![[Seated] Fun Health Exercises for Older Adults and Seniors](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/1xrbOejaMrs/maxresdefault.webp)
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)
Goo-Paa Exercise
This is a “Gu-Pa” exercise that stimulates the brain by moving your hands.
After relaxing your body with deep breathing and by loosely shaking your arms and legs, start the routine! When you extend your arms forward, open your hands (Pa); when you pull your arms in, make fists (Gu).
Alternate your left and right hands as you switch between Gu and Pa, incorporating various patterns to stimulate your brain.
Add movements like marching your feet while seated or opening and closing your elbows to turn it into a full-body workout.
It’s also recommended to switch movements in time with music.
rhythmic gymnastics
Move your whole body in big motions while staying seated to the rhythm! Sit toward the front of the chair, straighten your back, tuck in your chin to form proper posture, and start with a big arm swing forward and back.
Next, thrust both hands up, then extend both hands forward.
Finally, add marching steps to the arm-swinging to loosen up your entire body and you’re done.
Having a staff member clap to keep time works well, but moving rhythmically to music will make it feel more like dancing and even more fun.
Boxercise
Boxercise is hugely popular even among younger people for strength training and weight loss! You’ll slowly make large arm movements to reproduce real boxing techniques like straights, body shots, hooks, uppercuts, and jabs.
By combining several moves into one set, or spending 10 seconds repeatedly throwing left-right straights, even those who weren’t initially keen on “boxing” will likely discover how fun it is.
Learning the techniques while exercising also provides a beneficial stimulus for the brain.
Exercises to prevent foot decline
These are leg-strengthening exercises you can do while seated to help prevent decline! Move your legs thoroughly with toe raises and lowers, marching in place, knee lifts, and leg extensions, then finish by loosening up your feet.
As leg strength diminishes, moving around starts to feel like a chore, which leads to spending more time sitting—and that further weakens the muscles of the legs and lower back.
When your range of movement shrinks, your mood also tends to dip.
To help older adults maintain their physical and mental health, why not regularly incorporate gentle, low-impact leg-strengthening exercises?
full-body exercise
This is a health exercise routine that lets you thoroughly engage all your muscles with slow, expansive movements.
You’ll start with stretches for the upper body and shoulders, then move through the upper arms and torso, the back and area around the shoulder blades, the legs, and finally the neck—working your entire body from head to toe.
The key is to move big and slow with every motion.
Pushing yourself too hard can lead to joint pain.
Don’t chase speed or intensity; instead, move freely with the idea of giving your muscles a pleasant, gentle stimulus.
It’s also recommended to play some relaxation music while you do it!
stick exercises
This is a stick exercise where you move a rod around your arms as the center! Hold both ends of the stick and push it forward, raise it overhead, rotate it like a car steering wheel—there are many variations.
Movements like raising both hands or twisting your waist can be easier to do than with no prop, since the stick helps you build momentum; some people may find it simpler than regular calisthenics.
If you add a motion like swinging it down like a sword, participants might enjoy it with a childlike sense of fun.
Once you’ve mastered the basics, play your favorite songs in turn and move to the rhythm!
Singing and exercising with children’s songs
This is a fun exercise routine set to familiar nursery rhymes that gets your whole body moving.
After some deep breathing and stretching your arms and legs, it’s time to start! While humming songs like “Pigeon,” “Snail,” and “Rabbit, Rabbit,” you’ll extend and pull back your arms, step in place while clapping at the same time, lift your heels while seated to the rhythm, and use your whole body in a well-balanced way.
It’s easy to get carried away, but to avoid issues like joint pain, be sure to take occasional breaks and add some gentle massage as you go.