5 Chair exercises for your abs, arms, back and butt
updated the 6 October 2015 à 22:52
Always on the train, at work and little time (or more money) to get your dream body? Here are some pro tips to tone without breaking the bank.
We don’t always have the courage to escape the office for the gym, or are on a budget and can’t afford the sophisticated equipment to keep at home. But what if you could sweat it out with just a seat or a wall within reach? Based on this observation, doctor, yoga teacher and creator of postural respiratory approach workshops, Dr. Bernadette de Gasquet* has devised a series of exercises with just the good old chair. A great idea, since exercise always has us making up excuses for it.
WHILE SITTING IN YOUR CHAIR
“Between the transport, meals and work, we spend more and more time sitting. Because of that, we tend to form a habit of slouching,” she notes. The result: the abdominals are strained, we breathe and digest food poorly because the diaphragm, stomach and intestines are sandwiching each other. As we tend to cross our legs, venous return and blood circulation are also less efficient; it risks an asymmetry in the hips and tension in the neck and upper back. But properly used, a chair is a great tool to build muscles, stretch and tone from head to toe. “Go on taking the right sitting position: you have to sit and mimic ‘the Egyptian’, which is to neither bend nor slouch, legs straight and squared, elbows or forearms resting on the thighs or the table. Also stop yourself from slouching at all times. Vary the exercises – abs, glutes, preventing sores (sore neck, heavy legs etc.) – so you can alternate according to what you want to relieve for the day.”
Here are five easy ones to remember. They are not meant to hurt whether you sit or not, as these exercises work without arching and helps to encourage growth and lengthening of the spine. All postures and muscle contractions are a part of the perineum which expands prior to contractions, that attracts and lightens the upper body.
*Gym with a chair: A complete and illustrated guide and Abs: Stop the massacre! by Dr Bernadette de Gasquet (Marabout).
Isabelle Soing and Nur Syazana H
