Do you know about Cognicise?
It’s an exercise that combines mental tasks with physical movements to effectively train both the brain and the body.
Because it’s effective for preventing dementia, many nursing homes and day service centers have adopted it.
This time, we’ll introduce Cognicise exercises you can do while seated.
They range from simple to difficult, including ones done to a rhythm and more complex versions that use numbers.
Enjoyment is key to keeping it up!
Be sure to find activities that suit the participants and give them a try!
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Cognicise exercises you can do while seated. Simple dementia prevention. (1–10)
Cognicise with “Moshimo Shika-me-san”
How about trying a cognicise routine using the children’s song “Moshimo Shikame yo”? Stretch your arms forward, to the sides, and upward in time with the music.
Add a clap during each movement, and keep marching your feet throughout.
The melody is gentle, so it may look easy, but coordinating different movements with the music is actually quite challenging.
A key point is to keep going without stopping even if you make a mistake! This cognicise routine is done while seated, so it’s safe for older adults to try.
When you stretch your arms, make big movements for better effect, and be sure to keep enough distance from the person next to you.
Goo-Paa Exercise
This is a seated cognicise routine that performs multiple movements in sequence.
First, pull one hand in to your chest and make a fist, while extending the other hand forward with an open palm.
Second, reverse the movement: pull in with an open palm and extend forward with a fist.
Third, pull both hands in as fists, then extend forward with one hand as a fist and the other as an open palm, switching hands alternately as you go.
Fourth, reach upward with a fist and then forward with an open palm, alternating these movements.
Adding steps with your feet, or opening and closing your elbows with a springy motion, will further stimulate the brain.
The movements themselves are simple, so anyone can enjoy them.
Cognicise without seeing, speaking, or hearing.
At Nikkō Tōshōgū Shrine, there’s a famous statue of the Three Wise Monkeys—“see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” which you all probably know.
This is a brain-training exercise that uses the poses of those three monkeys.
After the leader calls out a pose, everyone performs it on the cue of “Ready, go!” It starts out easy, but be careful—partway through, there will be trick rounds where the leader’s spoken cue doesn’t match the pose they strike.
Once you get used to it, try adding hand claps or other movements to increase the physical challenge!
Exercises to strengthen the legs
We’d like to introduce a Cognicise routine that includes lots of leg exercises.
Because this Cognicise can be done while seated, it’s also recommended as a recreation activity in senior facilities! Let’s move our legs to the chant of “one, two.” Starting around Level 3, the movements get a bit more challenging.
Since it incorporates many different types of leg movements, try to remember the order and think as you go.
Doing so will help train your brain at the same time as you exercise your legs.
We hope everyone enjoys doing Cognicise together!
Cognicise with your fingertips
This is a Cognicise exercise that uses only movements from your fingertips to your shoulders.
Because it’s a simple combination of movements, anyone can join in and have fun.
The method is easy: place one hand in a fist against your chest, and extend the other hand forward with the palm open.
You might already know the part where you switch the fist and the open hand.
Next, keep one hand as a fist on your chest, but only change the extended hand through rock, scissors, and paper—it surprisingly feels tricky.
For another variation, make the extended hand open (paper), and change the hand held back against your chest through rock, scissors, and paper.
Doing thinking and movement at the same time activates your brain, so give it a try!
Cognicise to match the day of the week
This is a cognicize exercise where you move your body while saying the days of the week from Monday to Sunday.
It’s done sitting in a chair, so it’s easy for anyone to join.
First, as the basic movement, swing your arms and march your feet while saying Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and on Wednesday and Sunday lift your knees.
Once you get used to it, keep the same movements but clap your hands on Wednesday and Sunday.
For those who are comfortable with that, add variations such as clapping in front of your chest on Wednesday and over your head on Sunday—this delivers a fresh stimulus to the brain.
You can also enjoy it in different ways by increasing the tempo or changing the duration.
Give it a try!
Cognicise to the tune of ‘The Rabbit and the Turtle’
This is a cognicise (a cognitive exercise) you can do simply by adding easy movements while singing a familiar children’s song.
You can do it standing or sitting, so it’s easy for anyone.
What to do is simple: while alternately extending one hand open (palm out) and pulling the other hand, made into a fist, to your chest, sing the children’s song “Usagi to Kame” (The Hare and the Tortoise).
Once you get used to it, it’s also good to add marching in place.
Some may think, “Is that all?” but to move your body, keep rhythm, recall the lyrics, and speak out loud, your brain has to send commands to many different parts of the body to perform these separate actions.
It’s said that this serves as good stimulation and helps activate the brain.
Please give it a try.