Horizontal Chair Exercises

Even if you can’t make it to the gym, there’s no excuse for not working out, particularly when you have so many potential exercise tools sitting around your home. You can do a variety of exercises on chairs, for example. Performing chair exercises while all or part of your body is horizontal can help you strengthen diverse muscles groups, including the muscles of your arms, core and legs. Warm up for five to 10 minutes -- simulate jumping jacks while sitting in your chair, for example -- to prepare your muscles for a chair-based workout.

  1. Raise Your Legs

    • Exercises in which you extend your legs from a sitting position target the quadriceps muscle group in the front of each thigh. To perform the exercise at home, sit in a chair while facing another chair a bit less than a leg’s length away. Sit up straight and then set your right heel on the opposite chair, with your leg straight and parallel with the floor. Raise the leg about 6 to 12 inches above the chair, keeping it straight. Maintain the position for 10 seconds and then lower your heel to the chair to complete one repetition. Perform 10 reps and then repeat the exercise with your left leg.

    Stay in Line

    • Use a chair with no arms to target your lower back with an exercise resembling the plank. Position yourself face down with your abs and hips on top of the chair. Simultaneously lift your head and shoulders while extending your legs so your entire body is parallel with the floor. Remain horizontal for three seconds and then return to the starting position. Perform five to 10 reps.

    Target Your Triceps

    • Work the triceps muscles in your upper arms, along with the muscles of your chest, shoulders and upper back, by performing chair dips. Set two chairs facing each other, sit in one and extend your legs so your heels rest on the second chair. Keep your legs straight throughout the exercise. Place your palms next to you on the chair’s front edge and scoot forward so your butt is in the air. This is the starting position. Slowly lower your torso until your upper arms are parallel with the floor and then push yourself up to the starting position. Perform eight to 12 reps.

    Perform Chair Pushups

    • You’ll typically perform pushups from a horizontal position on the floor, but you can use chairs to increase or decrease the exercise’s intensity. Do pushups from a roughly horizontal position with your hands on a chair to lower the amount of body weight you lift. Conversely, elevate your feet on a chair to increase the load and make the exercise more intense. For a different type of challenge, use three chairs, placing your hands on two chairs and your feet on the third. Perform an otherwise-standard pushup from this horizontal position, but let your chest dip a bit below the chairs’ surfaces to increase the exercise’s range of motion. Do 10 to 15 reps of the horizontal pushup, which strengthens the muscles of your chest, shoulders and upper arms.