It’s an unfortunate fact that older people's physical capabilities often decrease as they age. Strength, flexibility and balance can diminish for many reasons. And these changes can have serious consequences. Crucially, they can increase an elderly person's risk of experiencing a dangerous fall.

Yet it's important to know that seniors can take action to maintain their mobility and prevent falls. Simple fitness moves that can be done at home are an easy and effective way for older people to keep up their muscle power and balance. What’s more, exercise can help with many other conditions such as high blood pressure.

In this post, we'll list some exercises that don’t need any equipment except a sturdy chair. Read on to get started!

Before you begin

Below, we'll discuss workout moves that are generally recommended as beneficial for many seniors. However, they may not be suitable for all older people, depending on individual health conditions. Check with your GP before you start a new exercise regime to make sure it's safe for you.

Needless to say, you should also ensure that your workout area is free from objects that would be a danger to you if you slipped. Ideally, it’s best to exercise while someone else is at home, so they can assist you if you fall or feel unwell while you exercise. And you should always stop exercising if you feel in pain or dizzy from it.

Now, let's start diving deeper into some exercises.

Standing exercises

Can you exercise while standing in one place? Absolutely! In fact, these moves are great for many older people who need to build foundational muscle and balance.

In these exercises, you’ll stand facing a table, countertop or wall that you can use for support if you lose your balance. The back of a stable chair might also work. Have your hands over this surface, ready to touch if needed. Stand in a normal posture with your feet shoulder-width apart unless otherwise specified. Don’t look down at your feet!

Standing still

We often talk about difficulties with walking, but mobility includes both walking and standing still. Indeed, standing motionless can be a serious issue for elderly people who lack balance.

For this move, you’ll simply stand in the natural position we described for between fifteen and thirty seconds, or for as long as you can if you can’t last fifteen seconds. Touch the surface in front of you for support if you feel yourself wobbling.

To increase the difficulty, you can:

Put your feet together rather than shoulder-width apart.
Close your eyes
Put one foot slightly in front of the other
Balance on one foot
Stand with one foot fully in front of the other so that one heel is in front of the other foot’s toe.

As you can tell, some of these variations are quite difficult, so only do what’s comfortable for you.

Standing toe raise

Many muscles are involved in staying strong and stable as we move – even ones we don’t think about much, like muscles in our toes.

With this beginner exercise, you’ll simply stand naturally, bracing yourself on your table or countertop and curl your toes upward before returning them to a normal flat position.

Moderate exercises

Now let’s look at some moves that are a little bit more active. You can try these about five times each if you are able to do so.

Standing up from a chair

Can simply standing up from a chair be an exercise move? Yes, a rather important one! Transitions from different positions, like seated to standing or standing to lying down, can be points when older people fall. Practising these transitions and improving the muscles involved can have a great protective effect.

To try this exercise, you’ll want to sit on the front edge of a firm dining chair. Don’t use a chair that has wheels or a soft armchair. Have your feet flat on the floor and aligned with your hips.

Then, just slowly stand up without using your arms to push you up. Slowly sit down, again without using your arms to support yourself, and repeat a few times if you can.

You can practise doing this move every time you stand. It will help avoid a situation where you find it difficult to get out of a chair unassisted.

Side leg raises

A lot of exercises, including some we’re discussing in this post, focus on the muscles at the front and back of the leg. But the muscles at the side of the limb are just as important. In fact, unusual movements like side steps and twisting can easily lead to a fall because we’re not accustomed to them.

That’s where the side leg raise comes in. Stand in your natural position in front of your table or countertop. Then simply slowly raise one of your legs to the side while holding on or bracing yourself on your surface. Hold it in the raised position for a few seconds if you can. Then slowly lower it. Alternate legs and repeat.

Backward leg raises

While standing in your stable position in front of your support surface, raise one of your legs backwards from the hip, not bending your knee. Move slowly and hold at the highest position for a few seconds if you can. Then return your foot to the ground and repeat with the other side.

Seated front leg raises

This is a similar exercise meant to strengthen the front of your leg. Sit down in a chair, keeping a straight back, and begin with your feet hip-width apart and flat on the floor in front of you. Then slowly raise one foot from the floor by bending your knee, keeping your thigh flat on your chair. Return your foot to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

More challenging exercises

If you’ve mastered the above exercises, you could consider some of the slightly trickier moves we’ll discuss below.

Lifting your heels while standing

Get into your stable position in front of a surface you can hold on to. Then, with your feet shoulder-width apart, slowly raise your heels. This means you’ll be slightly on your tiptoes. Then lower your heels down again. Repeat up to 5 times if you can.

Sideways walking

This is another move intended to strengthen the sides of your legs and help you balance better while moving sideways. You may want to have someone with you as you do this to help you if you wobble.

Begin in a natural standing position. Then take a step to your right side. Bring your left foot in to rest next to your right. Repeat your rightward sideways steps across the room, then step leftward back to your starting point.

Heel-toe walking

Here’s a tricky one. You’ll walk forward, putting one foot directly in front of the other with each step so that one foot’s heel is always touching the other foot’s toes.

You might want to do this move down a hallway so that you can touch the wall for support as you go.

Gentle stepping

It’s well known that stairs are a danger zone for falls. This move helps to address that risk.

Stand at the bottom of a non-slippery staircase next to a wall you can use to steady yourself if necessary.

Slowly step up onto the first step with one leg. Bring your other leg up so that you are standing stably on the step. Then slowly step down again. Repeat, switching which leg goes first.

Get protection from the dangers of falls with SureSafe

Taking action to prevent falls is essential for every older person. But exercise isn’t always enough. Even with the best fall prevention efforts, falls can still sometimes occur.

Once a fall has happened, the most important factor is how quickly help arrives. If an elderly person is on the floor, unable to get up, for an hour or more, that’s called a ‘long lie.’ The psychological and physical impacts of a long lie can be significant, so it’s best if an older person can get assistance as quickly as possible.

A personal alarm for the elderly is designed to make that happen. How? Well, a fall detection alarm has sensors that work to determine when its wearer has fallen. If it senses that a fall has happened, it calls for help all on its own – even if the wearer is unconscious.

Since no fall detection tech can sense 100% of falls, it’s ideal to get an alarm that also has a one-touch SOS button. This button just needs to be pressed and held in order to call for assistance. For an older person who doesn’t have a phone within reach or isn’t feeling well enough to dial it, that can make the difference between getting help or not.

At SureSafe, we’re leading UK providers of just these sorts of personal alarms. And we’re here to help if you’d like to chat about what alarm might be right for you or an older loved one. Just give us a call on 0808 189 1671. You can also reach out to us through live chat or request a call back.