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 exercises done while seated, also suitable for wheelchair users (151–160)
Balance training using a chair
For older adults, being able to maintain balance is important because it helps prevent falls.
The chair-based balance training introduced here is valuable for preventing falls and improving walking stability.
Many older adults feel uneasy about exercising while standing.
In such cases, chair-based balance training is recommended! Not only is it safe, but it also lets you strengthen your core and lower body muscles without strain.
In fact, improving core flexibility helps maintain balance more than simply walking with your feet on the ground.
Give it a try and feel the difference.
Strengthen your core with chair Pilates
Pilates combines strength training and stretching with deep breathing.
It’s considered effective for core training and is popular especially among young women, but by doing it while seated in a chair, even older adults can safely strengthen their core.
Tilt the pelvis back and return it, move it side to side, and hinge forward from the hips while keeping your back long—above all, move slowly and only within a range that feels comfortable.
Keep encouraging deep breathing at all times, and enjoy gentle, unhurried movements as you exercise.
Fun exercises to prevent urinary leakage
Here’s an easy pelvic floor exercise you can do while seated to help prevent urine leakage.
It’s very simple: sit in a chair and make a fist with your hand.
Place your fist between your knees, then press your knees together to hold it in place.
Next, tighten as if you’re squeezing your anus.
Hold this position for 10 seconds.
You might find yourself counting in a funny or high voice, which could make you laugh and lose tension—but don’t worry.
The stimulation from making sounds or laughing can also be an effective part of the training.
It’s something you can enjoy doing, so give it a try!
Aiube exercises while singing
Here is an introduction to the “Ai-U-Be Exercise,” which comes with lyrics and hand movements.
The Ai-U-Be Exercise is designed to improve breathing from mouth breathing to nasal breathing.
You can do it while seated and practically anywhere, so many senior care facilities may have adopted it.
By switching to nasal breathing, germs can be trapped in the nose, and moistened air can be sent into the body.
Repeating a set—such as 10 repetitions—several times helps strengthen the tongue and enables the mouth to stay closed.
For older adults, an exercise that includes simple lyrics and hand choreography makes it easier to try several times to music.
The movements can be done while seated, helping to move the body and promote overall blood circulation.
Singing Pa-Ta-Ka-Ra Exercises
If you just keep repeating “pa-ta-ka-ra” in a simple way, you’ll eventually get bored and lose awareness of your mouth movements.
When that happens, a great option is to adapt it by pronouncing “pa-ta-ka-ra” in time with a song.
By articulating each syllable to the rhythm, you’ll naturally pay attention to the cadence of language, which helps not only with mouth exercises but also with smoother conversation.
You can choose any song, but children’s songs are often easiest because of their clear rhythm and suitable number of beats and words.
Sing and pass it around! Ball relay
Here’s an idea for a rhythm-based ball-passing game.
First, participants sit in a circle.
One person starts with the ball and passes it to the next person in time with the music; that person then passes it to the next, and so on.
When the music stops, the person holding the ball gets to drop out of the game.
You can also adjust the game by adding more balls depending on the number of participants.
Singing along while playing provides brain training benefits, and listening to favorite songs can boost motivation, which adds to the appeal.
[For Seniors] Enjoyable Chair Exercises, Also Suitable for Wheelchair Users (161–170)
Stretches to make walking easier
This is an exercise you can do while seated, moving your feet thoroughly to loosen the calf muscles and ankles.
Loosening the calves—often called the “second heart”—helps improve overall blood circulation, and making ankle movements smoother can lead to easier walking and help prevent falls.
The routine involves repeating motions such as alternately lifting the toes and heels, and opening the feet inward and outward in turn, so you can get a feel for how the ankles move.
It’s also recommended to include movements that lift the entire foot upward to bring awareness to the whole lower body.