Whether you enjoy your favorite show, play games with friends, or just spend some quality family time, recliners are a comfortable place to stay and relax. But besides being comfortable seating, these chairs are one of the best exercise machines you can buy. They will give you a complete core body workout, almost like professional exercise equipment.
How to use recliners for exercising should be something that you can easily understand. You can use it to perform leg lifts or to do squats without straining your back. You can even use it to perform crunches by standing on your recliner. The possibilities are almost unlimited.
Yet, many people think that these chairs can’t help burn calories and tone their muscles. But sitting on small recliners while exercising allows you to keep your feet flat and have necessary body support. And if you do the workouts correctly, you will quickly see results and get far away from a lazy, sedentary lifestyle.
Core Exercises
A firm abdomen makes your body strong and functional. But people can sometimes be reckless with their bad habits and get that fluffy belly or fat deposits that make them look unfit or unhealthy. If these are the results of your sedentary lifestyle, recliner workout sessions are your thing. As you exercise your core, you strengthen the muscles in your abdomen, upper back, chest, and biceps.
So start with the core. You can use your recliner as a bench – just lay down on the backrest. Also, you will need some weights or dumbbells. You can use two smaller weights and lift them straight above your head or open and close your arms to the side. The variation is to lower only your elbows while keeping your forearms upright. You can even move your arms backward, above your head. Just make sure you don’t bend them down.
The second exercise is to start from the same arm position (straightened above your head). Now you need a single dumbbell instead of weights. Gently lower it towards your face taking care that your elbows go to the sides. It’s is an excellent exercise for the core and shoulders, and at the same time, strengthens the muscles of your arms.
Recliner Abs
Sit on a recliner and lift the footrest. Tilt the backrest as much and lay down. Lift your upper body with the strength of your abdominal muscles, not your back and neck. You don’t have to straighten up completely but only up to a 45-degree angle.
Stay in that position for a few seconds. When you feel the tightness around your waist, go back. Do about 30 repetitions per set. Start with one set of exercises, then add one or two more. After some time, you can even add some weights to this exercise. Do everything as described; just hold some smaller weights in both hands.
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Leg Workout
Recliners also provide a complete leg workout. Leg exercises are essential in developing strong and explosive muscles. The leg workouts you do can improve your balance, which is vital in sports but matters in daily activities, too. Also, well-toned legs look great.
Sit on the recliner with both backrest and footrest fully up. Your back should have full support as you shouldn’t move the upper body while doing this exercise. Push the footrest with your legs until you form an angle of 90 degrees. You can do it with a single leg while the other one is straight.
Hold this position for a few seconds, then straighten your legs slightly. Try to do the exercise slowly to feel as much resistance as possible. That strengthens the quadriceps and hind muscles. Yet, be careful not to overdo your legs as that can lead to injuries.
All Types of Squats
You can do squats on a recliner chair to exercise your bottom. It might sound silly as recliners are meant for sitting, but it’s true. With these simple squats, you can work out your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. These muscles help you carry out broad and narrow movements.
Squats are all about going up and down on your recliner. Even the simplest squats will help you shape your tights and bottom. More advanced exercisers don’t even have to touch the chair, only simulate sitting. On this website, you can learn how to do squats correctly. Also, you will learn to position legs for maximum efficiency.
Regular exercise is essential to have a healthy life and stay in shape. And recliners can be of great help in that endeavor. By having this chair at home, you can work out at your convenience. When you’re done, you can just sit back and enjoy the recliner’s original purpose – rest and relaxation.