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 (161–170)
Dropping Colored Balls
We would like to introduce a color ball drop activity for pairs.
Have two older adults sit facing each other, each holding two sticks by their tips.
Place baskets labeled with colors between them.
Roll balls along the sticks and drop each ball into the basket with the matching color label.
This game emphasizes cooperation between the two participants.
Encourage them to communicate and synchronize their movements.
It’s a fun activity that can spark conversation and help expand social connections.
Exercises recommended for improving the stability of sit-to-stand movements and walking
These exercises use a ball to train smooth lower-body movements in the knees, ankles, hips, and more.
By focusing on how you engage your lower body, you can improve everyday walking stability and make standing up easier.
Using a ball also helps you clearly feel which areas should be activated and which muscles are working—an important benefit.
However, when focusing on the ball, some people tend to bend at the waist as if peering down at it.
Be mindful of maintaining correct posture and proceed in a way that doesn’t strain your body.
[For Seniors] Recommended Indoor Exercises (171–180)
Newspaper-pulling-with-your-feet game
Here’s a game that gets you moving your feet while having fun and training at the same time.
Have older adults sit in a chair and pull a sheet of newspaper with their feet.
They can pull it with one foot or with both feet together.
You can also have two older adults sit facing each other at a distance and compete—it should be fun.
Besides providing leg exercise, it’s likely to increase interaction among older adults and bring more smiles.
It can also help with a change of pace and stress relief.
Please give it a try.
leg-pressing exercise
This is an exercise where you sit in a chair, cross your legs, and press them against each other with increasing force.
The lower leg moves upward while the upper leg presses downward, so you train different muscles in each leg.
After pressing against each other, switch the cross so both legs are worked evenly.
Support your body firmly with your hands to apply solid force, and keep good posture.
Repeat each cross several times, focusing on balance as you actively use your muscles.
leg swing exercise
Leg-swing exercises are easy to do while standing or sitting, so they’re highly recommended.
They’re important for strengthening the lower body and improving balance.
In particular, they help older adults prevent falls and walk more steadily, so it’s best to make them a daily habit.
In fact, just swinging your legs 10 times can cut the risk of becoming bedridden by half—more than even walking 10,000 steps.
You can do this exercise either standing or lying down, so older adults can continue without strain.
It’s a relaxing activity you can enjoy while watching TV, making it suitable for just about anyone.
Stepping exercise
While seated in a chair, a simple exercise that even older adults can easily do is marching in place.
Swing your arms briskly and move your legs; adding vocalization also helps train the brain.
Of the three variations, the first is to march while reciting the Japanese syllabary (a-i-u-e-o …) in order.
By speaking slowly to the rhythm of your steps, you can also strengthen your facial muscles.
The second is to march while doing multiplication.
A key point is that you can easily adjust the difficulty just by changing the numbers.
The third is to march while completing prompts or themed tasks.
Try changing the difficulty and making variations to enjoy it as a fun recreational activity!
Stepping Health Life
It’s a simple health device wide enough to place both feet on, with a rounded bottom that curves toward the center.
When you press down on one side, the other side lifts.
Its instability encourages you to focus on balance.
Because it’s intentionally designed not to be stable, it’s meant to be used while seated for safety.
By practicing deliberate, steady steps in this unstable environment, it may help improve your stability when you encounter uneven footing in everyday walking.