How to Improve Fitness With Regular Seated Chair Exercise

Because the goal of exercise programs for older adults is to increase strength and improve mobility, for those who may find standing difficult, seated chair workouts may be the answer. Workouts while sitting in a chair can help individuals to improve muscular strength, cardiovascular health, as well as coordination and balance, and should include gentle stretching and range of motion exercises. Not only can chair exercise be fun, it is a practical fitness option for senior adults who may have balance problems or limited mobility.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Sturdy chair

1. Stretch and tone your muscles. Regularly exercising your arms and legs helps to keep them strong. Increased muscle strength also leads to better circulation. Even warm-up stretches and breathing exercises can be done sitting in a chair. You can benefit from simple movements like lifting your arms over your head, tapping your toes, lifting your heels or kicking your legs out in front.

2. Improve your range of motion, which helps to relieve muscle and joint pain. Range of motion exercise can be done each day. Although mobility is necessary for aging individuals to continue to live independently, changes related to aging can seriously compromise an individual's mobility. Maintaining range of motion is critical to maintaining independence.

3. Increase your metabolism, level of energy and mental agility. Remember, it is never too late to benefit from exercise. The older we grow, the more important exercise becomes.

4. Provide more safety during exercise if you are at increased risk for bone fracture. Exercising while sitting down can give you a full body workout without straining your joints and bones.

Tips & Warnings

• Exercise keeps you moving by strengthening the muscles surrounding your joints while lack of exercise weakens muscles, making bones more prone to fracture.

• More health care practitioners now are recognizing the value of chair exercise as a way to help seniors stay in shape. While seated chair exercises involve a series of slow movements, like other more intense fitness programs, you should exercise for 30 minutes at least 3 times each week, even if you have to divide the time into separate 10-minute segments throughout the day.