For seniors: Enjoyable exercises done while seated, accessible for wheelchair users.
In many senior care facilities, exercise is often incorporated as a form of physical recreation.
However, doing the same activity every day can become monotonous.
In this guide, we introduce exercises that older adults can enjoy and continue without getting bored.
We’ve also gathered safe, seated exercises for peace of mind.
These can be enjoyed by people who use wheelchairs or those who feel unsteady when standing.
From easy-to-start movements to exercises that offer a thorough workout, choose and practice according to the individual’s condition and specific concerns.
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable and Healthy Chair Stretches!
- [Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun Core Training
- [For Seniors] Fun Exercises You Can Do While Seated
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
- [For Seniors] Easy and fun seated activities you can do in your room
- [For Seniors] Recommended Rhythm Play and Exercises
- [Recommended for seniors] Rejuvenating Rock-Paper-Scissors Exercise
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Indoor Activities! Recreations and Games That Engage the Mind and Body
- Cognicise you can do while seated. Simple dementia prevention.
- [For Seniors] Leg and lower-back training: Fall prevention
[For Seniors] Enjoyable Chair Exercises for Wheelchair Users: Fun Seated Workouts (91–100)
Urinary leakage exercises using a towel
Let’s strengthen the pelvic floor muscles to improve urinary leakage.
When the pelvic floor muscles weaken, the ability to tighten the urethra decreases.
Lifting something heavy or sneezing and coughing can increase abdominal pressure and lead to leakage.
Here is a pelvic floor exercise you can do while seated.
Sit in a chair, place a towel between your thighs, and squeeze.
As you exhale, squeeze the towel and focus on tightening your anal muscles as well.
Inhale and relax, and repeat 10 to 20 times.
Because it can be done while sitting, it’s an easy exercise for older adults too.
Kyphosis prevention training using a resistance band
This is a training exercise where you use a resistance tube to add load to your movements, engaging your muscles while stretching your body.
It’s a simple motion—holding each end of the tube in your hands and stretching it—but depending on the position at which you pull, you can train different parts of the body.
A key point is to slowly stretch the tube and maintain that position, while staying mindful of your posture.
If you focus on opening your chest and engaging your shoulder blades, it can help improve your posture and lead to smoother movement.
[For Seniors] Enjoyable exercises done while seated: fun chair-based routines suitable for wheelchair users (101–110)
Tube training
Don’t overlook the rubber bands and band tubes used for tube training.
At first glance, they’re just large rubber bands, but they can be used in many ways.
For example, you can sit down, loop them around both feet, and move your legs outward; or pull them up above your knees and lift your thighs.
The great thing is that as long as you have a chair, you can do these exercises anywhere.
Inexpensive options cost under 1,000 yen, so they’re also recommended if you just want to give them a try.
Twist Exercise
By twisting your upper body to the left and right, use your abs and back muscles to train your core while improving blood circulation.
Clasp your hands in front of your body and twist as if rowing a boat.
The key is that you’re not only moving side to side, but also engaging the muscles in various directions, including up and down, so they loosen thoroughly.
Pay close attention to movements around the shoulder blades to help improve your posture as well.
Since the goal is to enhance circulation throughout the body, we also recommend adding lower-body stretches.
Do-Re-Mi scale patakara
This is a variation of “Pa-Ta-Ka-La,” which is strongly associated with mouth-movement training, by incorporating pitch.
Adding musical elements not only makes it more enjoyable, but focusing on sound also improves throat movement.
The content is very simple: pronounce the usual “Pa-Ta-Ka-La” to match the pitches of Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do.
To express the scale, vocal volume and how you open your mouth are also important points, so be sure to pay close attention to these aspects and actively engage the mouth muscles and throat.
balance disc
This describes placing your feet on an unstable balance disc and aiming to stabilize your posture, which engages your whole body.
To prevent accidents like losing balance and falling, it’s important to take precautions such as bracing your hand against a wall for stability or having someone support you.
Starting from a supported position, gradually learn which parts of your body to engage to maintain a stable posture, and work toward holding a stable posture on your own.
If you don’t yet have enough strength to support your balance, it may be best to begin by sitting in a chair and practicing the motion of pressing down on the balance disc with your feet.
Flutter kicks only! Core training you can do while doing something else
This is a flutter-kick exercise you can do while relaxing in a chair or on a sofa, or even lying in bed! By moving your legs up and down in big motions, you can work not only your leg muscles but also your abs and back at the same time.
If you can’t move your legs up and down very much, your ankles might be stiff.
Interlace your fingers with your toes and make large circular motions with your ankles to loosen the muscles and tendons around them, then try the flutter kicks again—you should find it much easier to move.
Strengthen your core with this “while-doing-something-else” exercise that you can do while watching TV or chatting.
