What Exercises Can Be Done While Sitting Or Lying Down?

Running, walking and some weight routines like squats and lunges require you to stand on your own two feet. But you can do a variety of exercises while sitting or lying and, in fact, sometimes the change in position brings some benefits. Sitting or lying down during an exercise changes your angle of work during free weight exercises, and can give you tactile feedback to reinforce proper lifting form.

Weight Machines

The bulk of gym weight machines put you in a seated position, using pulleys and cams to reroute the resistance of the weight stack at the appropriate angle. Examples include the chest press, lat pulldowns, leg extension and leg press machines. You may do leg curls from a seated position or the prone position, depending on which sort of machine your gym has.

Lying Free Weight Exercises

The quintessential gym exercise, the bench press, requires you to lie flat on your back. You can do a number of free weight exercises from the same position, including the dumbbell pullover, headbangers or French presses for your triceps, incline, decline and flat presses, and chest flys.

Overhead Free Weight Exercises

You can perform most overhead free weight exercises, such as barbell presses or a dumbbell triceps extension, while seated. In fact, sitting on an upright bench with a padded backrest gives you valuable feedback on body position during these exercises. If your lower back touches the back of the bench, you know you're holding an unnaturally flat body position; if your lower back arches far away from the bench, you're hyperextending your back -- a common mistake during overhead exercises.

Core Workouts and Cardio

Many core-training exercises require you to lie down to get the proper leverage. Examples include stomach crunches, reverse crunches, Supermans and double-leg raises.

Although most cardio machines require you to stand upright, a few do offer you the option working out while seated. These include exercise bikes, upper body ergometers, rowers, and mini steppers/mini ellipticals/mini bikes that you can place beneath your desk and use without leaving your chair.

Stretching

Stretching is often neglected as an important part of a well-rounded fitness plan, but when done regularly it offers benefits such as increased range of motion, reduced soreness and reduced risk of injury. A sitting or lying position is ideal for most exercises because it allows you to relax and hold each stretch for the recommended 15 to 30 seconds.