![[For Seniors] Fun Exercises You Can Do While Seated](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/Ydo-56303Zs/maxresdefault.webp)
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)
10-minute full-body workout
In just 10 minutes, you can do a full-body workout while sitting in a chair.
Move your legs by lifting them while seated and spreading both legs apart.
These exercises strengthen your leg muscles and make walking easier, and they may also help prevent falls.
You can also work your upper body and abs by sliding your arms sideways at face height and leaning forward to bring your elbows and knees closer together.
It’s only a 10-minute routine, but it engages your whole body.
Since it’s done while sitting, it’s safe for older adults as well.
Sazae-san de Taiso
Let’s try a fun exercise routine set to the opening theme of Sazae-san, the iconic Japanese anime everyone knows! Move with the music by marching in place and swinging your arms.
Along the way, add movements like raising your arms up and spreading your legs wide.
It’s a bright, rhythmic tune, so moving your body to the beat will feel more and more enjoyable! If you know the lyrics, you might even try singing along while you exercise.
If you can play the song at a slower speed, starting with a slower tempo at first is also recommended.
Towel exercises to the tune of “Ii Yu Da na”
How about starting some exercises that even older adults can enjoy while seated in a chair? This time, we’ll use a towel and move along to the familiar Drifters’ song “Ii Yu Da Na.” Hold the towel at shoulder width and move it as if kneading hot spring water forward from your body, stretch upward from the shoulders to lengthen the body, and twist your torso to the left and right.
This should help you incorporate bending, stretching, and twisting of the upper body effectively.
The key point is to keep the lower body stable and both feet firmly on the floor while you do it.
Laughter-Inducing Health Exercises
It’s a fun exercise that’s supposed to be simple, but you end up getting tangled up and bursting into laughter.
First, decide on the rules for the movements—for example, when the leader says “1,” you clap; when they say “2,” you raise both arms; when they say “3,” you march in place.
Once the movements are set, all you have to do is move your body according to the numbers the leader calls out.
However, the leader won’t necessarily perform the movement that matches the number they say.
In other words, the numbers and the movements get all mixed up.
Still, the older adults doing the exercise must listen carefully to the numbers and perform the movement that matches the number as initially decided.
As the speed increases and the sequence is repeated, the confusion builds—and so does the laughter!
Winter Song Exercises
Sing-along activities are offered in many senior and welfare facilities.
Singing helps relieve stress and, because it moves the mouth, also works as an oral exercise.
Moreover, combining songs with simple exercises—song-exercise routines—stimulates the cerebrum, activates the brain, and can help prevent dementia.
If the exercises use songs people like, even seniors who feel reluctant to move might think, “Maybe I’ll give it a try.” Seasonal songs, such as winter-themed ones, can also help seniors feel the season as they exercise.
Spring Song Exercise
When we listen to songs like “Haru no Ogawa” and “Sakura Sakura,” we picture the warm, sunny weather of spring.
Let’s try doing some exercises to these spring songs.
As you sing, clap your hands and lift your legs.
Many children’s songs are likely familiar to older adults, too.
It’s said that recalling and singing the lyrics of songs you know can also serve as a workout for the brain.
For older adults who find it difficult to move their legs, just the hand motions are perfectly fine.
Please participate within the range you can manage.
Kiyoshi’s Zundoko Exercises
Let’s have some fun doing exercises to the song “Kiyoshi no Zundoko-bushi,” a hit from the time when Kiyoshi Hikawa—hugely popular among seniors—was known as the “Prince of Enka.” The song has a great tempo that gets your body moving.
It’s fine to do the routine while seated, the movements are simple, and it’s recommended for older adults.
For an extra touch, after the “zundoko” in the title phrase, add the call-and-response “Kiyoshi” while snapping or tapping the rhythm with your fingers—that makes it perfect.
If you watch Hikawa’s official video, you’ll see exactly how to do that part.