Searching for a fun, effective workout that doesn’t require running laps or throwing your body to the ground? We have just the thing! Welcome to the Power for Parkinson’s® Ultimate Chair Workout Guide. In this guide, we will introduce you to a variety of fun, effective workouts that you can do from start to finish from the comfort of your chair. 

People choose to do chair workouts for many reasons.  Many conditions, illnesses, and injuries can limit mobility or make it difficult to balance during traditional standing workouts. Others might choose seated workouts to reduce impact on joints or avoid waking downstairs neighbors in an apartment setting.  Whatever your reason for choosing a chair workout, staying seated doesn’t have to prevent you from meeting your fitness goals and enjoying all of the benefits of your favorite exercises.

Right off the bat, we’d like to bust the myth that chair workouts are easy. On the contrary, chair workouts can be very challenging and effective! At Power for Parkinson’s, we serve individuals with a wide range of fitness abilities and endeavor to provide a fun, challenging, and inclusive workout to all of our participants–including people with Parkinson’s and their care partners and families. This means incorporating challenging exercises and demonstrating modifications to make them accessible to every individual. We also incorporate cognitive challenges as well as creative themes, music, props, and class formats to encourage mind-body connection, build neuroplasticity and keep our minds engaged.

Evidence confirms that exercise is essential to managing Parkinson’s symptoms and delaying their progression, so we strive to always provide new and accessible workouts specifically designed to target the symptoms of Parkinson’s.  Although our chair workouts target the symptoms of Parkinson’s, after nine years we’ve found that they can be great for anyone looking to challenge their mind and body with fun workout classes.  Without further ado, here are our favorite seated workouts available on YouTube:

Move & Shout® Workouts

Move & Shout Classes incorporate iconic music, vocal exercises, and cognitive challenges with cardio, strength, and balance exercise sequences for dynamic workouts that challenge both the mind and body.  Many Move & Shout classes are completely seated, while others offer optional standing exercises.  

Brain & Body Workouts 

Like Move & Shout Classes, Brain & Body workouts are specially designed to strengthen your body, and improve your neuroplasticity and ability to multitask.  Brain & Body includes lots of fun cardio, strength, and balance movements that raise your heart rate, trigger brain-body connection, and give you a full workout head (or brain) to toe.  These exercises are almost always seated!

Strength & Balance Workouts

This class uses props like balls, weights, and resistance bands, to improve strength, mobility, gait, and balance. Strength & Balance workouts often incorporate some optional standing exercises to work on balance.  These exercises can almost always be done seated for those who are not comfortable standing.   Remember, your safety is the most important thing!

Seated Dance Exercise

Dance exercise combines music and movement for a challenging workout that doesn’t feel like work at all.  Dance is proven to improve gait, balance, and brain-body connection! Meanwhile, dance workouts also allow you to be creative and exercise while having fun! 

Here are a few of our favorite Seated Dance classes for you to try: 

This fun Mardi Gras Celebration dance is a great introduction to seated dance! https://youtu.be/Os3pT-PDMh4

If you’re looking for a fast and fun dance to pull out at parties, use this video to learn the cupid shuffle in just 6 minutes! https://youtu.be/_75VSUgxb7s

Relax & Reset 

Relax and reset class will help you reset and refocus for the beginning of the week while recovering from a great week of workouts!  These classes include meditation, yoga and stretching to relieve stress, pain and soreness and help you feel your best. 

Here are a few of our favorite Relax & Reset classes for you to try:

This 40 minute class is a real treat! Instructor Nadine Eram leads us through an invigorating meditation and chair yoga flow all the way from Australia! https://youtu.be/OodBWDKokAE

This 20 minute class is a great introduction to chair yoga, and the perfect pick-me-up.  https://youtu.be/LxvF2Lkp89g

Vocal Strength Workouts 

This all-levels singing group aims to improve and sustain vocal power through the joy of singing.