Grab a sturdy chair and see if you can finish all 4 moves without resting after 55.
Over 55, things can sometimes look different in our fitness programs. Chairs can provide a convenient option as in our mid-50s we tend to be career-oriented and spending lots of time in the office. Chairs also provide a degree of safety and stability, especially when you are just getting going again with your fitness program. Lastly, chair exercises can be fun and challenging at the same time. Keeping it fresh and challenging the body working in new ways is invaluable after the age of 55 as we focus on longevity. Read on to discover four chair exercises that will test your strength—and what your results reveal about your fitness level.
Chair Hover Squat
The chair hover squat tests the muscular endurance of your entire lower body as well as your core and spinal muscles.
How to perform:
- Sit on a chair and scoot to the very edge of the chair.
- Make sure your feet are about shoulder-width apart and mostly pointed straight ahead. If your feet need to turn out a little bit, that’s OK—just make sure that your feet look symmetrical.
- Gently shift your weight forward and stand just enough that your butt is barely off of the chair.
- Maintain the position as long as you can, ensuring that you’re maintaining a slight tuck of the chin and a slight tuck of your pelvis so that your spine is fully elongated.
- When you can no longer maintain the position, gently lower yourself into the chair.
Fitness standards:
- General fitness: 2 minutes
- Above average: 3½ minutes
- Elite fitness: 5 minutes or over
Common mistakes to avoid:
- Coming up too far off the chair
- Sticking your butt out
- Jutting your head forward
- Holding your breath
Safety tips:
Use a dowel or cane, or any other kind of supporting mechanism to help offset some of your body weight as you learn the activity. If you suffer from knee or hip pain, try starting on something much taller, say like a low barstool.
Decline Chair Push-Up
The decline chair push-up tests your upper body and core muscular endurance.
How to perform:
- Begin by placing your feet up on a chair.
- Assume a push-up position, ensuring that you keep a slight tuck of the chin and a neutral to slightly tucked pelvis.
- Simply allow your wrists, elbows, and shoulders to bend as you lower yourself to the floor.
- When you’re within 6 inches of the floor, reverse the motion and drive yourself up until your arms are fully extended.
- Ideally, inhale on the way down and exhale on the way up.
- Repeat for maximum repetitions.
Fitness standards:
- General fitness: 10 push-ups
- Above average: 20 push-ups
- Elite fitness: 30 or more
Common mistakes to avoid:
- Allowing the back to arch as you lower yourself down
- Reaching forward with your head
- Not going down far enough to achieve a full range of motion
Safety tips:
You can always reverse the exercise and start with your hands on the chair to build up some strength and endurance. Another safety tip is to put the chair against the wall so you don’t have to worry about it sliding on you in the middle of the exercise.
Chair Split Squat
The chair split squat tests your lower body muscular endurance and your balance.
How to perform:
- Begin by putting one foot on a chair and move the other foot forward until it is far enough out in front of your body that you can stand stable.
- Make sure that the back ankle is on the edge of the chair.
- Begin to slowly bend both of your knees, lowering the back knee towards the floor.
- Try your best not to rotate at the torso or pelvis.
- Drive your body back up to the starting position.
- Repeat for maximum reps on each side.
Fitness standards:
- General fitness: 10 reps per leg
- Above average: 20 reps per leg
- Elite fitness: 30 or more per leg
Safety tips:
- Consider having a wall near you that you can reach out and correct your balance with if need be.
- Ensure that you’re using a sturdy chair that is not going to slide or rock.
- Start by working through a safe range of motion that does not create any pain or challenge your balance too much.
Chair Tuck Hover
The chair tuck hover tests your upper body and core muscular endurance.
How to perform:
- Begin by sitting on the edge of your chair and grip the side of the chair.
- Make sure your arms are straight.
- Simply lift both of your legs off the ground, bending your knees in towards your chest.
- Bring your legs up as high as you can while you maintain the straightness of your arms.
- Hold the position for as long as you can.
Fitness standards:
- General fitness: 15 seconds
- Above average: 30 seconds
- Elite fitness: 60 seconds or more
Safety tips:
- Make sure that you can get a firm grip on the edge of your chair.
- Make sure the chair is not going to slide or rock.
- Do not come up too fast with your legs to avoid tipping over.
What Your Results Tell You
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You should understand their results as data points. Whether you pass or fail just lets you know what areas of your body you need to strengthen. If you do not pass, simply let it serve as information and motivation as to what you need to do to reach your goals. If you do pass at the elite level, first of all, a big congratulations—that is no easy task. And if a test of this magnitude is possible by you, you know that it is time to increase the difficulty of your current fitness regimen.
How to Build Your Strength If You Struggled
What’s great about these exercises is that the test is the exercise. So if you failed, just continue to practice each exercise on its own until you can pass at your desired level of fitness. All of these exercises are scalable by adding balance support or changing the height of the chair. Make whatever changes you need until you can master your goal at that level, then simply increase the difficulty until you have accomplished your desired level of fitness.
Passed Easily? Here’s Your Next Challenge
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If someone passes easily, then we would want to look at some of their other biomotor abilities. For example, these exercises test muscle endurance. If you easily pass this test at the elite level, we would want to test your other abilities, such as power output, reactive strength, or other fitness variables. Just because you are at a high level at muscular endurance doesn’t necessarily ensure that you are highly skilled in other biomotor abilities.
TJ Pierce, BS, LMT, CHEK III, ELDOA
TJ Pierce is the Owner, Head Therapist, and Certified Fitness Coach at Pierce Family Wellness, specializing in pain-free movement and performance. Read more about TJ
