Senior-Friendly Activities
Activities Every Senior Can Do
Don’t make age an issue!
The best thing to do for fitness and lifestyle while we age is to always keep moving, eat well, and stay social!
Easy, right???
As always, check with your doctor prior to performing any type of exercise.
Well, not so much, as we age, we limit ourselves. We don’t realize that we need to take small steps, baby steps.
As a placement service for seniors , one of the requests we get most is finding a home that offers a variety of senior activities. We’ve listed below some activities you can do whether you are at home or in an assisted living facility.
Exercise for Seniors you can do at home.
Start with a walk down the driveway; go to the mailbox, or the stop sign, etc.
Lift a can of corn, a gallon of milk, a bag of groceries.
If you can’t walk, you can benefit from seated exercises. Chair exercises are safer and provide more support for seniors who are at risk of falling or have limited mobility.
Check out this 7 Minute Chair Exercise for Seniors
Exercising of any kind has shown to improve blood flow, mood, help build muscle, increase heart rate, and help your range of motion. Make sure there are no wheels on the chair , you also don’t want to use a folding chair as it can collapse easier.
If you use a walker or cane, exercise is much more important to help improve your balance and you can use your device as an aid.
While standing with your device, march in place, lift one leg out to the side as far as you can and as many times as you can , then try the other leg.
If you get tired, take a break. Remember…baby steps!!
You can do short squats with the aid of your device as well. We say short squats because we don’t want you squatting too far down. Do as many as you can, once again, if you get tired, rest.
Another great exercise is to stand at your device and lift your heels off the floor to stand on your toes. Lower your heels to return your feet to a flat position. Do as many as you can.
If you have swelling in your feet or ankles, here are some exercises for you too.
Lie down (preferably on a bed or the couch) moving only your feet, point your toes upward then point down.
Repeat these steps as many times as you can. You can also just tap your toes while sitting, as long as your toes are moving.
Exercise Your Brain:
Perhaps you are unable to exercise your body, then please exercise your brain. There are so many activities in which you can do this.
You can do:
- crossword puzzles
- jigsaw puzzles
- word search puzzles
- solitaire if you’re alone
- card games with others
- draw
- paint
- or color to keep your mind active.
Create a scrapbook or organize some old family photos.
Keeping your mind active can help increase your mood and reduce stress and anxiety.
One of the best ways to relax and boost your mood is to get outdoors !!
Vitamin D alone will help increase not only your bone density but your overall disposition. Fresh air is a great stimulator for the mind, body, and soul.
Do you see the pattern here?
As long as you start out small, you can graduate to more. Look at your area senior center, start out slow, you’re not only going to get into chair yoga classes, you’re going to make friends.
