Third Age Fitness

Reason #6: Less co-ordination required
Some participants don’t like a choreographed routine in class because they struggle with their co-ordination and can’t keep up with the class as they move left and right and around the room. New participants, or less co-ordinated older adults, can participate in a chair-based workout safely though because they know that everyone will remain in the same spot! They don’t have to worry about being co-ordinated and having the arms and legs going in the right direction together, because it’s a lot safer for those with two-left feet when you’re sitting down!

Reason #7: Great for those with hearing or sight issues
It’s also safer for those with hearing or sight issues, when they can sit down. Some participants may be hesitant to come to class if they know they will have troubling hearing the instructors, or seeing what the instructor is doing. But sitting on a chair is a great equaliser for participants, and many feel a lot more comfortable knowing that if they take a little longer to see or understand the exercise, no-one is going to notice.

Reason #8: Encourages non-exercisers
New participants, and those who are the first to find an excuse not to come to class each week, are often more willing to come to a chair-based workout. It’s more familiar than a standing routine, and less daunting when they know they can’t get it too wrong when they’re sitting down for the whole class! Sitting is a common activity that everyone knows how to do, so you can get new participants starting with just the feet, or just the arms, and getting non-exercises just to do a little bit more each time, and they will often be able to increase quickly and participate fully in a chair-based workout.

Reason #9: A whole new market and a whole new career for instructors
Older adults are a growing market - they are staying healthier for longer because they understand the benefits of exercise, and they want to keep their independence for as long as they can. Consequently, older adults are looking for fitness classes, and we want to be able to give them a great workout that is safe and fun and effective, and we can do all of that with a chair-based workout. It’s a unique style of workout and one that not many fitness professionals know how to teach confidently, so why not gain the skills now and get ahead of the curve? You’ll extend your fitness career too because the workout isn’t just great for participants with joint and muscle issues - it’s great for instructors too!

Reason #10: Variety! It’s something different
There are so many things you can do with a chair! Sitting down and working those abdominal muscles, standing behind and challenging your balance, performing a cardio routine with arms and legs pumping, or doing gentle stretch and mobility work - there is no style of exercise, or muscle in the body, that cannot be done with a chair! It’s so versatile in what it offers, and how you can adapt it to any level of fitness and experience, so it adds lots of variety in to your classes, and is something different you can offer your participants, even if they usually do a standing workout every week. We want to keep lots of variety in our workouts every week to keep our participants interested and coming back, so why not include a chair-workout - it may not be just the participants who are surprised by what you can actually do with a chair!

These are just some of the benefits of incorporating chair exercises into your older adults group fitness classes. We hope that we've inspired you to introduce it into your classes and see how your participants enjoy the workout.

If you aren't sure what to do and how you can use a chair for cardio, strength, or core work, you need our comprehensive Chair-Based Exercise for Older Adults, to get a all the exercises and support you need to put together a fabulous chair workout, week in and week out. Sign up today - it could just change your life!