10 Safe Chair Exercises for Seniors

Moving more can help seniors boost their health, reduce their risk of falling, and improve their mental health. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends adults ages 65 and older get a minimum of 150 minutes of physical activity per week.

Mobility issues could derail those goals, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

Judson Meadows is committed to helping seniors live happier, heathier lives, and that includes helping them maintain mobility. Chair exercises for seniors allow anyone to build strength and flexibility, without the limitations of injury, illness, or disabilities. You can find various seated chair exercises for seniors on YouTube in addition to practicing the exercises in this guide.

The Importance of Exercise for Seniors

As the body ages, it goes through changes that can make stability, strength, and overall movement more challenging. Some of the issues that chair exercises help address include:

• Posture problems
• Muscle loss
• Joint weakness and pain
• Decreased flexibility
• Loss of balance and coordination

Benefits of Chair Exercises for Seniors

Chair exercises increase movement opportunities for seniors despite mobility issues. These movements allow seniors to:

• Increase their heart rate with cardiovascular exercises.
• Build bone mass and muscle with strength training, also improving balance.
• Increase their range of motion while decreasing stiffness with flexibility exercises and stretches.

Chair Exercises to Increase Overall Fitness

As with any new routine, it’s best to talk to your healthcare provider before getting started. Your doctor or physical therapist may recommend specific areas to focus on and any limitations you may have.

Getting Started

In general, start slowly and gradually increase the time you spend doing any activity — and stick with it. It takes time to master the movements and start enjoying positive results. Avoid focusing on your limitations and instead take advantage of activities you enjoy that are within your capabilities.

Tip: If you’re unsure of how to perform a movement, consider looking up YouTube chair exercises for seniors. The site offers various videos that explain specific exercises and provide visuals to get you moving.

Seated Exercise Examples

Are you ready to get more exercise in your daily life? Choose a sturdy chair and sit up straight, using your abdominal muscles to help support good posture. If you’re sitting in a wheelchair, put the brake on before exercising.

Ideal as part of a warm-up or cool-down routine, these moves help boost mobility and reduce tension and soreness. Breathe deeply and use slow, fluid movements while gently circling your ankles or rolling your shoulders. Additional exercises to try including:

1. Overhead Stretch

The overhead stretchrequires you to stretch both arms overhead as you inhale and then exhale as you bring them down. Repeat for 30 seconds to one minute.

2. Seated Side Stretch

Stretch your sideby leaning to the left while sitting up straight in your torso and engaging your abs. Repeat on the right side. Get a deeper stretchby raising your right arm up and over while leaning to the left and your left arm while leaning to the right.

3. Thigh Stretch

Work on your lower body with a thigh stretch. For this move, sit forward in the chair and raise one leg in front of you. Bend slowly at the hip while keeping your back straight. Repeat with the other leg.

Upper Body Chair Exercises

Strengthening the muscles in your arms, chest, and back can not only make other activities easier but also enhance seniors’ stability and balance. A few moves to try including:

4. Seated Row

Sitting near the edge of the chair, stretch your arms in front of you with your elbows bent slightly and your thumbs pointed at the ceiling. To perform a seated row, pull your elbows backward, squeezing your shoulder blades together as you pull as far back as you can to work your upper back and chest muscles.

5. Bicep Curls

The bicep curl is a classic strength training move that you can do with no weight or with resistance bands, lightweight dumbbells, or even a soup can in each hand. With your palms facing up, curl your hand up toward your shoulders, keeping your elbows at your sides. Slowly lower them and repeat.

6. Shoulder Rolls

This movement works your trapezius muscles and shoulders, making lifting and carrying easier. Sitting tall in your chair, do shoulder rolls by shrugging both shoulders up toward your ears. Then, slowly move them in a circle going forward and then backward.

Lower Body Chair Exercises

Seniors can increase their leg strength, even while remaining seated. Two exercises to try including:

7. Seated to Standing

If you’re able to stand on your own, this exercise helps build your leg muscles and makes it easier to get up and down from a seated position. If you need assistance, ask for someone to help you remain balanced while going from seated to standing and back again.

8. Knee Lifts

Sit straight in the chair with your feet flat to do knee lifts. Slowly lift one knee up and toward your chest before lowering it back down. Repeat on the other side to strengthen your quads, one of the body’s largest muscles.

Core Chair Exercises

The muscles of the core help stabilize balance and posture. Simply keeping your abdominals engaged during other seated exercise can help. For a more targeted way of working your core try:

9. Seated Knee-to-Chest

Sit near the edge of the chair and keep your back and core tight to do seated knee-to-chest repetitions. Hold the side of the chair and lift your feet up and off the floor. Raise your legs and bend at the knees to bring your knees as close to your chest as possible.

10. Tummy Twists

Hold a small object like a can of soup or a lightweight dumbbell with both hands while doing tummy twists. Keeping elbows bent, gently twist left and right, keeping the object in front of you the whole time.

Learn More About the Activities at Judson Meadows Assisted Living

At Judson Meadows, we understand that retirement should be fun. Activities, including chair exercises, can be a great opportunity to get together with friends and get moving.

That’s why we include a full roster of activities for our residents to enjoy every month here in our assisted living community in Schenectady, New York. If you’d like to learn more, arrange a tour, or discuss respite care options contact our senior housing associates today.