In-Chair Exercises

If your exercise routine amounts to slouching on the couch with a bag of chips, it may be time to rev up your heart rate and get in shape with simple in-chair exercises. As its name implies, in-chair exercise programs are workouts executed while sitting in a chair. Loose fitting clothes, a sturdy chair and perhaps light dumbbells set the stage for a low-impact program that can improve your energy and fitness levels.

Who Should Sit to Get Fit?

In-chair exercise programs are designed for everyone, especially for people who have little time for exercise or lack experience. If you work at a desk or travel frequently, in-chair exercise not only keeps you in shape, but can relieve boredom and tension caused by sitting. People with medical issues may find in-chair programs better suited to physical limitations. The uncoordinated or elderly who have problems with balance or stiff joints can benefit from low-impact chair exercises as well. Children, too, who have coordination and balance issues can execute easy-to-follow chair exercises with certainty.

Bench to Beach Chair Benefits

For those with a sedentary lifestyle, diving into a traditional exercise program might feel daunting and overly strenuous. Charlene Torkelson, dance instructor and author of "Get Fit While You Sit," advises, "The most important element of any exercise is consistency." Unfortunately, discouragement can take place if your workouts are demanding and laborious, causing you to quit before you even get started. You can perform chair exercises anywhere -- in the car, on a plane, at work or watching television. They can improve bone and muscle strength, increase blood circulation and cognitive skills, reduce pain and fatigue and renew vitality. Chair exercises not only promote physical and emotional health, but they are fun, easy and inexpensive.

Pull Up a Chair

Selecting a good, sturdy chair can make all the difference. As Dr. Karl Knopf, president of the Fitness Educators of Older Adults Association and author of "Stretching for 50+," says, "The chair provides support in balance-challenging situations." To that end, choose a chair that neither rocks, rolls nor folds. Additionally, the ideal chair should have no arms that might impede exercise movements. While any chair is better than none, an armless, solid wooden chair often yields the best results.

Exercise Examples to Get You Started

Before beginning any exercise program, perform stretching movements to warm up. Start with easy leg kicks to stretch your hamstrings and lower back, and then add arm circles. First, try the uncomplicated brake pedal exercise to strengthen your legs and ankles. Simply mimic the movements you make when you press the brake pedal of your car. The golf exercise works the same way, as does the basketball free throw -- all from the comfort of your chair. As you feel able, progress to more difficult exercises. The website LovetoKnow.com recommends a low-impact leg cross exercise in which you cross and uncross your legs in the air. Then, to increase your heart rate and strengthen your muscles, try exercises that mimic soccer, swimming, boxing and bicycling movements.