[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.
- [For Seniors] Recommended Rhythm Play and Exercises
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable and Healthy Chair Stretches!
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun Core Training
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [For Seniors] Guaranteed to Liven Things Up! A Collection of Brain Training Activities That Will Spark Laughter
- [Recommended for seniors] Rejuvenating Rock-Paper-Scissors Exercise
- For seniors: Leg-strengthening exercises you can do without overexertion.
- Cognicise you can do while seated. Simple dementia prevention.
- [Today's Recommendation] Gentle Health Exercises for Seniors
- Energetic and Lively! Sing-and-Exercise Program for Seniors
- [Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
[For Seniors] Fun Chair Exercises (1–10)
Seated Stick ExercisesNEW!
This is a stick exercise designed by an occupational therapist.
It’s done while seated in a chair.
Hold both ends of the stick, extend your arms forward, and swing your arms left and right.
Raise your arms overhead and move your body side to side.
There are many other movements too—some build strength, others stretch your lower back and spine—there’s a variety.
It can help relieve shoulder stiffness, activate the brain, and improve explosiveness, among other benefits, so please give it a try if you like.
If you can’t do everything, it’s fine to proceed within your own limits.
Sit-to-stand exercise using a chairNEW!
This is a training exercise using chairs that strengthens your legs and glutes.
It directly helps you perform the standing motion with less strain, so give it a try.
First, sit on a chair.
Place another chair facing the same direction in front of you, at a distance where you can touch its backrest with your arms extended.
Grab the front chair with your hands and lean your upper body firmly forward.
Then slowly lift your hips and stand up.
If you stand up with your torso upright, it puts strain on your legs and lower back, so be sure to lean forward well.
Simple exercises to make standing up easierNEW!
When standing up from a chair, lifting your hips is essential.
But that’s the moment that puts the most strain on your legs and lower back.
So let’s use this exercise to train yourself to raise your hips more easily.
First, clasp your hands and extend your arms in front of your body.
Then take both feet slightly back, and as you extend your arms diagonally upward, lift your hips off the seat.
Repeat this movement, and when you’re done, actually stand up.
The key is to tilt your pelvis upright and keep your back straight so it doesn’t round.
[For Seniors] Fun Chair Exercises (11–20)
Inner thigh exercises needed for standing upNEW!
When you learn to properly engage your inner thigh muscles, everyday movements become smoother and your whole body feels more stable.
First, sit on a chair with your back straight and consciously bring your knees together.
While sensing the inside of your thighs, slowly repeat the motion of opening and closing your knees to activate the inner thigh muscles.
Do about 10 repetitions.
As you continue, the supporting strength of your legs will increase, making it easier to build the power used when standing up.
Since this helps daily movements become smoother and contributes to overall stability, try incorporating it gradually at your own pace.
Exercises to improve standing up movementsNEW!
This exercise focuses on becoming aware of which parts of your body move when you stand up, and gradually improving each movement.
Start by improving ankle mobility: while seated in a chair, alternately lift your toes and heels to engage the area from your ankles to your calves.
As you thoroughly loosen your ankles and increase the range of motion of your toes and heels, your movements when standing up will also become larger and safer.
It’s important to amplify each movement, and when doing the exercises, use a chair for support to help maintain balance.
Exercises to relieve shoulder, back, and knee painNEW!
Many older adults may suffer from painful shoulders, lower backs, and knees.
By continuing this exercise routine, you can ease that pain.
For the shoulder exercises, let your arms hang loosely and rotate your hands from side to side, and also roll your shoulders themselves.
For the lower back, gently rub your waist to relax the muscles, then place your hands on both sides of your navel and, while exhaling, say “ha, ha, ha.” Strengthening the muscles around your abdomen will help you support your lower back more firmly.
For the knees, massage them first and then work on building strength.
Energetic Stepping ExerciseNEW!
When you want a full-body workout, walking is an easy option, but there are times when it’s difficult for those with mobility issues or due to the weather.
In that case, let’s do a seated marching exercise that moves your whole body while staying in a chair.
First, take deep breaths and do some warm-up stretches.
After the warm-up, march your feet while counting out loud and add movements like raising your hands, opening both hands, and rolling your shoulders.
Finally, cool down to relax your body and finish.
Let’s move the whole body to maintain and improve muscle strength.