You’ll Love These kneeling chair exercises!
Sitting in a kneeling chair can result in restricted leg movements. But you can still make the most out of it by doing upper body exercises.
Since your spine is already in an upright position and your core is engaged, why not throw in some upper body workout? This will help pump blood into your system even if your legs are in a stationary position.
These exercises will also help perk you up and keep you energized throughout the day. And here are our favorite routines.
Standingdesktopper's pick
Seated exercises you can do every day in a kneeling chair
You can tone your biceps and shoulders, stretch your arms, and strengthen your upper back even while sitting. These seated exercises are very simple and easy to squeeze into your daily routine.
You can also opt to make use of lightweight dumbbells to increase the intensity of the workout. You may also use bottled water to add more weight if dumbbells are not available.
Biceps curl
If you’re using dumbbells, hold them at your side with the palms facing each other. Then use your bicep muscles to curl the dumbbells up to your shoulders. Twist your palms as you raise each dumbbell to face your chest. Then lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
And here’s how to do it without the weights, close your hands into a ball and make sure that the elbows are close to your body. Isolate the arms as you use your biceps muscle to curl until your forearms are facing your chest and palms facing each other. Remember to slowly lift and not swing. This will help you keep enough tension in the biceps area even if you’re not using any weights.
Remember to keep the curls slow and steady. The more steady it is, the more your arm muscles will be working.
Overhead triceps extension
Triceps are often referred to as the forgotten muscles of the arms. So if you’ve been doing your biceps workout, always follow it up with a good triceps routine. This will make sure you get well-sculpted guns.
Hold the dumbbells overhead or close grip your hands and maintain tension. Slowly bend your elbows and lower your forearms or the weights behind your head as far as you can.
It’s easy to do the triceps extension in a kneeling chair rather than in an ordinary chair. The movement of the forearms or weights should follow the path of the spine. And since your spine is already in an upright position, it will be more intuitive.
Seated Lateral raise
Place your hands by your side then hold a dumbbell or a water bottle on each hand. Or you may close grip your hand with the palms facing your hips, maintain enough tension as if you’re holding some weight on each hand
Then lift your arms to the sides, forming a letter T. Your arms have to be parallel with the ground. Hold it in this position for a few breaths before lowering the arms back.
Seated Alternating dumbbell overhead press
Extend each arm overhead then hold the dumbbells in an overhand grip, with the palms facing away from your body. Do it without weights by extending the arms overhead with the hand tightly rolled into a ball.
Without moving your left arm, bend the right elbow and lift the dumbbell or your forearm up to chin height. Then extend the right elbow back to the starting position. Make sure to draw the shoulder blades back and down.
Let’s do the same thing with the other side. Without moving the right arm, bend the left elbow and lift the weights or your forearm up to chin height. Then extend the left elbow back to the starting position. Also, draw the shoulder blades back and down.
Seated reverse dumbbell fly
This is a great workout that targets your pectoral or chest muscles. Hold a dumbbell in each hand or close your hands into a ball. Imagine you’re holding some weights in each hand, this will prevent it from swinging.
Make sure that the elbows are slightly bent and the palms are facing each other. Start to rotate the wrists so that the palms begin to face you as you inhale. Then slowly lower the arms to the side while keeping them extended.
As you exhale, slowly bring the dumbells or your forearms back to starting position.
Stretching exercises
Stretching your arms, shoulders, chest, and upper body can also be a good “desk exercise”.” It can improve your flexibility and help you have more range of motion. This can also alleviate any stiffness or soreness that you might be feeling on your upper body, especially if you have been in a kneeling chair longer than you have to.
Stretching can also help improve blood circulation. You may also do this before and after your daily seated exercises, consider it as a warm-up and cool down.
And here are some of our favorite stretching exercises.
- Overhead reach
Extend each arm overhead and reach to the opposite side. Hold that reach for 10-30 seconds and do the same thing with the other arm.
- Triceps stretch
Raise your right arm and bend it so that your left arm can reach your right elbow. Then use the left hand to pull the right elbow towards your head. Hold that stretch for 10-30 seconds before repeating the same step with the left arm.
- Upper body stretch
Clasp your hands together with palms facing the sky. Then push the arms, further stretching them upward. Hold the stretch for 10-30 breaths before repeating the same motion. You can repeat this as much as you’d like.
- Shoulder stretch
Clasp your hands behind your back and push the chest out, keep your chin up. Hold this pose for 10-30 seconds and repeat as needed.
- Forward stretch
Clasp your hands in front of you, parallel to your chest. Then lower your head in line with your arms. Hold this pose for 10-30 breaths and you may repeat it as desired.
You may also like
