[Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors
More and more people are finding their bodies tire easily and feel they’re spending longer periods sitting in a chair.
Some of you may be wondering, “Is there any training I can do while seated?” In this article, we introduce enjoyable health exercises you can do while sitting! We’ve compiled easy activities for everyday life, including strength training you can do from a seated position and brain-training exercises.
Be sure to try incorporating them as recreational activities in nursing care facilities as well!
- [For Seniors] Fun Exercises You Can Do While Seated
- For seniors: Enjoyable exercises done while seated, accessible for wheelchair users.
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable and Healthy Chair Stretches!
- [For Seniors] Easy and Fun Core Training
- [Today's Recommendation] Gentle Health Exercises for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Fun Recreational Activities Without Equipment
- Hand games that liven things up for seniors—also great brain training
- Cognicise you can do while seated. Simple dementia prevention.
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable While Seated! Ball Exercises and Recreation
- [Enjoy Safely While Seated] Newspaper Activities Recommended for Seniors
- [For Seniors] Recommended Easy Strength Training
- [Brain Training for Seniors] Recommended Hand-Play Recreation for Dementia Prevention
- Recommended Indoor Exercises for Seniors
[Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors (81–90)
Pelvic floor exercises while seated
We would like to introduce a simple pelvic floor exercise you can do while seated for 5 minutes to help improve urinary leakage and frequent urination.
Sit deeply in a chair with a backrest, with both feet flat on the floor for best results.
First, place both hands between your knees and lift your heels.
While keeping this position, press your hands with your knees as if squeezing them, hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times.
After taking a deep breath, tighten your urethra and anus as if holding in urine or stool, hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times.
You might think that’s all there is to it, but continuing regularly can be effective.
It’s easy to do while watching TV, so please give it a try.
20-second daily back muscle training
In our everyday lives, we tend to unconsciously choose low-effort postures, which can lead to weakened back muscles without us even noticing.
Here’s a perfect 20-second exercise to bring awareness to your muscles and posture.
It’s simple: place both hands above your head, spread your arms, and open your chest.
Just correcting your posture in this way will help strengthen your back muscles.
If your back rounds, the effect diminishes, so keeping good posture is the most important part.
Exercises using a wall to prevent slouching
A slouched posture gradually develops unconsciously as we seek a comfortable position, but recalling proper posture can help trigger improvement.
This training helps you remember what a correct back shape looks like while strengthening the muscles that support it.
First, place your arms against a wall and take one step back.
In that stance, look upward and bend and straighten your knees to arch your back properly.
For people with a hunched posture, this applies force in the opposite direction, so be sure to proceed within a comfortable range.
Just-sleep stretching
If you can incorporate training into ordinary everyday movements, you can work on it whenever you notice and easily improve your body.
This is a perfect training method for those who aren’t good at focusing on workouts: simply changing the way you lie down will benefit your back muscles.
All you do is place a pillow under your shoulder blades when you lie down, raise your arms, and gently sway them—this alone helps loosen the muscles in your back.
By directing your attention to arching your back, it also seems likely to lead to better posture and improvements in rounded shoulders.
Seated back-strengthening exercise
If you’re an older adult with lower back pain, be sure to strengthen your back muscles.
When the back muscles weaken, they can’t support your posture, which can lead to a rounded back and back pain.
Sit in a chair and reach one hand upward from near the toes on the opposite side.
Then lift your hand as if turning your chest up toward the ceiling.
Do this on both sides, but adjust the number of repetitions according to the individual’s condition.
You can also try stretching your back while raising both arms overhead.
Since these exercises are done while seated, it should be easier to keep up with the training consistently.
Exercises to prevent a hunched back
To strengthen your back muscles, it’s important to move your shoulders.
If you can move them properly, it will help support correct posture and also improve rounded shoulders.
This is a training routine you can do while seated, slowly moving the muscles around your shoulder blades.
Follow a sequence that supports shoulder movement with coordinated arm and torso actions, and take your time to rotate your shoulders slowly.
It’s also important to proceed while exhaling slowly—relaxing will help increase your shoulder’s range of motion.
[Can Be Done Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors (91–100)
Pilates exercise to move the back
It’s easy to go about your day without paying much attention to your back, and you might be losing strength there without noticing.
This is a training routine that brings awareness to the back and strengthens it in coordination with the arms and shoulders, incorporating elements of Pilates.
The basics are to focus on the shoulder blades and perform movements that engage the shoulders, while also maintaining posture so the shoulder blades can move properly.
If you’ve never really paid attention to this area before, it can be hard to grasp how to move your shoulders.
So it’s best to start by moving slowly and checking your shoulder motion first.