How much of your time do you spend on your screens each day? Sitting at work, whether in a formal office or at home? Even if you’re into two-a-day workouts, you might be inactive for a lot longer each day than you’re moving around.
A huge percentage of the world is living an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. It’s estimated that on average, American adults are inactive approximately 9.5 waking hours per day. For many, a good portion of this time may be spent at work, and a ton of leisure time is also spent watching television or using a computer. (1)
Sedentary lifestyles are associated with a slew of potential health risks, and it’s also hard to make gains when the majority of your time is squirreled away sitting down. (2) Unless of course, you start exercising from your chair. To start fighting back against inactivity, here are the 13 best in-chair exercises for the office or home.
Best In-Chair Exercises
- Resistance Band Pull-Apart
- Lateral Raise
- Single-Arm Overhead Triceps Extension
- Resistance Band Chest Press
- Resistance Band Seated Row
- Seated Pigeon Pose
- Seated Leg Lift
- Bodyweight Leg Extension
- Seated Good Morning
- Seated Calf and Toe Raise
- Chair Dip
- Shoulder Press
- Zottman Curl
Resistance Band Pull-Apart
The resistance band pull-apart is a staple in workout programs, spanning from beginner workouts to the advanced regimens of stage competitors. It has a low barrier to entry, is extremely mobile, and super cost-effective. It’s completely realistic to store a band at the office or around the house — wherever you may be seated for long periods.
[Read More: 5 At-Home Workouts for Strength, Muscle Growth, Power, and More]
The resistance band pull-apart helps to keep your traps, rear deltoids, and rhomboids moving. Your shoulder blades and upper back are often hunched forward when you’re seated for hours at a time. The resistance band pull-apart is a convenient way to start combatting this posture.
How to Do It:
- Hold a light to medium resistance band with an overhand grip set approximately shoulder-width apart.
- Pull the band apart, keeping your arms straight with a minor bend in your elbow.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together to complete each repetition. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat.
Coach’s Tip: If your chairback is restricting your range of motion, try hinging forward slightly to avoid any range of motion obstructions.
Sets and Reps: For a quick warm-up or burst of blood flow, perform two to three sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.
Lateral Raise
Your shoulders are excellent targets for in-chair exercises. The lateral raise is a fantastic option, needing next to no equipment, set-up, or even space to perform. The chair itself may improve your stability, making it easier to train your shoulders as hard as you want.
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Hitting a high repetition set of either dumbbell or resistance band lateral raises works wonders for keeping the blood flow moving. Either choice is compact, reasonably inexpensive, and certainly storable around the office.
How to Do It:
- Sit at the edge of your chair, assuming a slight hinge and bracing your core.
- Squeeze the dumbbells tight in your hands with your palms facing one another on either side of your thighs.
- Alternatively, thread a light resistance band under your feet to hold it against the floor. Grip it in each hand in the same way as the dumbbells.
- Raise your arms to either side of your body, aiming to bring each side to about parallel to the floor.
Coach’s Tip: For an even more focused middle delt burn, tilt your hands slightly inwards with your palms subtly facing your body.
Sets and Reps: To catch a great shoulder pump, perform two to three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions.
Single-Arm Overhead Triceps Extension
Your triceps are a bit more tricky to hit from a seated position, particularly when at the office or a home workstation. Similar to a lateral raise, however, a resistance band or small dumbbell is quite effective. Performing a single-arm overhead triceps extension helps fill in your arms while you’re still taking a seat.
Your triceps are the primary target here, but the overhead position is also quite beneficial. You’ll log some time at the arm farm while maintaining (or developing) important overhead mobility and stability as well. Particularly if an office job or other circumstance keeps you seated more often than not, the single-arm overhead triceps extension is clutch.
How to Do It:
- Grab a dumbbell or light resistance band and hold it in one hand, anchoring the band under the chair or your feet as necessary.
- Bring the weight up alongside your head. Your hand should be upside down and facing your body. Your arm should be making a triangle from hand to elbow to shoulder.
- Extend your arm straight above your head, flexing your triceps to lock out your elbow.
Coach’s Tip: Perform either variation of triceps extensions at an angle that your shoulder mobility can support. Feel free to lean a bit to account for your shoulder capability.
Sets and Reps: To build some in-chair triceps, perform two to three sets of 10 to 12 reps. Be sure to squeeze your lockout for a solid second.
Resistance Band Chest Press
Once again, a resistance band is your best friend for seated upper-body exercises. A resistance band chest press helps you hit your pecs, triceps, and anterior delts. Although you may be used to a bench press at the gym, it’s easy to emulate a similar action from your chair.
[Read More: Build a Titanic Torso with These Bodybuilding Chest & Back Workouts]
The resistance band can build some serious metabolic stress and a huge pump. A medium to high repetition set of resistance band chest pressing should leave you entering your next meeting with stretched sleeves and a massive chest.
How to Do It:
- Hold a resistance band in both hands, wrapping it around your back and securing it around armpit height.
- Start by tucking your shoulders back and down and maintaining locked-out elbows.
- Press the band ahead of your body, fully protracting your shoulder blades on each repetition.
- Control your eccentric portion, aiming for a huge stretch across your chest as you descend back to the starting position.
Coach’s Tip: Try performing the resistance band chest press from various angles to hit each muscle with a bit more oomph.
Sets and Reps: To build a massive set of pressing muscles, perform two to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions. For the best results, use a medium band and a tempo of 3-1-1-1 (three-second eccentric, one-second pause, one-second concentric, and one-second between each repetition).
Resistance Band Seated Row
Training your back might seem a bit tricky from a chair, but if you have a resistance band, you’re in business. Finding a stable anchor point around the office or your home may not be too difficult. Simply wrap the band around the anchor point and viola: seated rows.
Depending on your arm path, you’ll get a ton of gains across many back muscle groups. From your lats to the rhomboids, traps, and even rear-delts, fret not about your back gains.
How to Do It:
- Take a seat on the edge of the chair to allow full range of motion of your arms.
- Wrap your band around a nearby anchor point, rolling or moving your chair a moderate distance away to build band resistance.
- With a neutral grip, squeeze the band in your hands and draw your arms back from fully locked out to fully bent.
- Squeeze your back muscles for a solid second before slowly returning to the starting position.
Coach’s Tip: Adjust your arm path to better emphasize each muscle group of the back.
Sets and Reps: To build your back muscles, perform two to four sets of eight 12 reps. To ensure a full range of motion, hold a strong contraction at the end of each repetition for a solid second.
Seated Pigeon Pose
Although exercising from your chair may focus primarily on building muscle, maintaining your mobility and staying loose is also very important. Long periods of sitting are common culprits for overall lower body tightness or discomfort. Combat this by tossing in some intentional stretching.
The seated pigeon pose is the same move you’d perform at the gym or home. From the convenience of your own chair, maintain your hip mobility using nothing but your own body.
How to Do It:
- Sit towards the edge of your chair, assuming a tall posture with your feet flat on the floor.
- Figure four one leg over the other, resting your ankle on the opposite leg’s knee.
- Maintain your tall posture and start hinging forward until you feel a light stretch in the hip performing the figure four.
- Hold this stretch for equal time on both legs.
Coach’s Tip: Place your ankle on the opposite side leg in any position that accommodates your current mobility. This may be anywhere from mid-thigh to knee level to feel an appropriate stretch.
Sets and Reps: For some quick release or to train your hip mobility, perform two to three rounds of 30 seconds of stretching per leg.
Seated Leg Lift
Another way to help relax your backside is by reciprocal inhibition. Reciprocal inhibition is a technique that helps you calm certain muscles because their antagonist (opposite or opposing muscle) is contracting. The hip flexors and hip extensions (quadriceps and glutes) make a great target.
By performing a seated leg lift, you should experience some more glute relaxation after a long day in the old office chair. Squeezing your hip flexors as hard as possible may be counterintuitive for relaxation, but your glutes and lower back may well thank you.
How to Do It:
- Sit toward the edge of your chair, assume a tall posture, and grab each armrest for support.
- Lock out your knees and maintain this straight-leg position.
- Flex your hip flexors as hard as possible to raise your legs as far as they go (this is likely only a few inches).
- Hold this tension for a solid second or two before relaxing. Repeat for repetitions.
Coach’s Tip: Although it’s only your body weight, be sure to contract your hip flexors hard on each repetition for the best results.
Sets and Reps: To help trigger some reciprocal inhibition to relax your backside, perform two sets of 10 repetitions with a two-second count each time.
Bodyweight Leg Extension
Another simple exercise you can perform from the comfort of your chair is the bodyweight leg extension. All you need to do is mimic the leg exercise of the same name that you’d find in the gym and you’re all set. However, without loading, you’re in for a potentially intense burn from all the repetitions.
[Read More: The 6 Best Leg Extension Machines]
Not only do you have the opportunity to build some quads, but you’ll also receive a nice touch of reciprocal inhibition for the hamstrings you’ve been sitting on all day. This double whammy of benefits is all the reasoning you’ll need for some super convenient bodyweight leg extensions.
How to Do It:
- Sit at the back of the chair, using the back and armrests as support for your posture.
- Brace your core and fully extend your knees, locking out hard.
- Hold this contraction and squeeze as hard as possible for two seconds.
- Return to the starting position, controlling your eccentric portion.
Coach’s Tip: If your body doesn’t quite fit your chair properly, try placing a few books, a bag, or a pillow at the small of your back to better align your legs.
Sets and Reps: For a brutal leg burn, perform two to three sets of eight to 10 repetitions with a two-count squeeze each time.
Seated Good Morning
Targeting the backside of your body may seem a bit tricky, especially when you’re seated in a chair. But fear not, this move has you covered. The seated good morning exercise is a posterior chain training tool similar to its more common standing variation. Instead of placing a bar on your back, lean into your seated good morning.
With just body weight in play, aim to feel a great stretch across your hips, hamstrings, and potentially even your calves. Perform enough high-quality repetitions and you’ll be able to achieve some great mobility and muscle-building stimulus. To properly execute the seated good morning, you’ll need some coordination of your core muscles as well.
How to Do It:
- Sit at the edge of the chair with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart and your legs making a 90-degree angle at your knees.
- Assume a tall posture with your core braced and your hips tight.
- Slowly hinge forward until you feel a moderate stretch across your glutes and hamstrings.
- Draw yourself back to the starting position by contracting your glutes and hamstrings. Perform for repetitions.
Coach’s Tip: Depending on your body size, place your feet slightly wider apart with your toes pointed out to about 45 degrees. This helps accommodate longer limbs and a larger torso.
Sets and Reps: To build your mobility and posterior chain, perform two to three sets of eight to 10 repetitions with a pause in the stretched position.
Seated Calf and Toe Raises
Your calves are an extremely important piece to consider while putting together an in-chair exercise program. Sitting for long periods and neglecting your calves is a one-way ticket to potential cramps and poor circulation.
[Read More: The 5 Best Quad Workouts for Forging Bigger and More Explosive Legs]
Seated calf raises and toe raises come together as a perfect duo to build some highly sought-after muscle, but also keep you from seizing up. All you’ll need here is a few minutes — no weight is required.
How to Do It:
- Take a seat at the edge of the chair.
- Place your legs ahead of your body with your shins making an approximate 90-degree angle from your knees to the floor.
- Flex your calves by pushing through your toes. Hold the full contraction for a solid second.
- Straighten your legs to an approximate 45-degree shin angle. Rest on your heels as a pivot point.
- Perform a superset, matching your calf raise repetitions with toe raises by drawing your feet upward toward your shins.
Coach’s Tip: To guarantee the best quality set, perform the opposite action between each repetition to ensure a full range of motion. Completely relax your calf between each calf raise by flexing your ankle and vice versa.
Sets and Reps: To build major office calves, perform two to three sets of 15 to 20 repetitions of each exercise. Squeeze each repetition for a solid second or two.
Chair Dip
The dip is a jack-of-all-trades of your bodyweight upper body exercises. It challenges your chest, triceps, and deltoids while also training shoulder mobility and stability. While the gym might offer you the parallel bar version, your office has the chair dip variation.
Using just bodyweight alone, you’ll get a great upper body workout. Be sure you account for your current level of mobility when you choose your range of motion. Just make sure you have a sturdy chair for this one.
How to Do It:
- Sit toward the edge of a stable seat with its back firmly against a wall.
- Place your hands flat on the chair on either side of your body. Support yourself on the heel of your hands.
- With straight legs, slide forward to hover your hips above the ground just off of the chair.
- Bend your elbows and slowly lower yourself to the bottom of the repetition. Stop once you’ve reached a comfortable stretch.
- Maintain a braced core, flex your chest, triceps, and delts, and push yourself back up to the starting position.
Coach’s Tip: Keep your shoulders tucked back and down during the chair dip, and only lower yourself through pain-free ranges of motion.
Sets and Reps: To smoke your upper body, perform two to three sets of eight to 10 repetitions with a tempo of 3-1-1-1 (three-second eccentric, one-second pause, one-second concentric, and one-second pause between each repetition).
Shoulder Press
Once again, your shoulders are a prime target for in-chair training. A simple set of dumbbells perfectly emulates the gym, transforming your office chair into a weight bench for a seated dumbbell shoulder press.
[Read More: The 15 Best Shoulder Exercises for Building Muscle]
While many in-chair exercises give options for maintaining muscle, building stability and mobility, and increasing strength, the shoulder press is a straightforward workhorse. Build your shoulder strength and muscle from the convenience of your workstation. This one is a gem.
How to Do It:
- Sit tall at the back of the chair, using the backrest to support your posture. Keep your feet flat on the floor with a braced core.
- Bring the dumbbells into position alongside your head at approximately shoulder height.
- Hold the dumbbells with a neutral grip or with your palms facing slightly forward.
- Press the dumbbells overhead, lowering them under control back to the starting position. Perform for repetitions.
Coach’s Tip: If you only have access to light dumbbells or kettlebells, move extra slowly (especially on the lowering portion) to increase the challenge of each set.
Sets and Reps: Perform two to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions with a tempo of 3-1-1-1 (three-second eccentric, one-second pause, one-second concentric, and a one-second pause between each repetition).
Zottman Curl
Training biceps curls from a chair can get a bit tricky depending on your body size and the type of chair, but a Zottman curl does just the trick. The Zottman curl makes even the smallest dumbbells effective but combining many twists and turns in each repetition. Build your biceps, forearms, and even grip with this one movement.
If you’re stuck in a compact work setting, the Zottman curl has you covered. With a commitment to some longer sets, you’ll be building your arms in no time.
How to Do It:
- Sit close to the edge of the chair for the best range of motion.
- Hold dumbbells in each hand alongside your body and keep your arms as relaxed as possible for your starting position.
- Curl the dumbbells by flexing your elbow, keeping your palms facing up. At the top of the range of motion, squeeze the dumbbells and rotate your grip so your palms face down.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position with your palms facing down.
- Reset your hand position to the palms up grip and begin the next repetition.
Coach’s Tip: Keep your form extremely strict for the best results for all the smaller muscles — no momentum allowed.
Sets and Reps: To build muscle, grip, and endurance, perform two to three sets of 12 to 15 repetitions of your Zottman curl.
In-Chair Exercise Warm-Up
A proper warm-up is essential to get the most out of your workouts — yes, even when you’re sitting in a chair. Using a solid set or two to get the blood flowing and lock in your positioning ensures your training is as beneficial as possible.
[Read More: The 16 Best Pre-Workout Supplements]
Where applicable, use a lighter load than your working sets. For example:
- Band Pull-Apart: 1 x 15 paused repetitions
- Band Chest Press: 1 x 12 repetitions, 3-1-1-1 tempo
- Seated Leg Extension: 1 x 10*
- Shoulder Press: 1 x 12 repetitions, 3-1-1-1 tempo
How To Train In-Chair Exercises
Using in-chair exercises throughout your day is a solid way to keep moving, particularly when your job or lifestyle keeps you stationary more than you’d like. Perform in-chair exercises on their own or in combination with a larger training program in the gym or at home.
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If you’re training primarily in-chair exercises on your own, higher workout frequency is your friend. Consider creating a full-body chair workout split. If you integrate in-chair exercises into a broader gym or home-based workout program, treat them as a lighter skill-based option or an early warm-up tool.
In-Chair Exercise Selection
In-chair exercises span a large range of training options, from building muscle to staying limber. Put together the best possible combinations based on your lifestyle, work requirements, and training goals.
Higher repetition work with band pull-aparts or calf and toe raises are great options for many athletes. The same goes for the seated pigeon pose or leg raises. Consider adding these to your program to prevent any tightness or restrictions from slowly forming as you sit all day.
In-Chair Sets and Reps
Training from your chair provides a boost to your overall activity level and is easily tailored to your fitness goals.
- For Warming Up: Perform one to two sets of six to 12 reps, depending on the exercise and whether you’re warming up for a bigger workout or simply doing ramp-up sets.
- For Muscle Growth: To build muscle, perform two to four sets of eight to 15 repetitions with moderate rest periods (approximately 60 to 90 seconds).
- For Endurance: Perform two to five sets of 15 to 20 repetitions with shorter rest periods (approximately 30 to 45 seconds).
Depending on the free weights you have access to, you might train on the higher or lower end of the rep spectrum accordingly. If you’re still struggling to get the proper level of stimulation, use tempo to make even light or no weights challenging.
In-Chair Exercise Training Tips
There are a few key considerations when you’re exercising in a chair. You may not have a ton of external weights to play with, so you’ll want to go for slow, steady repetitions. Similarly, you might need to adjust your range of motion and find ways to stay stable.
Go for Reps
Repetitions and load are normally inverted; the heavier you go, the fewer repetitions you need to perform, and vice versa. If you’ll be training from a chair in the office, your maximal loading is likely lower than if you had a full array of barbells and weight plates.
With that in mind, aiming for higher repetitions is a perfect solution. Get a ton of highly stimulating training by going for a lot of reps and even employing tempo training to provide the intensity that larger loads normally would provide.
Stay Anchored
A big part of training effectively from your chair is anchoring yourself in place for each exercise. Be it with a band, dumbbell, or even your body weight, you need your target muscle to contract without you moving around too much. Gripping the armrests, pressing into the backrest, or using your free arm during unilateral exercises are all great options to help stay stable.
Adapt Range of Motion
Unlike standing exercises, many in-chair workouts require you to adapt your range of motion to perform them. This doesn’t mean the exercises are dramatically less effective, but it does mean you need to be more strict with things such as technique and tempo control.
If the chair is in your way a little bit, you don’t need to skip the exercise entirely. Just keep your muscles under consistent tension and be precise so that any changes in the range of motion are offset by high-quality tension.
Benefits of In-Chair Exercises
Logging some exercise time from the comfort of your chair is a fantastic way to stay on top of your gains. Many options are available to help you stay mobile, build muscle and strength, and even improve productivity.
Mobility
Mobility issues are a common complaint from a sedentary lifestyle. If you’re working from home, the office, or just spending a ton of time in a chair, you may experience similar symptoms. Tight hips, shoulders, or back muscles are very distracting, but in-chair exercises help offset them without needing anything other than what’s readily available to you.
Muscle and Strength
Training is about a laundry list of potential goals and benefits, but building strength and muscle tops almost everyone’s list. Without a full gym or time to sneak away for a more complete workout, in-chair exercise offers the opportunity to build and maintain your muscle mass and strength.
Work Focus
Physical activity is a great way to improve your productivity throughout a long day. Either at work or at home, pocketing in a few of your favorite in-chair exercises offers the potential to boost your work focus while maintaining your fitness. (3)
The key is to choose exercises that particularly match your goals and motivation. Do the things you enjoy and might just notice a bump in your work performance.
Anatomy of In-Chair Exercises
In-chair exercising may force you to get a bit creative or use training tools you might not normally use in the gym, but you’ll also hit a wide variety of muscles. Your shoulders, chest, arms, legs, and back are all huge targets here.
- Shoulders: Spending a lot of time in a chair may also mean a lot of screen time or being hunched over. Start countering this classic posture by adding a smattering of in-chair exercises such as band pull-aparts, lateral raises, and shoulder presses.
- Chest: Band chest presses and chair dips hit your chest from multiple angles and also help maintain your mobility and stability.
- Arms: From single-arm overhead triceps extensions to chair dips and resistance band chest presses, your triceps are going to be heavily worked. Zottman curls and resistance band rows are also effective tools for your biceps.
- Legs: Maximum voluntary contractions from body weight leg extensions and seated good mornings should cover a huge amount of real estate here in terms of strength-building.
- Back: Attacking your back muscles from your chair may seem a bit challenging, but a good resistance band will go a long way. Resistance band seated rows performed with multiple arm angles and grip orientations allow you to hit the traps, lats, rhomboids, and even rear delts.
More Training Content
If you’re sitting for long hours and are itching to move more during the day, grab a band, or some light dumbbells, or just show up in your chair as you are. Store them near your home or office workstation.
These in-chair exercises can complement your strength training, build muscle, improve mobility, preserve muscle mass, and even boost work productivity. It may look different than what you’re used to, but in-chair exercises can give you just the movement snacks you need during the day.
- 5-Minute Mobility: This Stretching Routine Is Perfect When You’re Low On Time
- The Best 15-Minute Workouts for Strength, Conditioning, and More
- Short on Time? Try These Bodybuilding Workout Tips
References
- Matthews, C. E., Carlson, S. A., Saint-Maurice, P. F., Patel, S., Salerno, E. A., Loftfield, E., Troiano, R. P., Fulton, J. E., Sampson, J. N., Tribby, C., Keadle, S. K., & Berrigan, D. (2021). Sedentary Behavior in U.S. Adults: Fall 2019. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 53(12), 2512–2519.
- Booth, F. W., Roberts, C. K., & Laye, M. J. (2012). Lack of exercise is a major cause of chronic diseases. Comprehensive Physiology, 2(2), 1143–1211.
- Ten Brummelhuis, L. L., Calderwood, C., Rosen, C. C., & Gabriel, A. S. (2022). Is physical activity before the end of the workday a drain or a gain? Daily implications on work focus in regular exercisers. The Journal of applied psychology, 107(10), 1864–1877.
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