Exercising your abdominals strengthens your core muscles. Your core is what stabilizes your body so you can stand up straight, move with balance and do activities like run and play sports. With a few basic tools, you can strengthen your ab muscles in a chair. You can work the oblique muscles on the sides of your stomach and the rectus abdominis that covers the front of your stomach.
Seated Barbell Oblique Twists
The seated barbell oblique twists works your abdominals through torso rotation. When you twist your upper body from the waist, you use your oblique muscles to twist and your abs to stabilize your trunk. Sitting in a chair makes it easier to stabilize your body, but your core will still work to rotate your spine. To begin, sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Bend your knees to right angles and position your feet hip-width apart. Hold a barbell across your shoulders, with your elbows bent at your sides and your palms facing forward. Squeeze your abs and sit up straight. Then, slowly twist from right to left and keep your buttocks glued to the chair.
Seated Dumbbell Side Bend
The dumbbell side bend exercise is typically performed standing up, but it can be done seated in a chair without arms or on a stability ball. This exercise works your core through lateral flexion of the spine. There is no rotation in this exercise, so keep your shoulders and hips facing forward throughout the exercise. To perform a seated dumbbell side bend, sit a chair with your feet flat on the floor and hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms straight at your sides. Rotate your palms to face the sides of the chair. Then, bend to the right and reach your right hand toward the floor. Next, sit up straight. Bend to the left.
Seated Resistance Band Crunch
A crunch exercise targets your rectus abdominis muscle. By contracting your abs and bending forward from a seated position, you flex your spine, which is another body movement that strengthens your core. A resistance band gives your abs something to work against to make this exercise difficult. To do a seated resistance band crunch, sit on the edge of a chair and wrap a band around the back of the chair. Hold the ends of the band so it is taut, with your elbows bent at your sides and your palms facing each other. Then, bend forward about 45 degrees and keep your arms glued to your sides so your abs pull the band forward too. Sit back up straight to complete a seated crunch.
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