When we’re younger, moving freely often feels effortless. But with age, preserving mobility, strength, and balance becomes essential for maintaining independence and quality of life.
This is something 72-year-old certified personal trainer Mitch Kahn understands well. The founder of Forever Fit With Mitch, Kahn designs workouts specifically for older adults, focusing on balance, strength, flexibility, and confidence.
Why Mitch Kahn Recommends Chair Workouts
Among the many exercise styles he teaches, chair-based workouts are the ones Kahn consistently advocates. As he explains, chair exercises can develop real strength, coordination, and confidence without unnecessary strain.
Kahn has shared four simple chair exercises he believes every older adult should try. All you need to begin is a stable, comfortable chair and, optionally, a resistance band.
If you’re new to exercise or returning after a break, it’s important to check with your doctor first and move at a pace that feels right for you.
The Four Chair-Based Exercises Explained
Created by Kahn, these seated movements are ideal for beginners and seniors. Together, they target full-body strength, coordination, and functional fitness, helping you feel more stable and capable in daily life.
Cross-Body Punches
This bodyweight movement focuses on improving core rotation and coordination, encouraging controlled, fluid motion through the upper body.
Seated Leg Press (With or Without a Band)
This lower-body exercise builds leg strength and power, which supports everyday actions such as walking and climbing stairs. Kahn demonstrates it both with and without a resistance band. Beginners are encouraged to start with bodyweight only before adding resistance.
Overhead Arm Circles
Modern habits like prolonged sitting and looking down at screens can affect posture. Overhead arm circles help increase flexibility, shoulder strength, and alignment, supporting healthier posture.
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Seated Row With Side Taps
This movement engages the arms, legs, and core simultaneously. It supports upper-body strength, helps reset posture, and enhances overall coordination.
Kahn recommends performing 12 repetitions of each exercise, taking a short rest, and repeating the circuit three times.
Benefits of This Chair Workout
Chair workouts like this four-move routine offer an accessible way to build strength, flexibility, and balance, particularly for beginners and older adults.
They also provide a practical option for those who find it difficult to get down onto the floor, allowing continued work on posture, muscle strength, and overall wellbeing, while still delivering that valuable endorphin boost.
Perhaps most importantly, chair exercises help improve functional fitness—the strength needed for everyday tasks such as climbing stairs, getting in and out of bed, or standing up from a chair.
Research supports this approach. A 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health concluded that chair-based exercises are not only effective, but should be promoted as simple and easily implemented activities to help older adults maintain and develop strength.
