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 (31–40)
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.
Valentine Game
Place colorful cans on a base framed by a heart—a classic Valentine’s motif—and have the person on the opposite side pull a string to reel the base toward themselves.
It’s a trust-based game that tests how many cans you can stack and whether you can bring them over without dropping them.
There are also steps and bumps along the pulling path, so pay attention to how you arrange the cans to keep them from falling when going over obstacles.
Balance in placing the cans and control of force while pulling may be the key elements.
Free Throw Game
It’s a game where you throw balls toward baskets that have assigned point values and compete on the total score.
The higher the point value of a basket, the harder it is to land a ball in it, so controlling your throwing power is key to getting a high score.
Since the rules allow a ball to bounce before going in, unexpected points can happen, and awkward bounces that miss the basket can also add excitement.
Let’s encourage players to focus on controlling the force needed to reach the basket and on moving their bodies in ways that effectively transfer that force to the ball.
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.
[For Seniors] Recommended Indoor Exercises (41–50)
Autumn Song Calisthenics
Autumn is the season when it starts to feel chilly, isn’t it? It’s also a time when older adults may feel reluctant to move their bodies.
So how about trying a singing exercise with an autumn theme? If it’s a seated singing exercise, even seniors who find standing difficult can participate.
Autumn songs include pieces like “Tsuki” (The Moon) and “Donguri Korokoro” (Acorns Rolling).
By singing them during exercise, older adults can also get a sense of the season’s atmosphere.
In addition, exercising while singing can help activate the brain and relieve stress.
If you’d like, please use this as a reference and give it a try.
Inner muscle training for the hip joint
The six deep hip external rotator muscles, which connect the hip joint and the pelvis, play a role in stabilizing your posture when standing on one leg.
By strengthening them, you can improve your sense of balance and build a body that is less prone to falls.
There are various ways to train these hip external rotators, but the method with the least load is to step one foot forward, place the heel down, and rotate the entire leg side to side as if turning the knee outward and inward.
Using this movement as a basic exercise, you can perform a range of trainings with different levels of load.
Choose an appropriate intensity according to your physical condition and give it a try.
