Exercise Equipment For Seniors: Use What You Have!

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Start An At Home Exercise Routine For Seniors – With No Special Equipment

Are you interested in starting an at home exercise routine but don’t want to spend money on items that you may or may not use- or that will just take up more space in your home? I love trying to find interesting ways to add some variety to seated or chair exercises. Of course, having equipment is great. After all, it is designed to do a certain task- and hopefully do it well. But sometimes if you are just getting started – it’s nice to just get started.

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We can come up with all sorts of excuses for not starting an exercise program or routine. I am always a big fan of finding activities that fit into our daily life- take a look at Motivation For Movement and Build An Exercise Routine With Chair Yoga for some tips for motivation and getting started if that may interest you. Or, you may be interested in taking a look at some research and resources on the importance of and the benefits of exercise for older adults:

Exercise and Activity-NIH

How Much Physical Activity Do Older Adults Need?- CDC

Now that we covered the not so exciting stuff, let’s take a look at some props that we may have around the house and some ways to use them. I will also add some recommendations for exercise equipment if you decide to look for that in the future. Starting an at home exercise routine for seniors if you don’t have equipment is easier than you think. If you would like a simple printable exercise tracker, take a look here: Exercise Planner

Exercise equipment for seniors including light hand weights, resistance bands, water bottle, and sneakers.

No Exercise Equipment? No Problem: Use What You Have!

Let’s take a look at five simple items that we can use to help start an at home exercise routine.  We also have some tips to help get started for each one. Now. they may not all resonate with everyone. But, I hope that they give you some ideas and can help you start on a path of implementing an exercise routine right from home.

1. A Thick Book, Small Thick Pillow, Or A Paper Towel Roll

You may be thinking that these 3 items are not at all similar- and of course they are not- but they can serve the same purpose. There are many uses for this one. When practicing seated chair exercises it is most beneficial to start off with optimal posture- whatever that is for you. If your feet do not reach the ground so that you can have your hips and knees bent to around 90 degrees, placing your feet on something can be most beneficial. 

Here, we are making a substitution for yoga blocks. Yoga blocks can be used in a variety of ways to help improve our alignment and assist us with many chair yoga poses. Here are a couple of examples:

A woman seated in a chair near a window with a yoga block between her knees for a chair exercise.

A block or substitute between the knees can help with alignment and core engagement

A woman seated in a chair with her feet supported on a yoga block, her arms by her sides with the palms facing forward, and her eyes closed in chair yoga pose savasana.

Placing the feet on a block or substitute in Mountain Pose to help with stability and grounding.

Yoga blocks are actually a great item to have around the house for this purpose and the foam versions are more than adequate. Here is a relatively inexpensive block or this set of two. But we can substitute here with what we have around the house. And, the possibilities are endless as well. Take a look at these  6 seated exercises with a yoga block for an idea of what I’m talking about. Use a book, small thick pillow, or paper towel roll as a substitute and see what you think. Or, check out these two videos:

Yoga Block Exercises: Full Body

Yoga Block Exercises: Full Body

2. A Towel (or a belt)

There are quite a few exercises you can do using a towel. Believe it or not, we can actually get a bit of resistance from a simple hand towel and we can control that resistance. We are of course mimicking exercise bands or yoga straps here. A belt can be more useful for stretching exercises- which is a good reminder for me to do a video or post on that in the near future. A yoga strap will give you more options due to the length, but if you are just getting started a belt is a good way to see if it is something that may be useful. Take a look at the exercise below to help you get the idea of what I am describing in terms of mimicking an exercise band.

Bicep Curl

A woman seated in a chair holding a towel with each hand with the elbows extended for a seated chair exercise.

A woman holding the ends of a rolled towel with elbows bent for a bicep curl exercise.

You can take a look here for more information on using a towel for exercises: Seated Exercises With A Towel. I picked those 5 exercises because they are relatively accessible and can be modified, but the possibilities are really endless. If you are looking for some bands, you can take a look at this well reviewed option or you may be interested in this Stretch Out Strap

3. A Tennis Ball

If you have a dog, you most likely have a few of these around the house! And even if you don’t, they are relatively easy to come by. A tennis ball can help out with a multitude of different tasks. We can use it for hand exercise by squeezing it. Toss it side to side for coordination tasks. We can use it for foot exercises, as well as trigger point work. We can roll it on a table or wall for range of motion and stabilization exercises. 

Again, with a bit of creativity the options are limitless. Take a look at Chair Yoga For The Feet or this video for a simple exercise using a tennis ball. Or take a look at this video that I found that you may enjoy for working the hands: Finger and Hand Strengthening Exercises With a Ball: No Gripping

Tennis balls or lacrosse balls will do the trick- or these yoga tune up balls are something you may look into. Those are great for use as massage balls for trigger point work. But, you can also place two tennis balls inside a sock and start there to get the idea and see if it works for you.

4. A Playground Ball

If you have kids or grandchildren you probably have one of these around the house as well. Playground balls are a great exercise prop. They come in various sizes and are relatively soft so they are easy to hold onto and won’t hurt if you drop them on your toes. They are also pretty inexpensive.  You can also toss or kick the ball back and forth if you have another person handy. This is a great way to get in some exercise, work on your coordination, and get the heart rate up a bit. There are so many possibilities with this one.

Take a look at 5 Seated Exercises With A Ball to help you get the idea- here is the video as well. These are 5 exercises you can do right from your chair while you are watching television. There are so many possibilities with this one that I will have to do another video soon. There are also many other uses:

  • If you have another person handy, tossing a ball back and forth can be a great way to exercise- add wrist weights for more of a challenge
  • Kicking a ball back and forth with another person -add ankle weights for more a challenge here as well
  • Rolling it with your hands on a table- moving it back and forth in all directions
  • Shooting baskets (it doesn’t have to be a basketball hoop- you can use a laundry basket!)

5. A Balloon

So this last one may sound a bit silly- but you can get in some great cardio exercise with a balloon. Just like with the ball toss, you will need a second person. But tapping a balloon back and forth is more fun than it sounds. You never know exactly where it is going to go- so you get in some coordination, core activation, sitting balance work, and it will get your heart rate up. You of course can always add some wrist weights to make it a bit more challenging. 

So there you have it- 5 simple items to help you start an at home exercise routine and add some variety to an exercise program with some ideas to help get you started. There are so many possibilities. Let me know how it goes and if you would like more ideas- I have plenty!

Want More Home Exercise Ideas For Seniors?

If you are looking for a simple chair yoga pose for the whole body, take a look here

Or, you may enjoy these 5 Standing Chair Yoga Poses For Beginners

You may be interested in these Chair Yoga Videos that do not require any equipment.

The One Week Chair Yoga Challenge may also be of interest to you.

Or,  Chair Yoga Exercises Just For Fun do not require any equipment either.

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Namaste!

Disclaimer: The Peaceful Chair and thepeacefulchair.com strongly recommends that you consult with your physician before starting this or any exercise program.The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only and is not to be used in place of medical advice or information from your healthcare provider. Neither The Peaceful Chair, the peacefulchair.com, nor any of its contributors shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein and assumes no responsibility for anyone’s use of the information contained in any links, videos, or any content on this website.