10 Reasons Why
Chair-based exercise is great for older adults
We do chair-based workouts all the time with our older adults and seniors. Chair-based workouts are so versatile, and there is so much variety for including cardio, strength and core exercises. Whether you've got agile participants who need a high energy workout, or you've got older clients who need gentle exercise, the chair can provide! There are so many reasons for including a chair in your classes - here are my top 10.
Reason #1: It’s accessible - anyone can start on a chair
Chair-based exercise is great for participants who are coming back from injury and may be unsure on their feet, or who may have lost leg strength in hospital or while they’ve been recuperating. It can take months to rebuild that leg strength, and participants may be a little unsteady on their feet in the meantime, so exercising on a chair means they can build up their leg strength and get all the benefits of coming out to their exercise class, but without the risk of a fall or injury in class. It can be a great way to build confidence back up, as well as muscle, in a safe and controlled environment. Anyone can start on a chair and get comfortable again with the moves and the movement!
Reason #2: Less impact means it’s easier on the knees & hips
If you have knee or hip issues, which a lot of our older adults do, chair exercise is an excellent option because there is no weight or pressure pushing down on those joints. You may have to adapt some of your exercises to allow for participants who have a limited range, especially when you’re doing exercises that extend the hip joint out to the side, but they’ll still be able to participate in the class and get all the usual benefits that group exercise brings. Less pressure on the knees and joints also reduces the risk of further injury or associated pain, so it’s an appealing option for many older adults.
Reason #3: Great for social interaction
There is usually a lot more chatting time on the chair - which is probably why the participants love it! Chair exercise offers lots of social benefits as well as physical benefits, and is a great way to facilitate a chat. Set up your chairs in a circle or semicircle, turn the music down a little, and ask your participants about their latest updates, what is happening in their families, and what they are looking forward to on the weekend. You are able to keep chatting while you are exercising because there is no risk involved - if a participant misses a step when they are marching it’s ok, because they can’t trip or fall over.
Reason #4: Great for people with vertigo or balance issues
Participants with balance issues, or who struggle with vertigo or low blood pressure, or have any condition that makes them feel a little unsteady on their feet, often prefer chair-based exercise. Sitting on a chair is the safest way to exercise, especially for older adults with balance issues, because it removes any risk of a fall. We don’t want participants to have any excuse to not be at class, so if they say they are struggling with their balance, encourage them to start exercising either sitting on the chair or standing next to it and holding it, so they can keep up with the rest of their class.
Reason #5: Adaptable to any fitness level - work hard or not
Make your workout as hard or as easy as you need to - push the class hard and work up a sweat with a high energy cardio routine, or adapt your class to an aged care setting and focus more on mobility and flexibility. Whatever workout you want to do, whatever fitness levels you have in your class, chair-based exercise is so versatile and easy to adapt.
Reason #1: It’s accessible - anyone can start on a chair
Chair-based exercise is great for participants who are coming back from injury and may be unsure on their feet, or who may have lost leg strength in hospital or while they’ve been recuperating. It can take months to rebuild that leg strength, and participants may be a little unsteady on their feet in the meantime, so exercising on a chair means they can build up their leg strength and get all the benefits of coming out to their exercise class, but without the risk of a fall or injury in class. It can be a great way to build confidence back up, as well as muscle, in a safe and controlled environment. Anyone can start on a chair and get comfortable again with the moves and the movement!
Reason #2: Less impact means it’s easier on the knees & hips
If you have knee or hip issues, which a lot of our older adults do, chair exercise is an excellent option because there is no weight or pressure pushing down on those joints. You may have to adapt some of your exercises to allow for participants who have a limited range, especially when you’re doing exercises that extend the hip joint out to the side, but they’ll still be able to participate in the class and get all the usual benefits that group exercise brings. Less pressure on the knees and joints also reduces the risk of further injury or associated pain, so it’s an appealing option for many older adults.
Reason #3: Great for social interaction
There is usually a lot more chatting time on the chair - which is probably why the participants love it! Chair exercise offers lots of social benefits as well as physical benefits, and is a great way to facilitate a chat. Set up your chairs in a circle or semicircle, turn the music down a little, and ask your participants about their latest updates, what is happening in their families, and what they are looking forward to on the weekend. You are able to keep chatting while you are exercising because there is no risk involved - if a participant misses a step when they are marching it’s ok, because they can’t trip or fall over.
Reason #4: Great for people with vertigo or balance issues
Participants with balance issues, or who struggle with vertigo or low blood pressure, or have any condition that makes them feel a little unsteady on their feet, often prefer chair-based exercise. Sitting on a chair is the safest way to exercise, especially for older adults with balance issues, because it removes any risk of a fall. We don’t want participants to have any excuse to not be at class, so if they say they are struggling with their balance, encourage them to start exercising either sitting on the chair or standing next to it and holding it, so they can keep up with the rest of their class.
Reason #5: Adaptable to any fitness level - work hard or not
Make your workout as hard or as easy as you need to - push the class hard and work up a sweat with a high energy cardio routine, or adapt your class to an aged care setting and focus more on mobility and flexibility. Whatever workout you want to do, whatever fitness levels you have in your class, chair-based exercise is so versatile and easy to adapt.
Looking for chair exercises?
Try our online course, Chair-Based Exercise for Older Adults and get 300 chair exercises for your group fitness or personal training sessions. A huge range of exercises with videos, demos, handouts, and tips throughout.
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!
So they 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 give it a go in 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, try our online course Chair-Based Exercise for Older Adults, to get a heap of exercises and ideas for incorporating chair exercises into your classes. We also show you the proper technique for each exercise, and how you can teach it to your participants, to ensure they are getting a safe and effective workout. Check it out today!
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!
So they 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 give it a go in 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, try our online course Chair-Based Exercise for Older Adults, to get a heap of exercises and ideas for incorporating chair exercises into your classes. We also show you the proper technique for each exercise, and how you can teach it to your participants, to ensure they are getting a safe and effective workout. Check it out today!
Prefer to watch the discussion?
Jump on to our YouTube channel to see Carol and I talking about chair-based exercise and why it's so great for older adults and seniors.
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