Quick 6-Exercise Seated Workout

By Nutra Active Team

There are many reasons people don’t work out.

Maybe a gym membership is too expensive.

Maybe it’s too cold outside to get out of the house.

Maybe there just isn’t enough time in the day.

And while those are valid reasons, we’ve decided to eradicate them all with this quick 6-exercise seated workout. Yes – seated – if you’re reading this, you could probably do the workout right now.

If you’ve been stuck in a fitness rut, or if you’ve been meaning to exercise for a while now but have just procrastinated in doing so, this can be a good way to get the ball rolling once again.

Chest Expansion | Rest up to 2 minutes

On the chair you’re sitting on now, sit up straight, plant your feet on the ground and ensure your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle.
Fully extend your arms out to your side with only a slight bend at your elbows. Your arms should be in a straight line parallel to the ground and your shoulder muscles should be engaged.
Bring your arms together in front of you, contracting the chest and working the shoulders, with your palms meeting each other out in front of you.
Bring your arms back to the starting position.
Repeat this motion 20 times at a slow to moderate pace, ensuring your arms remain extended and parallel to the ground the entire time.

Side Arm Raises | Rest up to 2 minutes

Next, with your arms extended out to the side once more, raise them up over your head. Your arms should be fully extended, and you should feel your shoulders carrying a lot of the workload.
Have your palms face away from your body throughout the motion.
Repeat this motion 20 times as well at a slow to moderate pace.

Dives | Rest up to 2 minutes

From the extended-arm position, bring your arms together out in front of you.
As you’re doing this, tuck your chin down and lean forward, such that your head is between your two shoulders.
Extend your arms forward, focusing on working both the back of your shoulders as well as your upper back. Your palms should be facing the floor in this extended position.
Return to the starting position to complete 1 rep.
Repeat this motion for 10 reps at a slow to moderate pace.

Raised Arm Circles | Rest up to 2 minutes

Extend your arms out to the side once again and rotate them forward using your shoulders. Your arm itself should be fixed, with the shoulders doing the brunt of the work.
Repeat these arm circles 5 times to the front and 5 times to the back, at a slow to moderate pace.

Overhead Punches | Rest up to 2 minutes

Start out with your arms in a boxer’s stance – your fists clenched in front of you and elbows tucked in to the side of your body. Ensure that they remain taut throughout the exercise.
In one swift motion, punch one arm up towards the ceiling, tensing your arm and shoulder as it fully extends.
Rotate your fist as you punch upwards, such that your palm faces away from you.
Return the arm to the starting position, before repeating the same motion with the other arm.
Perform a total of 20 overhead punches.

For an added challenge, do not give your arms time to relax in the starting position between reps – while one arm is returning to the starting position, punch the other one up towards the ceiling.

This may speed up the working set, in which case, you might want to increase the total number of reps you do.

Remember: you’ll only benefit with however much effort you choose to put in. The more force you put into these punches, the more effective this can be.

Forward Punches | Rest up to 2 minutes

Start out with the boxing stance once more, but this time, with your fists at your chest level.
Tuck your elbows in to the side of your body, and ensure that your arms are taut.
In one swift motion, punch one arm out forward – extending your arms fully and rotating your fist as you do so. Your arms and shoulders should be engaged at the full extension of the punch.
Return the arm to the starting position, before repeating the same motion with the other arm.
Perform a total of 20 forward punches.

You can get more out of this exercise by following the additional pointers from the Overhead Punches above.

The entire sequence of exercises makes up 1 set. If this was too easy for you, go ahead and challenge yourself by performing 2 more sets!