Recommended Indoor Exercises for Seniors
Some older adults may find it difficult to exercise outdoors.
For some, going out is challenging, and weather-related reasons like heat or cold can also be factors.
When physical activity decreases, fitness declines, which can lead to falls or increased susceptibility to illness.
With that in mind, here are recommended exercises for seniors that can be done indoors.
We’ve gathered seated exercises that are easy for anyone to participate in, as well as simple routines you can start right away.
Exercising can help increase muscle strength and bone density, and it’s also said to help relieve stress.
We want older adults to continue enjoying their hobbies and favorite activities and to live vibrantly.
Please make use of indoor exercises to help address lack of physical activity.
- [For Seniors] Refresh Your Mood! Lively, Get-Moving Games
- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] A Collection of Simple Exercise Programs Suitable for Beginners
- [Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- [For Seniors] Balance-Training Exercises: Preventing Falls
- For seniors: Leg-strengthening exercises you can do without overexertion.
- For Seniors: Fun and Lively Exercise Recreation
- Energetic and Lively! Sing-and-Exercise Program for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Let's Enjoy Exercising with a Towel!
- [For Seniors] Build a Healthy Body Indoors! Recommended Exercise Equipment
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable While Seated! Ball Exercises and Recreation
- [For Seniors] Exercises to Walk Again. Fall Prevention
[For Seniors] Recommended Indoor Exercises (91–100)
Leg strength exercises using a resistance tube
This is a training exercise to strengthen your leg muscles using a resistance band looped around your legs! Place the band around both ankles to bring them together, and lie on your back.
Keeping your knees straight and your toes pointed upward, slowly raise one leg to about 45 degrees, then lower it at the same speed.
Do the same with the other leg.
From the same position, you can also strengthen your glutes by opening your legs to the sides to stretch the band.
To target your calves, hook the band under one foot, hold both ends with your hands, lie down, and flex and extend your leg.
Resistance bands can be incorporated into many different exercises, so give them a try!
Do-Re-Mi scale patakara
This is a variation of “Pa-Ta-Ka-La,” which is strongly associated with mouth-movement training, by incorporating pitch.
Adding musical elements not only makes it more enjoyable, but focusing on sound also improves throat movement.
The content is very simple: pronounce the usual “Pa-Ta-Ka-La” to match the pitches of Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do.
To express the scale, vocal volume and how you open your mouth are also important points, so be sure to pay close attention to these aspects and actively engage the mouth muscles and throat.
[For Seniors] Recommended Indoor Exercises (101–110)
balance disc
This describes placing your feet on an unstable balance disc and aiming to stabilize your posture, which engages your whole body.
To prevent accidents like losing balance and falling, it’s important to take precautions such as bracing your hand against a wall for stability or having someone support you.
Starting from a supported position, gradually learn which parts of your body to engage to maintain a stable posture, and work toward holding a stable posture on your own.
If you don’t yet have enough strength to support your balance, it may be best to begin by sitting in a chair and practicing the motion of pressing down on the balance disc with your feet.
Flutter kicks only! Core training you can do while doing something else
This is a flutter-kick exercise you can do while relaxing in a chair or on a sofa, or even lying in bed! By moving your legs up and down in big motions, you can work not only your leg muscles but also your abs and back at the same time.
If you can’t move your legs up and down very much, your ankles might be stiff.
Interlace your fingers with your toes and make large circular motions with your ankles to loosen the muscles and tendons around them, then try the flutter kicks again—you should find it much easier to move.
Strengthen your core with this “while-doing-something-else” exercise that you can do while watching TV or chatting.
balance cushion
Using a balance cushion—which is often used to train the core—let’s focus on body balance while strengthening the legs.
The standard approach is to stand on the balance cushion and perform a training exercise that stabilizes the body, bringing awareness to the entire leg.
However, since there is a risk of falling when doing this alone, make sure to create a setup where you can get off the cushion immediately, such as having someone there to support you.
If your strength is diminished and it’s difficult to maintain balance, it’s recommended to start with a seated exercise: sit in a chair and apply pressure to the balance cushion placed under your feet.
Patakara Card Game
This is a variation where you pronounce randomly arranged words, paying attention not only to pronunciation but also to the sequence of the words.
You proceed using cards that have words containing the letters from “patakara,” such as “papa” or “taka.” Players take turns placing a card on the table and pronouncing it, repeating the flow in order.
As the cards line up, the words to pronounce gradually get longer.
Keep a close eye on the card order and aim for smooth pronunciation.
Some sequences may be difficult to pronounce, so the challenge and strategy in those parts should make it even more engaging.
Patakara exercises and clapping
By adding hand claps to the mouth-movement exercises, participants can also become more mindful of arm and hand movements.
If you insert claps between each pronunciation, it creates a brief pause before speaking, which can lead to clearer articulation and larger mouth movements.
Including elements that require thinking—such as gradually increasing the number of claps—can also provide brain-training benefits, so this is recommended as well.
Because you pronounce while keeping the rhythm in mind, it may also promote smoother movements of the mouth and tongue.