For Seniors: Strength Training You Can Do While Lying Down
Here is an introduction to strength training that older adults can do while lying down.
I believe many care facilities incorporate exercise and physical activity.
Exercises done lying down are safe for older adults and make it easier to move their bodies.
We’ve gathered simple exercises that can be done on a mat or futon.
You can even train while lying down with exercises that build leg strength and stimulate the muscles around the lower back to help relieve back pain.
As we age, our physical strength declines and everyday movements become slower.
For example, if there’s something on the floor and you can’t avoid it, you might fall and suffer an injury or fracture, which could lead to being bedridden and hospitalized.
Why not try building strength at a comfortable pace for older adults with exercises you can do while lying down?
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- [For Seniors] Simple Recreational Activities You Can Enjoy While Seated
- [For Seniors] Recreational activities and games that let you have fun while strengthening your legs
- Back-strengthening exercises for seniors: easy routines suitable for women
- [For Seniors] DIY Hand Rehabilitation Tools to Strengthen Fingertips: A Collection of Handmade Ideas
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[For Seniors] Strength Training You Can Do While Lying Down (11–20)
Contracture prevention exercises
Contracture refers to a condition in which the movement of the skin, muscles, and joints becomes limited after a period of insufficient physical activity due to illness or injury.
Because it can interfere with daily life, it’s important to perform exercises that move the joints through a large range of motion within a pain-free range to loosen them up.
For example, while lying on your back, raise your clasped hands overhead and hold; spread your arms outward with your elbows bent at 90 degrees; or bend your elbows as far as you comfortably can.
These are very simple movements, so why not incorporate them into your pre-sleep or morning routine right away?
Prone Pelvic Floor Muscle Yoga
Here’s a yoga routine you can do while lying face down that’s effective for the pelvic floor.
First, lie on your stomach, spread your hands and feet to shoulder width, and tuck your toes under.
Using your toes, abdomen, and back muscles, slowly lift your head.
You should feel those muscles engage.
Next, stack your hands and rest your forehead on them, then bring your legs together so they’re touching.
With the image of lifting diagonally backward, slowly raise one leg.
If it feels too hard, it’s fine to lift it only a little.
Since this is a movement you may not usually do, try to relax as you practice—occasionally sway your body gently from side to side.
Pelvic floor exercises while lying down
Here’s a simple pelvic floor exercise you can do while lying down.
All you need is one towel—nothing else.
First, lie on your back and bend your knees.
Place a folded towel between your knees.
Keep your knees firmly together so the towel doesn’t fall.
Tighten as if closing your anus, slowly lift your hips while exhaling.
When lowering your hips, relax and inhale.
Just repeat this sequence.
Even a little every day is important—consistency matters.
If you feel any pain in your lower back, don’t push yourself; go at your own pace.
Pelvic floor exercises
Introducing a pelvic floor muscle exercise you can do while lying down that’s effective for preventing urinary incontinence.
It’s simple: lie on your side and press your legs together.
As if tightening your anus, gently engage the muscles and slowly open both knees while keeping your feet together.
Do this carefully 10 times a day, and you’ll target the muscles that help prevent urinary incontinence.
It’s said that one in two Japanese people aged 40 and over struggle with frequent urination, so please try this exercise and enjoy greater peace of mind in your daily life.
Exercises to prevent swelling
As we go about our daily lives, it’s common to spend long periods in the same posture without realizing it.
Continuing to hold the same position can impair circulation and often lead to swelling in various parts of the body.
This routine offers gentle, full-body exercises to relieve such swelling.
Sit in a chair with proper posture and gradually loosen areas in sequence—around the shoulder blades, the lower back, the thighs, and the calves.
By aligning your breathing and taking your time to stretch thoroughly, you’ll steadily improve blood flow.
Prevention of economy class syndrome
Staying in the same posture, like when sitting in an airplane’s economy class seat, can impair blood flow in the legs.
This is a seated leg exercise that helps prevent economy-class syndrome and improve circulation.
With movements like lifting your toes and making big marching steps, focus on how you engage your leg muscles while strengthening them.
Move your feet rhythmically within a pain-free range, feeling the gentle impact of each step.
This can also help promote smoother walking and prevent falls.
[For Seniors] Do-It-While-Lying-Down! Strength Training (21–30)
Simple finger exercises
This is a brain-training exercise where you count numbers using your fingers held out in front of your body, gradually adding more elements to how you move them.
When you focus on your hands in front of you, it’s easy to slip into a relaxed posture, so it’s important to be mindful about sitting up straight with your back extended.
Start by making the same shape with both hands; once you get used to that, move on to making different shapes, gradually increasing the complexity of how you switch between them.
If you add not only hand shapes but also forward/back and side-to-side movements of the arms, it will further enhance the brain-training effect and help you stay aware of your arm muscles as well.