[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 (1–10)
Easy 10-minute exercise
Sit shallowly on the chair with your navel pushed forward—once you’re in that position, you’re ready! Raise your hands high and take a slow deep breath, then practice diaphragmatic breathing by inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
When your breathing is steady, loosen up your whole body with shoulder and shoulder blade releases and by rolling both shoulders.
Finally, raise and lower both arms in a fan-like motion; if your body feels lighter, you’re good! If moving on your own is difficult, it’s helpful to assist with actions like raising and lowering the arms, taking great care to avoid causing any pain.
Exercises to prevent lower back pain
Let’s prevent that troublesome lower back pain that hurts whether you’re standing, sitting, or lying down—with simple exercises! The key points are improving muscle flexibility and blood flow, and strengthening the muscles around the lower back.
Sitting in a chair, lift one foot onto the seat, hug the leg, and rest your chin on your knee to stretch your hips and lower back.
Tuck your chin, round your back as if peeking at your navel, lift both heels, and hold to strengthen your abs.
Because these moves are small yet effective, even people who feel uneasy about exercising can enjoy doing them easily.
Constipation prevention exercises
Constipation caused by lack of exercise, aging, or an increased number of medications is one of the symptoms that troubles many older adults.
While constipation is often addressed by adjusting diet and fluid intake, this can be challenging for seniors.
That’s why we recommend constipation-relief exercises! While seated in a chair, try gently opening the hips, extending the legs and lifting the toes, stretching the body forward, and fully exhaling to engage the abdominal muscles.
Perform these simple movements slowly to help relieve uncomfortable constipation.
[Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors (11–20)
A stick made of newspaper
This is a lower-body workout that uses a rod made by tightly rolling newspaper into a long, slender tube.
Even simple exercises like marching in place can become more focused when you use the rod alongside them, helping you pay attention to which muscles you should be engaging.
When doing exercises that involve lifting your legs, you can use the rod to clearly indicate how high to raise your leg, and aim for that target.
It’s also fun to get creative with how you use the rod—such as using it like a goal to reach, or as a tool that provides resistance against your leg movements.
Because it’s a homemade piece of equipment, the training feels approachable and can help you build strength with a sense of familiarity.
15-minute exercise
Feel refreshed from head to toe in 15 minutes! Slowly loosen up your whole body by raising and lowering your shoulders, rolling your shoulders, bending and straightening your elbows, bending and extending your fingers, and lifting and lowering your toes.
Exercise can feel long if you do it while thinking it’s boring, but if you move slowly and broadly while focusing on your muscles, those 15 minutes will surprisingly fly by.
It’s also recommended to offer prompts like, “Do you feel this muscle stretching here?” or “If it hurts, don’t push yourself—march in place and wait,” as you guide the session!
Towel exercises to the tune of Kiyoshi’s Zundoko-bushi
Kiyoshi Hikawa’s “Kiyoshi no Zundoko Bushi” is a song that many older adults are familiar with, so it’s likely to boost motivation for exercise! Let’s move energetically to the music.
In addition to movements like holding a towel and bending and stretching the arms, we also recommend moving your legs along with it.
For the easy-to-hum phrases, try singing while you move your body.
Because the song is very rhythmic, following the beat exactly can sometimes be challenging, so don’t push yourself—take a more relaxed tempo and move your body comfortably.
oral exercises
“I want to keep enjoying delicious meals no matter how old I get.” To make that wish come true, we highly recommend oral exercises! Oral exercises involve training the tongue and the muscles around the mouth.
As we age, a decline in oral function can lead to reduced appetite and a higher risk of aspiration.
Oral exercises are very effective in preventing this.
They’re simple activities like speaking slowly and clearly, combining hand movements with vocalization, or moving the tongue inside the mouth.
Doing them while vocalizing might even help relieve stress!
