Let's extend our healthy lifespan! Care exercises to stay active and energetic forever
As we get older, it can become harder to move our bodies, and we may feel our stamina declining.
Some of you might be thinking, “I want to take preventive steps before my body becomes less mobile.”
In this article, we introduce exercise routines for elderly adults to help maintain a healthy body!
We’ll cover a wide range of exercises—from simple routines you can do while seated to slightly more challenging ones.
Use these ideas as fun ways to extend healthy life expectancy, perfect for day services or recreational activities in care facilities!
- [Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors
- [For Seniors] Recommended Easy Strength Training
- [For Seniors] Hand and finger play roundup: Finger exercises that lead to brain training
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun Core Training
- [For Seniors] Let's try customizing the usual Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra exercises!
- Summary of exercises for seniors: introducing preventative care movements by body part.
- Recommended simple exercises for recreational activities for the elderly
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [For Seniors] Stretching Exercises: Easy and Safe to Do
- [Today's Recommendation] Gentle Health Exercises for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Fun Exercises You Can Do While Seated
- For seniors: Enjoyable exercises done while seated, accessible for wheelchair users.
- For Seniors: Effective Recreation for Preventing Care Needs—Have Fun While Staying Healthy
Extend your healthy life expectancy! Care exercises to stay active forever (21–30)
Patakara exercises with butterflies
We’d like to share an idea for training oral functions—such as chewing strength and swallowing ability—set to the well-known children’s song “Butterfly” (Chōchō).
The method is very simple: just replace the lyrics with the sounds pa-ta-ka-ra and sing along.
Because it’s a short song, you can do it anytime, anywhere, without worrying about the setting.
Doing it before meals serves as a warm-up for the mouth and helps prevent aspiration, so timing it before eating makes it even more effective.
Consistency is important, so please try to do it once a day.
Convert “Furusato” with the Patakara method
The song “Furusato” is a school song every Japanese person knows.
This time, we’d like to share an idea for a Patakara exercise using this song.
It’s very simple to do: just replace all the lyrics with the sounds pa-ta-ka-ra and sing.
Because you sing in the order of pa-ta-ka-ra, there’s no need to memorize the lyrics, and since it’s a familiar tune for everyone, you don’t need any equipment and can do it anywhere.
By adding a little twist to your usual exercise, you can participate with a fresh feeling while keeping the same benefits.
Give it a try!
Let's extend our healthy life expectancy! Care exercises (31–40) to stay active and energetic forever
Patakara Exercises – Oyome Samba (Bride Samba)
Let us introduce you to the fun Patakara exercises performed to the tune of Hiromi Go’s classic hit “Oyome Samba.” Strengthening the mouth muscles improves your ability to swallow food and helps prevent aspiration.
First, sing the song normally to check the music and rhythm.
From the second verse, replace the lyrics with the syllables “pa-ta-ka-ra.” If you can manage it, move your hands in rock–paper–scissors (fist, scissors, open hand) at the same time; doing multiple actions simultaneously can also provide brain-training benefits.
Aim to do this at least once a day.
It’s especially recommended before meals.
Pata-Kara exercises: tongue twisters
Here’s a method that adds the sounds “pa-ta-ka-ra” to tongue twisters so you can practice while having fun.
Start slowly, and as you get used to it, speed up—this way, people of various abilities can enjoy participating.
This exercise can help with digestion of food, prevent aspiration pneumonia, promote sterilization and disinfection through saliva secretion, and help prevent infections.
In addition, since a decline in oral function is said to increase the risk of developing dementia, it is also effective for dementia prevention.
In settings such as senior care facilities, explaining these benefits before the exercise can encourage more motivated participation.
Patakara exercise: Theme from Shoten
For older generations, the TV show “Shōten” is a familiar favorite.
Here’s an idea for enjoying Patakara exercises using the Shōten theme song.
It’s very simple! Just make the four sounds “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra” in time with the music.
That’s all it takes, yet it can help maintain and improve your ability to eat and swallow, and the act of inhaling and exhaling can also benefit the respiratory system.
If you can, try opening and closing your hands repeatedly at the same time.
Doing multiple activities simultaneously creates a “dual-task,” which may help prevent cognitive decline.
It’s fun, easy to do, and highly recommended.
Patakara Exercise Song
This is an exercise where you say “pa-ta-ka-ra” in time with the Patakara Exercise Song to train the muscles around the mouth.
By vocalizing “pa-ta-ka-ra,” you can expect various benefits such as maintaining and improving chewing and swallowing strength, promoting saliva secretion, and stabilizing pronunciation.
Doing it especially before meals prepares your mouth and increases the effectiveness in preventing aspiration.
Continuing the exercise enhances its benefits.
Try to do it at least once a day, preferably before meals.
Patakara Zoo
Introducing the idea for the Patakara Exercise: the Patakara Zoo, where you sing animal names that include the syllables “pa,” “ta,” “ka,” and “ra” to a simple melody.
As you sing names like panda, tanuki (raccoon dog), crow, and lion, you imitate their sounds and characteristics, making it easy to smile and have fun.
It can be done seated in a chair, right where you are, so it doesn’t require a special space.
It’s also recommended as a recreation activity in senior facilities.
Please give it a try!