How to build abs muscles while sitting

Content

Steps
Method 1 of 7: Abdominal Circles
Method 2 of 7: Bending the Body
Method 3 of 7: Oblique Body Curls
Method 4 of 7: Knee Raises
Method 5 of 7: Tilting the Body
Method 6 of 7: Air Strikes (Shadow Boxing)
Method 7 of 7: Leg Raises
Tips
Warnings
What do you need

A busy schedule, bad weather, and family commitments can take you far away from the doctor's recommended 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. However, to maintain your posture and also to avoid back injuries, it is very important to regularly work on strengthening your abdominal muscles. If, after spending day after day in the office, you begin to experience pain or repetitive discomfort when moving, you should definitely do the exercises in a sitting position - when you are sitting at a table, watching TV, or during breaks between cooking. Most of these exercises are isometric or dynamic, which means that when you perform them, you use only your body weight and special movements, whereby muscle strengthening and stretching are improved. All you need is a few minutes and a steady chair. Read on to learn how to do abdominal exercises while sitting.

Steps

Method 1 of 7: Abdominal Circles

1 Sit in a chair in the correct posture. Imagine stretching an elastic band from the bottom of your spine to the top of your head. Place your feet on the floor, hip-width apart, in front of you.
- This exercise is ideal for meetings because you barely move while doing it. The movement is guided by your imagination and the slow contraction of the muscles - the external manifestations of this are so subtle that they can be hidden behind a table or folder.
2 Tighten your lower abdominal muscles (abs), hold for 3 seconds, then tighten your right abs. Hold for 3 seconds, then tighten the upper part of the press. Hold for 3 seconds, then tense the left side of the press, also for 3 seconds.
- At first, you will feel awkward - this exercise requires good coordination. Each time the exercise will come out for you more and more plastic and smoother.
3 Train for 60 seconds at a time. Rest for 30 seconds and do as many reps as you feel comfortable. On the last set, try doing quick, circular waves all over your abs, starting from your lower abdomen and launching the wave in a circle as quickly as possible.
4 Test your dexterity by forming chains of movements from left to right or taking positions on the clock. For example, if the lower part of the press is 12 o'clock, then the upper part is 6 o'clock. Try to take a point at 10 o'clock, 2 and 9 o'clock, and then at 3, 8 and 4 o'clock, and so on.

Method 2 of 7: Bending the Body

1 Sit on a chair, straighten your back and put your legs slightly out to the sides. The further you put them, the more resilience you will have. Start by placing them in the corners of your chair.
- For the next few exercises, you will need to raise your arms and legs. It may be inappropriate to do them in the workplace, so it is best to leave them for study at home.
2 Tighten your abdominal muscles. Raise both arms up and arch your back. Raising your arms up, inhale.
3 Exhale and bend your back, only lightly touching the back of the chair. Bring your arms down straight in front of you.
4 Perform movements quickly - 1 second for inhalation, 1 second for exhalation. Keep your abs tense throughout the exercise. Repeat for 30-60 seconds, rest and move on to the next exercise.

Method 3 of 7: Oblique Body Curls

1 Place your feet in a wide position. Place your hands behind your head, elbows parallel to your head. Tighten your abs.
2 Move to the right so that your right elbow almost touches your right leg. Straighten up and lean to the left so that your left elbow almost touches your left leg. Repeat the movement for 30-60 seconds, inhaling and exhaling at the same moments as in the previous exercise.
- The obliques are the muscles on the sides of the abdomen. They are often overlooked in abdominal training.

Method 4 of 7: Knee Raises

1 Put your legs in a wide position, put your hands behind your head - this will be the starting position. Tighten your abs completely. Breathe in.
2 As you exhale, lift your left knee, twist your core, and twist your right elbow towards the knee. Keep your back straight even when turning. Returning to the starting position, inhale.
3 Exhaling, lift your right knee and turn your left elbow towards it. Inhale while returning to the starting position. Repeat for 30-60 seconds.
- Do not do this exercise if you have chronic back problems. When doing it, twisting is required, which is useful for strengthening the abdominal muscles, but can aggravate existing problems. Always keep your abdominal muscles tense throughout the exercise.

Method 5 of 7: Tilting the Body

1 Place your feet in a wide position with your hands behind your head. Fully tense your core muscles, paying particular attention to those responsible for maintaining your posture.
2 Keep your back straight, lean forward and touch your right elbow to your left knee. Leaning forward, exhale; straightening - take a breath.
3 Repeat with the opposite side and touch your left elbow to your right knee. Repeat the exercise for 30-60 seconds.

Method 6 of 7: Air Strikes (Shadow Boxing)

1 Sit on a chair, straighten, put your legs in a wide position. Place your hands in front of you. Tighten your abdominal muscles.
2 Box in the air for about 1 minute, striking straight in front of you. This is essentially an exercise for the arms, but to keep yourself in a stable position, you need to keep your abdominal muscles in constant tension.
- This exercise perfectly trains all the muscles of the abdominal region, lower back, shoulders, arms, and is also a great way to release steam. If something pisses you off at work, find a pantry to sit down, tighten your stomach, and shade.

Method 7 of 7: Leg Raises

1 If you are sitting at a table, move away from it. Place the chair at least leg length apart. Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet hip-width apart.
2 Tighten your abdominal muscles, especially your lower abs. Raise your right leg 5 cm from the chair and straighten it. Hold it in this position for 2 seconds.
3 Lower your foot until 5-7 cm remains on the floor, fix in this position for 2 seconds. Return your right leg to its original hip-width position. Relax your abdominal muscles, and tense again.
4 Raise your left leg above the chair, straighten it and fix it for 2 seconds, lower it and fix it again for a couple of seconds. Repeat 10-15 times with each leg.
- This exercise is great for training the lower abdomen, lower back, and transverse abdominal muscles. If you suffer from chronic back pain, check with your doctor if you should do this exercise.

Tips

If possible, do all of these ab exercises together on the same day, every other day. At first, you may experience some painful sensations, but this only proves that after the first 5 minutes of continuous training, the process of strengthening your muscles will begin.
Performing ab exercises while sitting on a fitball is a controversial issue. Sitting on it evenly and training your core muscles, you really get the desired result; however, many people sit on the ball and slouch or spend too much time on it, thus causing exhaustion and pain. Sitting on a fitball, start at 10 minutes and aim for 1 hour. Switch between a regular ergonomic chair and a fitball throughout the day.
To increase the intensity of your workouts, do them on a fitball. Doing so will introduce instability into your exercises, which the core muscles responsible for maintaining posture will fight against. Switch to fitball only after you are able to continuously do each exercise for a minute.
Sign up for Pilates classes or rent (find online) pilates videos for beginners. Occasionally they can be found in city libraries. In these video tutorials, you will be told the names of all the muscles of the abdominal zone, and how to activate them. For example, the transverse abdominal muscles are located under a variety of abdominal muscles and bypass around the back. It is important to be able to activate it by lifting the ribs and bending the pelvis.

Warnings

Be careful if you have had severe back pain before. Consult with a physician first. In most cases, you will be prescribed similar remedial gymnastics, but the therapist will adjust your “seated” workouts in accordance with the specifics of your problem.