Building endurance is important for your overall health. Endurance gives you the stamina to stay active and handle daily tasks & hobbies. It helps improve your physical and mental health while making your lungs and heart stronger. As we get older our muscular and cardiovascular endurance naturally decline. This happens because of muscle fiber loss and stiffer arteries along with reduced heart efficiency and decreased oxygen use. These changes lead to less stamina but staying active can slow down this process and help preserve your functional capacity according to Eric North. He is a wellness speaker and coach who focuses on aging with purpose and strength. The main changes include muscle loss and decreased maximum heart rate plus stiffer blood vessels that affect how well your heart pumps and delivers oxygen. However the body does adapt to maintain function. Endurance is linked to better long-term health because it improves how your mitochondria work and supports cardiovascular wellness & metabolic markers. These benefits give you more energy and lower your risk of chronic conditions like stroke and diabetes and heart disease. While strength training is important for preventing muscle loss endurance directly supports your heart and lungs and cellular energy systems. This offers broader benefits for aging well according to North. To check your fitness level you can try a four-minute chair workout designed for people over 60. If you can complete it your endurance is in great shape.
Benefits of Chair Exercises
There are many gimmicky exercise programs trying to convince you that you need fancy equipment or complicated workouts. The truth is that one of the most effective tools you can use is something you already have: a simple chair. Erin Richardson is the Corporate Director of Aging & Functional Ability program at Sun Health. She explains that research shows adults over 65 who can perform repeated and controlled chair-based strength exercises can improve lower-extremity strength. These adults tend to experience better health outcomes & greater independence. One of the best ways to utilize a chair is by simply standing up from it. The sit-to-stand exercise is a functional movement you perform daily to remain independent with age. Richardson says that another reason chair exercises work so well is safety. They reduce fall risk and account for mobility challenges. This allows the focus to stay on building strength and control. Chair-based programs can be an excellent starting point or a safe training tool. Think about safety & control and progression rather than worrying about where the exercise is performed.
Simple Sit-to-Stand Moves
Focus on moving with control instead of dropping down heavily. You can use the armrests if you need them but work toward standing up without arm support over time. This exercise strengthens your quadriceps muscles that you use for daily activities like getting up from a chair or toilet.
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– Start by sitting near the edge of a solid chair with your feet flat on the floor beneath your knees.
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– Tilt your upper body forward a bit. Stand up without pushing off with your knees or hands or grabbing onto anything.
– Lower yourself back down slowly and with control.
– Count how many times you can stand up and sit down in 30 seconds.
– Take a short break. Do this 3 to 4 times total.
Gentle Seated Weight Shifts
This exercise helps strengthen your core muscles that you use every day when getting dressed or putting on your socks according to Richardson.
– Start by sitting down and holding a light weight in one hand.
– Lean and reach out to the side as far as you can without straining. Then reach forward and finally reach across your body while leaning with the movement.
– Come back to your starting position after each reach.
– Switch the weight to your other hand and repeat.
– Do 5 to 10 reaches in each direction with both sides.
Easy Seated Marching
“This exercise builds up the hip flexors you need for shifting your weight and starting to walk,” Richardson explains.
– Start by sitting down with your feet flat on the floor about hip-width apart.
– Raise your left knee until it reaches hip height. Bring it back down.
– Now raise your right knee to the same level.
– Lower it again. Keep your back straight and avoid leaning backward while you keep marching.
– Do 3 to 5 sets of 10 to 20 marches with each leg.
– If you want to make it harder add ankle weights.
Seated Twists With Bands
– This movement copies everyday actions like reaching into a cupboard according to Richardson.
– Start in a seated position. Take a resistance band and hold it at your hip with one hand while gripping it with your other hand.
– Turn your upper body away from the hand holding the band while extending your arm upward.
– After finishing all repetitions on one side change to the other side.
– Complete 3 to 5 sets of 10 to 15 repetitions per side.
Richardson explains that these exercises work well because they can be adjusted to be simpler or harder. Many of them can later be done while standing. She reminds us to prioritize safety by keeping your feet firmly on the ground and sitting upright with proper posture. Make sure your shoulders stay relaxed & down rather than hunched up near your ears.
