Strong abs help you perform daily tasks with ease while staying confident and independent.
After 55, core training is essential to add to your workout routine. Doing so can help improve balance and posture, protect your spine, alleviate back pain, and make everyday movements easier. Strong abs can improve your ability to stand up and bend over while reducing your risk of falling. They also give you a strong foundation and the power to make living actively and independently happen.
We spoke with D. Elijah Salters, M.S., Memorial Hermann Rockets Sports Medicine Institute, and learned five of the best chair ab exercises to do right now after 55. You’ll thank us for it later!
“These chair-based ab exercises provide a low-risk way to train the core while seated or using the chair for support. These movements come in handy if a participant has limited floor mobility, concerns for their balance, limited joint mobility, or if they don’t want to risk injury from getting up and down from their floor. The beauty of each of these exercises is that they can be modified or progressed as easily as possible based on anyone’s individual ability,” Salters explains.
Seated Marches
Begin seated on a sturdy chair with your feet placed hip-width apart on the floor.
Gently draw your lower belly inward and keep your torso lifted.
Slowly lift one knee up to hip height.
Hold for a moment before lowering.
Continue to alternate in a “marching” fashion.
Seated Knee-To-Chest
Begin seated on a sturdy chair with your feet placed hip-width apart on the floor.
Gently draw your lower belly inward.
As you brace your core, fully exhale and draw one knee in toward your chest.
Return to the start position.
Repeat on the other side, and continue to alternate.
Seated Alternating Knee Lifts With Opposite Hand Reach
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Begin sitting tall at the edge of a sturdy chair with your feet flat on the ground.
Lift your left knee while reaching your right hand toward it.
Lower as you return to the start position.
Repeat on the other side, and continue to alternate.
Seated Torso Rotations
Begin seated on a sturdy chair with your feet hip-width apart and your core braced.
Place your hands behind your head or your arms crossed in front of your chest.
Gradually rotate your torso to the left, making sure your hips stay facing forward.
Hold for a moment at the end of the rotation as you feel a solid stretch in the obliques.
Use control to return to the center.
Repeat on the right side.
Incline Chair Plank
Begin with your forearms and elbows placed on the chair’s seat.
Walk your feet back so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
Hold your plank with solid form for the prescribed time.
Alexa Mellardo
Alexa is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist based in Greenwich, CT. She has 11+ years of experience covering wellness, fitness, food, travel, lifestyle, and home. Read more about Alexa