[For Seniors] Fun Exercises You Can Do While Seated
When it comes to recreation essential for the physical and mental health of older adults, exercise is at the top of the list.
Not only does it help prevent declines in stamina and muscle strength, but it’s also effective for preventing falls.
However, some seniors may find vigorous exercise difficult.
For those individuals, we recommend chair exercises that can be done while seated.
Moving rhythmically to music makes it enjoyable and easy to stick with.
What’s more, by stimulating the muscles and brain, these exercises can improve circulation and may help prevent conditions such as dementia.
Even those who aren’t confident about physical activity can enjoy these simple exercises, so please use them as a helpful reference.
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- For seniors: Leg-strengthening exercises you can do without overexertion.
- Cognicise you can do while seated. Simple dementia prevention.
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- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
[For Seniors] Fun Chair Exercises (81–90)
Cognicise with A I U E O
Sit in a chair and practice vocalizing the Japanese vowels while marching your feet.
We’ll go from the A-row to the NA-row, and we’ll add movements besides foot marching.
For example, raise one finger for “u, ku, su, tsu, nu,” and add a handclap for “o, ko, so, to, no.” As you get used to it, try increasing the pace of the exercise or adding different movements.
The key is to gradually introduce movements to suit older adults.
Applying a slight physical challenge can increase effectiveness, but it’s important to keep it within a comfortable range for seniors.
Please try adding your own variations and give it a go.
Beanbag rock-paper-scissors
Even just tossing and catching a beanbag with one hand helps improve your grip strength and dynamic vision.
This activity adds another element that makes you move your body while thinking, offering potential brain-training benefits.
One hand tosses and catches the beanbag, while the other hand makes rock–paper–scissors shapes (fist, scissors, open hand).
It’s important to keep your attention on both hands so one doesn’t stop while you’re focused on the other.
Once you’re comfortable with each hand’s movements, try adding actual rock–paper–scissors play to increase the thinking challenge—highly recommended!
Towel exercises to the tune of Kiyoshi’s Zundoko-bushi
Kiyoshi Hikawa’s “Kiyoshi no Zundoko Bushi” is a song that many older adults are familiar with, so it’s likely to boost motivation for exercise! Let’s move energetically to the music.
In addition to movements like holding a towel and bending and stretching the arms, we also recommend moving your legs along with it.
For the easy-to-hum phrases, try singing while you move your body.
Because the song is very rhythmic, following the beat exactly can sometimes be challenging, so don’t push yourself—take a more relaxed tempo and move your body comfortably.
calf exercises
This exercise strengthens the calf muscles by focusing on correct posture and muscle movement.
Building the calves can help you walk more smoothly and may also promote blood circulation.
Use a support such as a chair to avoid falling, and perform a movement that raises and lowers your heels.
A key point is to lift your whole body straight upward, so be sure to maintain proper posture.
If you’re not sure whether you’re doing it with correct form, external assistance or advice can be very helpful.
Exercises to prevent swelling
As we go about our daily lives, it’s common to spend long periods in the same posture without realizing it.
Continuing to hold the same position can impair circulation and often lead to swelling in various parts of the body.
This routine offers gentle, full-body exercises to relieve such swelling.
Sit in a chair with proper posture and gradually loosen areas in sequence—around the shoulder blades, the lower back, the thighs, and the calves.
By aligning your breathing and taking your time to stretch thoroughly, you’ll steadily improve blood flow.
Stretches performed while sitting on a chair
This is a stretch focusing on the lower back that helps prevent back pain and improves posture and blood circulation.
By sitting in a chair and moving your lower back slowly, you can effectively work the lower-body muscles centered around the waist with only a light load.
It’s important to start from correct posture with your back straight, and to pay attention to which lower-back muscles are being stretched.
To avoid pain, stretch slowly only within a comfortable range.
Holding your breath stiffens the muscles, so exhaling slowly as you perform the movements will also help loosen them.
[For Seniors] Fun Chair Exercises You Can Do While Seated (91–100)
walking exercises
Have them focus on lower-body movement with a motion like marching in place.
To train effectively with light intensity, it’s important to do it while seated in a chair.
Instead of jumping straight into the marching exercise, start by loosening the legs with movements like lifting and drawing the knees in, and rotating the hip joints.
Good posture and movements beyond the legs matter too—keep the back straight and swing the arms broadly while marching.
Pay attention to the rhythm of the movement and proceed while regulating your breathing.