Becoming fit and strong with chair exercises (and coffee)

Our activities coordinator Jayne holds sessions of HowFit chair exercises twice a week. This exercise programme was launched by Age UK in Northumberland in 2021 and Jayne has continued the seated exercises, not only because they are great fun but because they also help with residents’ mobility and strength. Clare said “I think the seated to standing exercise the most difficult, but it’s important to try to do it, to make sure muscles stay strong”. Margaret said that “my favourite was the exercise where we reach up to the ceiling as if we’re grabbing stars”. Exercise offers numerous benefits for our residents: as well as improving strength and flexibility it also improves everyone’s mood – after each class the room is full of smiling faces, especially as we like to recover with coffee and home baked biscuits 😊