Get in shape at home with these 5 chair exercises.

Long sessions of remote work at home generate new health risks that you must prevent by interspersing active breaks.

In fact, periodically performing some exercises in the office or in your own home becomes a great antidote to avoid them. Do you want to get in shape and improve your well-being? Keep reading.

5 chair exercises to stretch at home

Before delving into the healthy habits of practicing exercises with your remote work chair, we want to share some important factors you should consider about active breaks. Keep them in mind when designing and implementing your reactivation plan!:

• Adjust breaks and activities to the type of work you do.
• If possible, seek for support of a specialist to ensure that these exercises are the right ones.
• Get used to stretching every so often. Hold the tension for about 20 seconds, until you feel a slight resistance that doesn't reach pain.
• Interleave, approximately, an active break of 10 minutes every hour or hour and a half.
• If you work remotely in front of a computer screen, rest your eyes from time to time with the 20-20-20 rule. Focus on an object located 20 inches away (6 meters) for 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

You don't need a large technical setup to perform physical and mental disconnection exercises during your work. Your chair can be your main ally in this!

Next, we present 5 effective, simple, and valuable alternatives that will make you feel much better while performing your work activity:

Crunches

Move your seat away from the desk enough to maneuver effectively. Then, sit up straight with your arms extended to the edge of the seat. Next, lift your knees towards your chest and then stretch both legs to form a 90º angle with the floor. Finish the movement by bringing them back towards your chest. We recommend doing 3 sets of 12 repetitions each, at a brisk but not too fast pace, timing it well.

Back and arms

One of the most dynamic chair exercises is this one, in which you will primarily work both areas of your body. Stand in front of the chair, with your arms bent resting on the front edge and your feet firmly on the ground. In fact, the central part of your body should be supported by your limbs. From this position, stretch your arms to elevate your core and work them. It is important not to exert force with your legs, so that your back and biceps are the most challenged.

Waist work

Sit on the front edge of your chair and place your hands clasped at the back of your neck. Strive to bring your elbows as far back as possible. Thus, tighten your abdomen, squeeze it hard, and hold the position for 15 or 20 seconds. When finished, return to the center and switch sides. Ideally, do 3 sets and 20 repetitions, 10 to the left and 10 to the right.

Push-up

The name of this exercise should not discourage you from carrying it out. It is ideal for working your legs and arms. Get into a push-up position, but with the palms of your hands resting on the seat and your arms extended. With your feet firmly on the ground, lower your elbows until your chest touches the seat. You can decide how many repetitions to do based on the effort they require, but stay tense for several seconds in each of them.

Pelvic tilt

Reactivating blood circulation and directing it to the lower part of your back is the goal of this simple exercise. Move slightly away from the backrest, keep your back straight, and from this position, perform successive lifts of the pelvis to arch your back. It's a miracle cure against lumbar stiffness! We suggest doing 20 repetitions, for 3 sessions, always at the pace you choose.

These are some useful examples of chair exercises that are recommended. If you include them during your workdays, you will feel better, be able to prevent health risks, and perform better than ever. When are you going to start?

Benefits of stretching with a chair during remote working

In reality, the approach is very simple. Spending many hours a day sitting carries potential dangers to your health and makes it difficult to stay in shape. The risks are primarily related to potential cardiovascular and muscular diseases. Additionally, headaches, lower back pain, cervical pain, and back pain become more frequent.

Finally, the feeling of stress and overwhelm can gradually increase. How can you combat these problems? By interspersing active breaks. You don't need to leave your home and often not even your office! In fact, a good number of activation exercises can be performed from your own chair.