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, Also Suitable for Wheelchair Users (161–170)
Ear, Nose Game
Pinch your nose with one hand, and with the other hand crossed over, pinch the ear on the opposite side.
At the cue, switch that configuration, aiming to swap hands smoothly.
The key points are that each hand is pinching a different spot and that one hand is crossed over.
Thinking carefully while moving your hands helps activate the brain.
Even just the hand-switching action is challenging, but adding a clap before switching, for example, makes it even harder and further enhances awareness of movement and concentration.
Hip joint movement
Smoothing the movement of the hip joints leads to the lifting motion of the legs, which is essential for walking.
These are exercises that strengthen the hips to support healthy everyday walking.
The key is that they can be done easily while seated in a chair, making them simple to incorporate into daily life.
The movements are straightforward—such as extending the legs and bending the body forward—while maintaining clear awareness of engaging the hip joints.
It’s also important to focus on using the chair for support and moving in ways that prevent injury.
[For Seniors] Enjoyable Seated Exercises for Wheelchair Users Too (171–180)
Shoulder Stiffness Relief Ball Exercise
This is an exercise that brings awareness to joint movement and how you apply force by moving a rubber ball while seated.
If you focus on holding the ball with one hand, you can train not only how you apply force but also your sense of balance.
By performing movements such as pressing the ball with both hands and throwing and catching the ball, direct your attention to the arm joints and shoulder blades to help relieve shoulder stiffness.
It’s also important to maintain proper posture so you can minimize strain on the body and apply force efficiently.
If you drop the ball and rush to pick it up, unnecessary tension can build up in your body, so it’s crucial to stay relaxed during this exercise.
Shoulder blade stretch
These are stretches focused on the shoulder blades that help improve posture in areas like the neck and lower back, as well as blood circulation.
Start by checking your posture and doing movements like aligning your arms to understand the condition of your shoulder blades.
You’ll move the area around the shoulder blades through various actions, such as exercises that raise and lower the shoulders and pull the elbows back.
It’s important to be mindful of the intensity of each movement and to recognize the direction in which the shoulder muscles are stretching.
Feeling the boost in blood flow after applying sustained effort and then releasing it can also help relieve overall tension in the body.
Pilates exercise to move the back
It’s easy to go about your day without paying much attention to your back, and you might be losing strength there without noticing.
This is a training routine that brings awareness to the back and strengthens it in coordination with the arms and shoulders, incorporating elements of Pilates.
The basics are to focus on the shoulder blades and perform movements that engage the shoulders, while also maintaining posture so the shoulder blades can move properly.
If you’ve never really paid attention to this area before, it can be hard to grasp how to move your shoulders.
So it’s best to start by moving slowly and checking your shoulder motion first.
Erector spinae stretch
The erector spinae is a muscle that runs from the neck down to the lower back.
It runs vertically in a long, narrow band around the center of the human back.
It’s an essential muscle for maintaining an upright posture and keeping the back straight while walking.
When this muscle weakens, it becomes difficult to maintain good posture, which can lead to rounded shoulders or cause lower back pain.
In erector spinae stretches, you can sit and place your hands behind your head and bend your body forward, or interlace your fingers and lift your arms overhead while opening your chest.
Just these movements can help loosen a stiff erector spinae.
Leg-strengthening exercises
Let’s use a towel to stretch and work your legs.
Place a towel on your thigh to add resistance, and raise and lower your thigh.
You can also thread the towel under your knee and simply bend and extend the lower leg to effectively move the area above the knee.
Other exercises include squeezing a towel firmly between both knees, or looping a towel around both legs to create resistance and moving each leg outward.
If you pass the towel under the soles of your feet, you can also train your calves—give these a try!
