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 you can do while seated—fun for wheelchair users, too (181–190)
Back exercises
As muscle strength declines, your lower back gradually bends and your posture slowly deteriorates.
It’s said that the latissimus dorsi—the back muscles—play an important role in maintaining proper posture and a straight body.
By training the lats and aligning your posture, the position of your internal organs may also be optimized, contributing to overall health.
The exercises are very simple, such as placing your hands on your abdomen and curling to look at your navel, or raising one hand overhead and bending to the opposite side.
It’s a routine where consciously focusing on how the back muscles move is especially important.
Iliopsoas exercises
The iliopsoas is a muscle that plays important roles, such as supporting the movement of lifting the leg high and connecting the upper and lower body to stabilize overall balance.
By properly strengthening the iliopsoas, you can improve posture and body balance and help prevent falls.
In an exercise where you sit in a chair with your legs apart and move them up and down, it’s important to engage the lower abdomen firmly.
Making the leg movements larger will work the iliopsoas more, but it also makes balancing harder, so be careful not to tip backward.
By focusing inward on the abdomen and actively engaging the muscles, you may also expect benefits such as stimulating the internal organs.
Also for dementia prevention! Seated core slow training
Gentle slow training done with large, relaxed movements is perfect for strengthening your core.
What’s more, by increasing the muscles that generate heat inside the body and raising brain temperature, it’s considered effective for dementia as well.
Here’s how to do it: Sit up straight in a chair, extend your hands to shoulder level or in front of your body for balance, then slowly bow forward and take your time returning to the starting position.
To prevent tipping over, it’s also recommended to place another chair in front of you and lightly rest your hands on its back when you lean forward.
Pelvic exercises
Pelvic exercises are recommended for older adults who have recently been feeling unsteady or finding it difficult to walk.
When the hip joints become stiff, it can cause pelvic misalignment, which may lead to pain in the legs and lower back.
By loosening the muscles around the pelvis, you can aim to reduce pain and help your joints move more smoothly.
Sit slightly forward toward the middle of a chair and gently move your hip joints back and forth.
If your shoulders move, the effect will be reduced, so place your hands on your shoulders and try to keep them still.
If the movement is hard to understand, placing your hands on your waist may make it easier to feel.
Heel raise exercise
When you start using a wheelchair, the biggest concern is the loss of strength in your legs and lower back.
This “heel raise exercise” can help strengthen the hip area and calves.
It’s simple: while seated, lift your heels without letting your toes come off the floor.
Do a set of 10 or 20 reps—whatever number suits you—and keep it up regularly.
The key is to raise your heels with awareness of your hip flexor area and calves.
It’s also said that lifting the heels and then lowering them with a firm tap can help strengthen bones.
Give it a try within a comfortable, safe range.
Posture-improving exercises using a towel
As we age, a forward-leaning posture—often called a hunchback—tends to become more noticeable.
It’s said that hunching occurs as the back and chest muscles tighten over time.
When your posture breaks down, even just standing can be tiring, so exercises to correct posture are very effective! This routine uses a towel and simple movements, yet continued practice can help improve your posture.
All you do is hold a towel with both hands and move your arms forward and back, making it easy for older adults to try as well.
Why not incorporate it at home or as a recreational activity in senior care facilities?
In conclusion
We’ve introduced a range of seated exercises for older adults all at once.
They span from fun, easy activities to routines that get the body moving more thoroughly! When choosing which exercises to do, please consider the health condition of the older adult who will be exercising and ask about any physical concerns they may have.
Incorporating exercises for different body parts on different days can help keep things fresh and make it easier to continue without getting bored.