5 Chair Exercises That Build Core Strength Faster Than Floor Workouts After 60
If you’re over 50, chair exercises are an excellent way to stay in shape—and remain independent. This training modality boosts muscle and flexibility, is very safe to do, and helps you remain active. Activity is essential for strength and overall wellness. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that older adults perform 150 minutes of moderate activity (or 75 minutes of higher level activity) every week. In addition, adults in the 65+ age group should emphasize a mix of muscle-strengthening, aerobic, and balance training on a weekly basis.
Did you know that an inactive lifestyle puts you at risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and more? Research reveals that older adults with CVD spend more than 75% of each waking day sedentary.
Chair exercises are the perfect solution to getting a much needed dose of exercise while increasing your core strength, which is vital for stability and balance. A strong core can help you avoid falls and injuries.
To get you started with some healthy activity, we spoke with an expert who shares five chair exercises to add to your routine. They’ll help to build core strength faster than floor workouts after 60—and you don’t even have to leave your home.
Why Building and Maintaining Core Strength Is Important for Older Adults
Your core isn’t only about your abs—it’s everything around your midsection, including your hips, lower back, and deep stabilizing muscles, says Dr. Gbolahan Okubadejo, Board Certified Spinal Surgeon at The Institute for Comprehensive Spine Care.
“After 60, these muscles weaken faster than most people realize, and the effects show up in ways that don’t obviously look like a ‘core problem,'” Dr. Okubadejo explains. ” When your core is weak, your body can’t hold itself upright properly, so other joints such as knees, hips, ankles, end up compensating and taking more stress. Balance gets worse, too, because your core is constantly making tiny adjustments to keep you steady, even just while standing still. Simple daily things like getting out of bed, carrying groceries, or bending to pick something up become harder and riskier without that underlying strength. Falls are also much more likely when the core is weak, and for adults over 60, a bad fall can completely change someone’s quality of life. The good news is the core responds to training at any age, even 10 minutes a day of the right exercises makes a real difference within weeks.”
That’s where these chair exercises come into play. They can help build strength in the transverse abdominis, glutes, and even pelvic floor.
“The pelvic floor works together with the deep abs and spine muscles as a unit, and weakness there affects balance and control more than most people expect,” Dr. Okubadejo points out. “Prioritizing these muscles over surface muscles like the six-pack abs gives older adults functional strength that actually shows up in real life, not just in the gym.”
Seated Belly Breathing
- Begin sitting tall on a sturdy chair.
- Place one hand on your chest and the other on your low belly.
- Breathe in.
- Exhale hard, pulling your belly button in toward your spine.
- Hold for 5 seconds before releasing.
- Perform 3 sets of 10 reps.
Seated Trunk Rotation
- Begin sitting tall with your arms crossed in front of your chest.
- Rotate slowly from one side to the other, as far as you’re comfortably able to.
- Perform 3 sets of 12 reps on each side.
Chair Dead Bug
- Begin sitting tall on a sturdy chair.
- Lift one knee up while keeping your core braced.
- Slowly lower.
- Perform 3 sets of 10 reps on each leg.
Seated Hip Hinge
- Begin sitting tall at the edge of a sturdy chair.
- Hinge forward at the hips, maintaining a flat back.
- Push yourself back upright through the glutes.
- Perform 3 sets of 12 reps.
Supported Plank
- Begin sitting tall, leaning into the chair’s back with straight arms.
- Brace your entire core.
- Hold the position.
- Perform 3 sets of 20-second holds.