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If your goal is to live healthily, then you need to implement exercises in your daily routine. When old age comes, it is more vital than ever before to do this. Elderly adults who train understand the importance of working out for their well-being. Through the years, it has been proven more than once that exercising can stimulate metabolic activity, reduce and prevent inflammation, control weight and aid in weight loss, and also it can reduce the risk of depression. Older adults who work out regularly can also improve their range of motion and reduce the risk of falls. Here we are going to talk about seated exercises for older adults.

Some seniors experience declined lung function, reduced heart rate, and various mobility issues in their old age. Because of this, it becomes hard—or even impossible—for them to exercise. The goal should be to find an exercise activity that they can perform routinely, that can be done while sitting, but that also provides enough challenge to be called an exercise. Fortunately for seniors with impaired mobility, many workouts can be done from a sitting position.

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Warm-up

Warming up is essential, even for professional athletes, and so it is for older adults. The primary goal of warming up is to avoid injuries. One of the most comfortable exercises for seniors that want to workout while seated is shoulder circles. Regardless of their condition, this type of seated exercise is relatively easy to do for older adults. It’s done by moving your shoulders forward and backward in a gentle circling motion. The direction in which you move your shoulders should be changed in between breaks.

A second warm-up exercise that we would recommend is a seated row. It starts by putting your feet flat on the floor in front of your seat. Arms should be positioned in front of you with your thumbs turned upward. Then you should pull your elbows back until your shoulder blades touch each other. After the first motion, you should return your hands to the starting position, and go back and forth with this motion. This warm-up is good for your upper back, shoulder, and chest muscles.

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Cardio Seated Exercises for Older Adults

Doing cardio from a chair? Yes, it sounds crazy, but it’s not. The best cardio workout from the chair is seated jumping jacks. It’s easily done by simply putting your hands above your head and putting them back by your side. Yes, the jump is missing from this exercise, but the rest remains the same. The only thing you need to look after is not to hit your hands on the armrest.

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If you are looking to exercise your legs, the best thing to do is chair running. The first thing you need to do is to lean back so that your shoulders are touching the back of the chair. Then, with your toes pointed out you should extend your legs forward. While your legs are extended, you should pull the knee of one leg towards you. While returning one leg to the starting position make the same motion with the other one. If you do this workout correctly, it will be like you were running but without joint pain.

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Muscle Training

The best exercises for muscles are those that we do by using our body weight, and they are called calisthenics. Because of this, they are ideal for the elderly and can be done while sitting. The best example we have is the knee lift that hits your quadrilateral muscles, which are used by our bodies in all sorts of movement. They are best done when you put your toes on the floor and then slowly bring one knee towards your chest. Do this workout interchangeably between legs.

While elderly adults who care about their overall health are already on a workout regimen, those that are about to begin, should look for their doctor’s advice before starting.

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