system in ways that purely static exercises don’t. It’s a deceptively high-value move for the amount of effort it requires.

The Inner Thigh Muscles Most People Ignore

The adductors — the muscles running along the inner thigh — rarely get deliberate attention in most fitness routines, yet they play a central role in hip and pelvis stability. These muscles work constantly during walking, standing, and any lateral movement, keeping the hips level and preventing the pelvis from tilting to one side with each step. When adductors weaken, the compensation patterns that develop can contribute to knee pain, lower back discomfort, and an unsteady gait. A simple chair-based adductor squeeze, performed by placing a small pillow or rolled towel between the knees and pressing inward with sustained tension, targets this group effectively without any equipment. Strengthening the adductors improves the stability platform that all other lower body movements depend on, making it a foundational piece of the thigh-restoration puzzle that Bickerstaff includes in his programming for this age group.