Home Exercises For Older Adults – 11 To Try!

The importance of physical activity to our health can’t be over emphasized and should become part of your daily routine. When you exercise regularly, it goes a long way to improve your mental and physical strength, especially as an older adult. This article lists out 11 home exercises for older adults. Some other benefits of exercising for adults aged 50 and above include:

• Helps prevent diseases such as  heart disease and diabetes. Exercise also improves your immune system
• Improves your mental health by producing endorphins (the feel good hormone). This hormone functions as a stress reliever and helps you  feel happy and overall satisfied
• Helps you maintain flexibility and strength which  supports good balance and coordination. This will reduce the risk of falls which people are prone to as they age
• Improves cognitive function

Let’s now look at some home exercises for older adults which they can engage in from anywhere to keep them healthy and active.

11 Home Exercises For Older Adults

1. Abdominal Contraction

This type of exercise will help increase your abdominal muscle strength 

• Lie down with your back on the floor and your knees raised
• Take a very deep breath and constrict/tighten your abdominal muscles
• Hold it for three breaths and then release
• Repeat ten times

2. Wall Pushups

This exercise will help you increase your chest and shoulder strength

• Stand three feet away from a wall facing it. Ensure your feet is shoulder width apart
• Lean forward towards the wall and place your hands on the wall. Ensure that your hands are in line with your shoulders. While doing this, keep your body in plank position and ensure your spine is straight
• Keep your body low towards the wall and push it back against the wall
• Repeat ten times

3. Tippy-Toe Lifts

This exercise will strengthen your legs and improve your balance

• Stand behind a chair with your hands placed on the top of the backrest
• Stand on your tippy toes as high as you can while maintaining comfort. Then lower yourself again down to the ground
• Repeat this several times

4. Pelvic Tilts

Pelvic tilts help you stretch and strengthen the muscles of your lower back

• Start with a few deep breath
• Constrict, or tighten your buttocks
• Tilt your hips forward a bit 
• Count to three
• Push or tilt your hips back and wait for three seconds
• Repeat the whole process about 8-12 times

5. Shoulder Blade Squeeze

Doing this exercise will stretch your chest and strengthen your postural muscles

• Sitting up straight in your seat with your hands on your lap
• Squeeze your shoulder blades to come towards one another & then release
• Ensure you keep your shoulders are down and not up when you squeeze
• Try this a couple of times

6. Single Foot Stand

The single foot stand will stretch out your legs and calves

• Find a steady chair with a good balance  and stand behind it
• Stand on your right foot, bend your left foot backwards having it lifted off the floor  for as long as you can hold on
• Exchange the position by standing on your left foot with your right foot raised
• Repeat this for as long as you can

7. The Head Turn Exercise 

This is a simple stretch exercise to keep your neck mobile – a simple yet home exercises for older adults which they will like!

• Sit or stand, keeping your back and shoulders in a relaxed position 
• Start turning your head slowly to the right. Do this until you feel a light stretch
• In that same position, turn your head to the left until you feel a stretch
• Repeat this a couple of times 

8. Heel Raises 

This exercise will work your foot 

• Find a study chair and sit on it
• Put your toes and the balls of your feet on the floor and lift your heels
• Do this upto twenty times 

9. Shoulder And Upper Back Stretch

These exercises will help you free your shoulder and upper back

• Stretch your right arm in front of you and move it towards the left, keeping it at your chest level.
• Now raise your left hand towards right arm and touch on the right elbow
• Hold it on for 20-30 seconds
• Repeat the same thing with the left arm

10. Knee Lifts

This exercise will help you strengthen your thighs

• Sit on a chair
• Ensure that your hand is resting on your thigh not on the armrest. You can do this by pushing your back slightly away from the armrest 
• Contract your right quadriceps muscles and lifts your leg
• While doing this, ensure that your knee and the back of your thigh are 2 or 3 inches away from the seat
• Take a 3 second break at the interval and bring down your leg
• Try this for 8 to 12 times with each leg before switching to the other leg

11. Ankle Rotations

This exercise is very simple to carry out and helps improve ankle mobility and flexibility

• Sit on a chair 
• Lift your right foot off the floor and rotate it 5 times towards the right and five times to the left
• Do the same with your left foot

Conclusion

The list of good home exercises for older adults is endless. The essence of encouraging you to do these exercises is to enable your age without complications. With good exercise, you can still maintain your balance and muscle strength.