Exercise Your Abs While Sitting

Busy schedules, bad weather and family commitments can keep you far away from the doctor recommended 30 minutes of exercise 5 times per week. However, it is important to strengthen your abdominal muscles to help your posture and protect your back from injury. If you find yourself getting sore from a day at the office or getting repetitive motion aches, it is then a good idea to try to fit in exercise while you are at your desk, sitting down to watch a television program or during breaks while you are cooking. Most of these exercises are isometric or dynamic where you merely use your body's own weight and movement to strengthen your muscles and stretch. All you need is a few minutes and a stable chair. Read more to find out how to exercise your abs while sitting.

Steps

Abdominal circles

  1. Sit in a chair with good posture. Pretend there is a band that stretches from the bottom or your spine to the top of your head. Place your feet on the ground, hip-width apart, directly in front of you.
    • This exercise is ideal for meetings, since you barely move at all. The motion is guided by your own mental images and slow contraction of muscles. You may be able to hide your subtle movements behind a desk or folder.
  2. Contract your lower abdominal (ab) muscles, hold for 3 seconds, then contract the ab muscles on your right side. Hold for 3 seconds, then contract your top ab muscles. Hold for 3 seconds and then contract your left ab muscles for 3 seconds.
    • This should feel awkward at the beginning, since it requires a good amount of coordination. Your ability to do the exercise in a smooth manner will increase the more times you do it.
  3. Practice for 60 seconds at a time. Rest for 30 seconds and repeat as many times as you feel you can comfortably do the exercise. During the last set, try to do a quick circular wave around your abdominals, starting from the bottom and working all the way around as fast as possible.
  4. Challenge yourself by forming patterns from left to right, or doing the positions on a clock. For example, if 12 o'clock is your bottom abdominals and 6 o'clock is your top ones, try doing 10 and 2, 9 and 3, 8 and 4 and so on.

Abdominal Reaches

  1. Sit in a chair with your back straight and your legs slanted slightly out to the sides. The further out your legs are, the more stability you will have. Try to place them out from the corners of your chair to start.
    • These next few exercises require you to lift your arms and legs. They may not be appropriate for a corporate work space and should be done at home.
  2. Flex your stomach muscles. Reach both hands up tall and arch your back. Inhale as you reach your hands up.
  3. Exhale and curve your back only slightly into the back of the chair. Bring your arms down and straight in front of you.
  4. Move quickly, taking 1 second for the inhale and 1 second for the exhale. Make sure your abs are contracted throughout the entire time. Repeat for 30 to 60 seconds, rest and then move on to the next exercise.

Oblique Reaches

  1. Keep your legs out in a wide stance. Place your hands behind your head with your elbows parallel to your head. Contract your abs.
  2. Sway to the right side until your right elbow almost touches your right leg. Rise up and sway to the left side until your left elbow touches your left leg. Repeat the motion for 30 to 60 seconds, while inhaling and exhaling at the same pace as the last exercise.
    • Your oblique muscles are the muscles on the side of your stomach. They are often overlooked in an abdominal exercise routine.

Knee Lifts

  1. Keep your wide stance and your hands behind your head to form your neutral position. Contract your abdominals completely. Breathe in.
  2. Exhale as you lift your left knee and twist your right elbow down to meet it halfway. Keep your back straight even as you twist. Inhale as you come up to the neutral position.
  3. Exhale as you lift your right knee and twist your left elbow down to meet it halfway. Inhale as you come up to the neutral position. Repeat for 30 to 60 seconds.
    • Do not do this exercise if you have chronic back problems. It requires a twist, which is helpful for building abdominal muscles, but can compromise existing problems. Always keep your stomach muscles contracted for the full duration of the exercise.

Lower Back Reaches

  1. Keep your wide stance and your hands behind your head. Contract your core muscles completely.
  2. Keep your back straight, bend forward and touch your right elbow to your left knee. Exhale as you lean forward and inhale as you come up.
  3. Repeat with the opposite side and touch your left elbow to your right knee. Repeat for 30 to 60 seconds.

Arm Punches (Shadow boxing)

  1. Sit up straight in your chair with your legs wide. Bring your arms in front of you. Contract your stomach muscles.
  2. Shadow box for 1 minute by punching the air directly in front of each hand. This work out your arms, but to stay stabilized, your abs will be required to work hard the entire time.
    • This is an excellent way to work your whole set of abs, lower back, shoulders and arms and blow off some steam. If you are upset at work, try to find a supply closet where you can sit, contract your stomach and shadow box.

Leg Lifts

  1. Back away from your desk if you are sitting at one. Place your chair at least 1 leg-length away from it. Scoot to the edge of your chair and place your legs at hip-width apart.
  2. Flex your stomach muscles, especially those in your lower abdomen. Lift your right leg 2 inches (5 cm) off the chair and stick it out straight. Hold for 2 seconds.
  3. Lower your foot until you are only a few inches from the floor and hold for 2 more seconds. Return your right leg to hip-width neutral position. Relax your stomach muscles and then flex them again.
  4. Lift your left leg off the chair, stick it out straight for 2 seconds and then lower it for 2 seconds. Repeat 10 to 15 times with each leg.
    • This exercise works your lower abdominals, lower back and transverse abdominus. Ask your doctor if you should do it, if you have chronic back pain.

Tips

  • Take a pilates class or rent a beginner's pilates video. You can often rent them free from the public library. These classes often tell you the names of the abdominal muscles and how to activate them. For example, the transverse abdominus is the muscle that sits under many of your ab muscles and wraps around to your back. It is important to learn how to activate it by raising your ribs and tucking in your pelvis.
  • If you can, do all of these ab exercises five times a day. You may get some soreness at the beginning, but it will prove to strengthen them substantially if you work them for at least 5 minutes in a row.
  • Sitting on an exercise ball while at work to exercise your abs is somewhat controversial. While sitting straight and activating your core muscles will help you, many people slouch or sit too long on the ball at one time, causing muscle exhaustion and pain. Start by sitting on the ball for just 10 minutes and working for an hour. Switch between a regular ergonomically correct chair and an exercise ball throughout the day.

Warnings

  • Beware if you are already experiencing severe lower back pain. You should first consult a physician. In most cases, physical therapy similar to these exercises will be prescribed, but your physical therapist may want to specialize your sitting workout to address your specific problem.

Things You'll Need

  • Chair

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Sources and Citations

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