Chair squat without the jump
A gentle home exercise for beginners: it builds confidence in your legs and glutes, and the chair gives you a clear target that keeps the movement calm and safe.
Level: Beginner, easy pace
What you need
Kit and conditions
chair
exercise mat
How to use it
About this exercise
This is one exercise broken into consecutive steps rather than a mixed circuit. Watch the technique, follow the cues and build the movement up gradually. If a phase feels too hard, start with a smaller range and a calmer rhythm — understanding the mechanics matters more than getting it perfect first time.
Steps
Technique, frame by frame
Set up at the chair
Stand in front of the chair at a comfortable distance with your feet about shoulder-width apart and your toes turned out slightly. Keep your back long, your ribs down and your abs gently drawn in. Reach your arms forward for balance. Look straight ahead and find a steady point.
Cue
Check that your heels are planted and your feet are not rolling inwards.
Send your hips back
Start the movement with your hips rather than by pushing your knees forward, as if you were going to sit down carefully. Let your torso tip forward slightly with a flat back while your knees bend and track over your toes. Keep your weight through the middle of your foot and your heels down.
Cue
If it feels hard, squat higher and do not go all the way down.
Touch the chair
Lower until your hips just brush the seat, or until you can feel it right underneath you. Do not sit down quickly and do not drop onto the chair. Keep your knees softly bent, your torso gathered and your neck long. This is a calm bottom position that stays under control.
Cue
The touch should be light, with no thud onto the seat.
Drive back up
Push through your feet and return to standing. Your legs straighten first, then your torso and hips come up together. Do not lean back and do not push your hips too far forward. Finish tall, with a soft, gathered torso and calm breathing.
Cue
Think of a smooth rise through your heels and midfoot rather than a shove off the bottom.
Finish standing tall
Stand up fully with your feet planted, knees not locked, shoulders down and breathing easy. Take a second to gather your torso and check that the rep went through without hurry. Then start the next squat in the same rhythm.
Cue
Try to keep the same stance and the same depth on every rep.
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