[For Seniors] Enjoyable and Healthy Chair Stretches!
Daily exercise is essential for the physical and mental health of older adults.
Some seniors may find that intense workouts are too demanding for their bodies.
What we’re introducing here is stretching that seniors can enjoy while seated.
Stretching exercises can be done sitting down and can be tailored to a senior’s physical and mental condition, making them highly recommended.
They’re also reassuring from a safety standpoint for older adults.
They’re great not only for activities in senior facilities and day services, but also as quick routines you can do at home in small pockets of time.
Please use this as a reference.
- For seniors: Enjoyable exercises done while seated, accessible for wheelchair users.
- [For Seniors] Fun Exercises You Can Do While Seated
- [For Seniors] Stretching Exercises: Easy and Safe to Do
- [For Seniors] Fun and Easy! Fall-Prevention Exercises for Older Adults
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable While Seated! Ball Exercises and Recreation
- [For Seniors] Enjoy the Cold Winter! Seated Activities You Can Do
- [Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors
- [Today's Recommendation] Gentle Health Exercises for Seniors
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- Energetic and Lively! Sing-and-Exercise Program for Seniors
- Cognicise you can do while seated. Simple dementia prevention.
- [For Seniors] Exercises to Walk Again. Fall Prevention
- Summary of exercises for seniors: introducing preventative care movements by body part.
[For Seniors] Enjoyable Seated Stretches for Health! (21–30)
Pelvic floor exercises while seated
We would like to introduce a simple pelvic floor exercise you can do while seated for 5 minutes to help improve urinary leakage and frequent urination.
Sit deeply in a chair with a backrest, with both feet flat on the floor for best results.
First, place both hands between your knees and lift your heels.
While keeping this position, press your hands with your knees as if squeezing them, hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times.
After taking a deep breath, tighten your urethra and anus as if holding in urine or stool, hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times.
You might think that’s all there is to it, but continuing regularly can be effective.
It’s easy to do while watching TV, so please give it a try.
resistance band
This is about turning everyday movements into training by adding resistance with a band.
Even a common daily action like lifting your arms will engage your muscles well when you add the element of stretching a band.
It’s recommended to start with a simple move: hold both ends with your hands and stretch the band to gauge how much force is needed, then incorporate it into your movements.
Since every movement will require effort, you’ll likely start to see which muscles are being used for each movement.
[For Seniors] Fun and Healthy Chair Stretches! (31–40)
Exercises to prevent a hunched back
To strengthen your back muscles, it’s important to move your shoulders.
If you can move them properly, it will help support correct posture and also improve rounded shoulders.
This is a training routine you can do while seated, slowly moving the muscles around your shoulder blades.
Follow a sequence that supports shoulder movement with coordinated arm and torso actions, and take your time to rotate your shoulders slowly.
It’s also important to proceed while exhaling slowly—relaxing will help increase your shoulder’s range of motion.
Erector spinae stretch
The erector spinae is a muscle that runs from the neck down to the lower back.
It runs vertically in a long, narrow band around the center of the human back.
It’s an essential muscle for maintaining an upright posture and keeping the back straight while walking.
When this muscle weakens, it becomes difficult to maintain good posture, which can lead to rounded shoulders or cause lower back pain.
In erector spinae stretches, you can sit and place your hands behind your head and bend your body forward, or interlace your fingers and lift your arms overhead while opening your chest.
Just these movements can help loosen a stiff erector spinae.
Chair exercises in April
As the warm weather sets in, many older adults may feel like moving their bodies and becoming more active.
This time, we’re introducing chair exercises themed around April that you can do indoors.
While seated, reach your hands forward as if you’re catching cherry blossom petals.
We’ll also do some brain training that recalls food stalls at cherry blossom festivals, along with exercises to strengthen your muscles.
By doing exercises and brain training related to April, older adults can get a sense of the season.
And because these exercises are done while sitting in a chair, many older adults can take part.
Guu-Choki-Paa Exercise
The “Goo-Choki-Paa Exercise” is a workout where you do body exercises while making rock–scissors–paper hand shapes.
Because it moves your whole body, not just your fingers, it’s likely to have positive effects on both physical and mental health.
It can be done seated, which makes it appealing because it can be adjusted to the physical and mental condition of older adults.
First, move your upper body while doing rock–scissors–paper with your hands.
Tilting your head upward also engages the neck, making it a good exercise.
Next, do rock–scissors–paper with your feet.
This helps loosen the muscles in your legs and hip joints, so it should be a very beneficial workout.
Exercises to strengthen your body’s core
For older adults, falls can easily lead to injuries and are very dangerous.
To prevent falling, it’s important to regularly train your balance.
The exercises introduced here strengthen your body’s central axis, helping stabilize balance when standing and walking, which can reduce the risk of falls.
If your body’s axis is weak, your back tends to round, which can cause a hunched posture and lower back pain.
By strengthening the core, your spine naturally straightens, helping you maintain proper posture and making your body less prone to fatigue.
These exercises can be done while seated, so they’re recommended for anyone.