Whether you are quarantined at home, travelling, or don’t have access to any workout equipment.. if you have chairs, you’re in luck. Chairs just may be the most versatile home training tool. There are numerous uses for chairs other than just sitting on. they can be used to hang from, jump off, step on, pull yourself, and more. You just need to make sure that your chairs are strong and sturdy, and that if you are living with anyone that they are okay with you using chairs to workout with.
I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite exercises that you can perform using chairs. Enjoy!
Here’s a way to hit the muscles of the middle back using just two chairs. This is actually tougher then it seems because you must control the reps with good form without using momentum.
This is one of the best body weight exercises to develop a strong chest and triceps. I’m keeping my hips as close to parallel to the floor as possible which is making it much more difficult. The more you lean forward the more it targets the chest, shoulders, and core. This is also a great way to progress into more advanced calisthenics exercises like the planche.
Here’s an advanced pushup variation that requires a great deal of strength and coordination but will take your overall pushing strength to the next level. The elevation to the hands allows the chest to be lowered beneath the level of your hands. The added range of motion will cause a greater challenge for the chest, triceps, and shoulders. The elevation to the feet will engage the core more in order to keep your body straight.
Here’s a great step-up variation that will improve single leg strength and stability, fire up the abductors and adductors, increase hip mobility, and improve coordination over many planes of motion. This is great for everyone especially athletes who have to kick, sprint, accelerate, decelerate, and change directions.
Being in a seated position removes the counter movement that normally happens in a jump when you descend and load up. This will remove the stretch reflex and exclusively train the concentric muscle action in a quick and powerful manner. Placing your hands on your head will remove the arm swing, forcing you to explode through the hips, glutes, and lower body. Removing the counter movement and the arm swing will result in an overall lower jump height while still enabling you to jump with maximum effort making this wonderful for jumping indoors.
In addition to chairs, this variation will require a sturdy broom, mop, or rod. Place it in the middle of two chairs and BOOM, you have a pullup bar. This is great to hit the lats, mid back, biceps, and core.
Here’s a great way to train agility and change of direction in a small space. This will target the quads and muscles of the lower leg and increase overall single leg strength and stability while improving lateral quickness. Have a small object to hop over.. like toilet paper!
A lot harder than it looks. These are a great exercise to hit the core, hip flexors, shoulders, and triceps. The entire body is under tension during the movement. If the flutter is too difficult, then keep the legs still. If that is still too challenging, bend your knees.
Here’s a fun one to give your core a nice challenge. This will improve shoulder strength and stability, core and trunk stability, and endurance. You are forced to prevent extension and rotation of the back which is vital for injury prevention as well as power production. make sure to switch hands!
Speed training in a small space?!?! This is great for improving arm swing speed and explosive knee drive in sprint mechanics. I’m focusing on pushing from the balls of my feet and being quick with the movement.
The lats, mid back, rear delts, and core are all fired up and working to keep your upper body straight. The glutes, hamstrings, and calves are also all working to keep the lower body in line with the upper body while the quads and hip flexors engage during the knee drive. To make this easier you can remove the chair at your feet.
Here’s an advanced side plank variation to strengthen the adductors, abductors, and core along with improving pelvic stability. The adductors and abductors play a key role in stabilizing the hips. If they are weak they will result in a loss of stability in the hip. A loss of stability will lead to a loss of strength. And a loss of strength will lead to a decreased power output and performance. So training these muscles are critical not only for optimal performance but also for injury prevention!
Final Note
Well there you have it. Next time you want to get a workout in and all you have around you are chairs, you now know what to do. The different exercises and variations that you can do with chairs are endless. Remember, as long as your chairs are strong, sturdy, and not belonging to someone who will get upset at you for using them, then you are good to go. Be creative, be safe, and get that training in!
