[For Seniors] A Collection of Simple Exercise Programs Suitable for Beginners
For those aged 65 and over, it is recommended to engage in at least 40 minutes of physical activity every day, regardless of intensity.
However, 70% of people aged 65 and over are not meeting the recommended amount of exercise.
Not exercising can shorten healthy life expectancy.
It also increases the risk of conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and depression.
That said, suddenly starting high-intensity exercise can be taxing on the body.
In this article, we’ll introduce an exercise program that even beginners can do without overexertion.
Use it as a guide to help you live a healthy and enjoyable life for years to come.
- Recommended Indoor Exercises for Seniors
- For seniors: Leg-strengthening exercises you can do without overexertion.
- [Today's Recommendation] Gentle Health Exercises for Seniors
- For seniors: Enjoyable exercises done while seated, accessible for wheelchair users.
- [For Seniors] Stretching Exercises: Easy and Safe to Do
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun Core Training
- Back-strengthening exercises for seniors: easy routines suitable for women
- [For Seniors] Balance-Training Exercises: Preventing Falls
- [For Seniors] Recommended Easy Strength Training
- [For Seniors] Core Training: Recommended Simple Rehabilitation
- [For Seniors] A Fun Sports Day! Recreational Activities You Can Do Safely
- [For Seniors] Improve Your Body Concerns! A Summary of Exercises for Urinary Leakage
[For Older Adults] A Collection of Simple Exercise Programs for Beginners (21–30)
Core training
If you feel your body swaying side to side when you walk and the word “fall” crosses your mind, you might be feeling afraid.
For those people, here’s a recommended core training exercise to help prevent unsteadiness.
You can do it while sitting in a chair—even while watching TV.
It’s simple: Sit in a chair, spread your arms, lean your body to one side, and lift the opposite leg.
Keep your balance with your hips so you don’t fall.
Do this 10 times.
If you place your hands on your waist while doing it, you’ll feel the muscles along your sides working.
Focusing on the muscles you’re using will improve the effectiveness, so please give it a try.
Walking using the adductor muscles
Everyone probably wants to live a long and healthy life, but not many people realize that the way you walk is crucial for that.
So this time, to help you stay healthy and live longer, I’d like to share the essentials of proper walking.
Walking is often described as a series of single-leg stances.
In that single-leg state, you shift your center of gravity from the heel to the toes, push off, and then land on the heel again—repeating this is what we call walking.
When you push off with your heel, the inner thigh adductor muscles engage and help stabilize the knee.
Try it while maintaining good posture and consciously feeling your center of gravity move.
Indoor walking exercise
You probably already know that walking is good for your health, but some of you may find it a hassle to actually go outside.
So today, we’ll introduce indoor walking exercises you can do at home.
Do each move for one set of 30 seconds, but be sure not to overexert yourself and adjust to your condition.
The routine focuses on various steps: marching in place, moving forward and backward while marching, side steps, and kick-ups while marching.
It may feel challenging enough to get you breathing harder, but if possible, try to keep moving without stopping.
Because it’s aerobic exercise, it will boost the benefits of walking.
Give it a try!
Ankle flexibility exercises
If your stride is short and you take quick, tiny steps when you walk, your ankles might be stiff.
So this time, we’ll introduce stretches to loosen up the ankle area.
First, use a desk or the back of a chair to stretch your calves.
Do it slowly on both sides, without overexerting yourself.
Next, focus on the ankles.
While holding onto the back of a chair as before, lift your toes as if stretching your calves, then tilt your foot to the side.
You should feel the muscles around your ankle stretching.
You can get a similar effect by placing your foot on a chair and pressing down as if you were stepping on a car’s accelerator.
To get your ankles working, it’s also important to support your body by moving it forward and backward while actively moving your toes and heels.
These exercises are simple, but you can expect results if you keep at them.
Practice swings exercise
Let’s do the “newspaper swing exercise,” perfect for preventing the need for nursing care! Roll up a newspaper from one end to make a newspaper stick.
Once you’ve made a straight stick, swing it like a kendo bamboo sword.
Hold the stick with both hands, raise it overhead, and swing straight down.
Start by moving slowly at your own pace.
Once you get used to it, move your arms rhythmically in time with the staff’s count of “one, two, three.” Moderate exercise refreshes your mood and helps relieve stress.
It’s also effective for improving arm strength and preventing the need for care.
Give it a try!
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.
15-minute lunchtime exercise
In many senior care facilities, some may incorporate exercise as a daily lunchtime routine.
However, doing exercises every day can make them feel repetitive.
So here are some seated exercises you can try.
Let’s get the body moving by touching knees and elbows, lifting the hips slightly from the chair, and more.
While seated, you can move not just your hands and arms but your whole body.
Long exercise sessions can be tiring for older adults, so about 15 minutes seems manageable.
Try it while taking breaks as needed.