[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] 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.
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- Energetic and Lively! Sing-and-Exercise Program for Seniors
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- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
[For Seniors] Fun Chair Exercises You Can Do While Seated (151–160)
Get excited! Daily movements and upper-body exercises
While seated, use a towel to actively move your upper body! Even simple actions—like folding a towel or hooking it onto something—can effectively engage your upper body.
If you turn these movements into friendly competitions with peers at a day service, it can spark communication and reduce feelings of loneliness.
You can race to see who folds towels faster, or compete to see who can grab a towel placed on the lap more quickly at the signal “Ready, go!” Another fun option is a team game where two people hold a towel together, balance a beanbag on it, and try to carry and drop it into a box.
Consider incorporating these as part of your recreation activities.
Get hyped! High-speed patakara
This is an exercise that encourages you to pay close attention to the speed of articulation and aim for smooth mouth movements.
Focusing on each of the syllables in the familiar “pa-ta-ka-ra,” it’s a simple activity where you repeatedly say the specified syllable in succession.
It’s easiest to follow the person standing in front, using their pronunciation as a reference and aiming for the same mouth movements and the same speed.
The comical effort of trying hard to pronounce the same word is also an important point—let’s make it fun while training the mouth’s movements.
Simple finger exercises
This is a brain-training exercise where you count numbers using your fingers held out in front of your body, gradually adding more elements to how you move them.
When you focus on your hands in front of you, it’s easy to slip into a relaxed posture, so it’s important to be mindful about sitting up straight with your back extended.
Start by making the same shape with both hands; once you get used to that, move on to making different shapes, gradually increasing the complexity of how you switch between them.
If you add not only hand shapes but also forward/back and side-to-side movements of the arms, it will further enhance the brain-training effect and help you stay aware of your arm muscles as well.
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.
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.
[For Seniors] Fun Chair Exercises You Can Do While Seated (161–170)
Shoulder exercises
As we get older, do you find your back hunching and your shoulders getting stiff? By moving the muscles around the shoulders, you can boost blood flow and potentially relieve shoulder stiffness and neck pain, as well as improve posture.
These shoulder blade exercises can be done while seated, so they’re easy for older adults to try.
They include raising and lowering the shoulders, rolling the shoulders, and moving the shoulder blades up and down or opening and closing them.
You don’t have to do the entire routine—feel free to start with the movements that are easiest for you, depending on how you’re feeling.
