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Chair Exercises for the Disabled

Getting enough exercise is always an issue for the disabled. Pain or physical limitations often make it difficult to work out and maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible. Thankfully, there are several exercises for disabled people that can be performed while seated. These chair exercises can be adapted for each person's particular condition.

  1. Speak with your doctor

    • Before starting any new workout program it is important to discuss it with your doctor. You can talk about the best kind of exercise to perform for your condition and which ones to avoid.

      The Arthritis Foundation also suggests discussing an exercise program for the disabled with a physical therapist, who can teach you the proper techniques for your workout to make sure you do not injure yourself.

    Starting Out

    • Start out simply to give yourself a chance to get used to exercising. Seniors.lovetoknow.com describes several chair exercises that could be beneficial not only to seniors, but also to disabled people. These require no special equipment to perform.

      For example, play boxing is a good starting place. When doing this, however, be careful not to snap your elbow, as this could cause injury.

      Other popular choices include arm circles, leg kicks and seated jumping-jacks. Choose the exercises you would like to perform and repeat each of them in sets of 20.

      MSNBC reports that chair yoga is a new trend that is catching on. It allows participants to perform many simple yoga exercises without the strain of traditional yoga.

    Free Weights

    • Try using free weights to build muscle tone. They come in a variety of sizes ranging from 1 lb. upward. For people who might have a disability that would make holding the weights difficult, there are weights available that can be strapped onto your wrists and ankles. Guidelines.gov describes exercises that can be used or adapted for disabled people and performed while sitting in a chair.

    Exercise Bands

    • Exercise bands are elastic bands that have handles on both ends. When a handle is taken in each hand the user can pull on them to get exercise from the resistance of the band. There are numerous exercises that can be done using these bands.

      Some of these options are described on Musclebuilding.lifetips.com. For example, taking the band and looping it around the back of the chair so that the handles can be pulled straight forward by the arms. Another option is to place the band underneath your feet while seated in your chair and pull upward toward the ceiling.

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